Early Risers
Early Risers

Early Risers

Minnesota Public Radio

Overview
Episodes

Details

George Floyd’s death was a tragedy and a wake up call — expanding a global conversation about race and racism. And young children have been watching it all. So how do we help them make sense of this? Early Risers is a podcast from Little Moments Count and MPR with frank facts, engaging stories and real how-tos for anyone who cares about raising children with a clear-eyed understanding of cultural differences, race and implicit bias. Hosted by Dianne Haulcy of The Family Partnership.

Recent Episodes

How Children Can Become Critical Thinkers about Race in Media
DEC 4, 2024
How Children Can Become Critical Thinkers about Race in Media
<p>What if, before you learned to read, you learned to ask questions? Faith Rogow calls it a “habit of inquiry,” and tells Dianne it’s more important now than ever. That’s because the explosion of media can be confusing, overwhelming and reinforce racial stereotypes. Little learners CAN become critical thinkers. Dr. Rogow says never take media - from books to apps - at face value. Instead, ask open-ended questions to start conversations - about race and everything else. <strong> </strong></p><br/><p><strong>Episode Resources:</strong></p><br/><p><a href="https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/books/media-literacy">Media Literacy for Young Children: Teaching Beyond the Screen Time Debates</a> (NAEYC, 2022)</p><br/><p><a href="https://medialiteracyeducationmaven.edublogs.org/">Faith Rogow’s MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION blogsite</a></p><br/><p><a href="https://medialiteracyeducationmaven.edublogs.org/2019/06/03/developing-a-great-discussion-guide-notes-for-documentary-filmmakers/">Content Creator’s Guide to Media Literacy</a> blogpost by Faith Rogow</p><br/><p><a href="https://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.com/presenters/dr-faith-rogow/">Webinars featuring Faith Rogow</a> from Early Childhood Investigations Webinars</p><br/><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhmuXskzs4">Video: Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas</a></p><br/><p><strong>Discussion Guide: </strong><a href="https://files.apmcdn.org/production/6dbb79fcbc55512af2cbe9467a3311ce.pdf" class="amat-apm-attachment ">Early Risers Season 6 Episode 7 Discussion Guide</a></p>
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27 MIN
What Social Science Says Parents Can Do About Implicit Bias
NOV 20, 2024
What Social Science Says Parents Can Do About Implicit Bias
<p>If you thought experiments about race were a thing of the past, Sylvia Perry has news for you. In her social psychology lab at Northwestern University, she’s trying to figure out where racial bias comes from. She is finding that talking about race with children decreases prejudice. She tells Dianne how her career was shaped by her own upbringing as a Black girl in the rural South, and she offers guidance for caregivers on how to lead these conversations, including sharing examples of how she’s helped her own Black son take pride in his heritage.</p><br/><p><strong>Episode Resources:</strong></p><br/><p><a href="https://www.wbez.org/race-class-communities/2024/04/18/northwestern-researcher-shows-parent-child-conversations-on-race-can-reduce-bias">Talking to your kids about race can reduce bias, a Northwestern professor found</a>, a radio story from WBEZ Chicago</p><br/><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ExgFtcf4u8&t=2977s">Sylvia Perry: Understanding and Encouraging White American Parent-child Conversations about Race</a>, a video from the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding</p><br/><p><a href="https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/news/2022/disrupting-racism-and-bias-at-home-at-school-and-at-work.html">Disrupting Racism and Bias at Home, at School, and at Work</a>, an article from Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Research</p><br/><p><strong>Discussion Guide: </strong><a href="https://files.apmcdn.org/production/cf3cb7a5c7c0babc9e4ac53a43198a3f.pdf" class="amat-apm-attachment ">Early Risers Season 6 Episode 6 Discussion Guide</a></p>
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21 MIN
Honest Beginnings: Using Explicit Language to Discuss Race and Identity with Young Children
NOV 6, 2024
Honest Beginnings: Using Explicit Language to Discuss Race and Identity with Young Children
<p>What was it like to work at Sesame Workshop back in the day? How about Nickelodeon? As a proud Chinese American, Courtney Wong Chin was thrilled to help the companies find ways to talk about race and culture. In this episode, Chin pulls back the curtain on content creation at Noggin and Sesame Workshop. She talks about the challenge of finding language and images that are culturally specific but not confusing, and the importance of noticing and celebrating diverse identities to help build children&#39;s&#39; self-esteem. Chin says she learned that kids’ stories work best when they’re specific enough to be authentic but not so complicated they’re overwhelming.</p><br/><p><strong>Episode Resources:</strong></p><br/><p><a href="https://sesameworkshop.org/our-work/research-and-insights/reflections-on-racism-study/">Coming Together: Family Reflections on Racism</a> at Sesame Workshop</p><br/><p><a href="https://www.bigheartworld.org/discussingrace/">Discussing Race with Young Children</a> guide from Sparkler Learning, OK Play, and Noggin.</p><br/><p><a href="https://www.embracerace.org/resources/building-characters-blending-cultures">Building Characters, Blending Cultures</a> from EmbraceRace&#39;s 2023 Reflections on Racial Learning</p><br/><p><a href="https://centermil.org/2023/03/28/childrens-media-career-symposium-2023/">Panel discussion on content creation for children</a> at the Children’s Media Career Symposium 2022, hosted by the Center for Media and Information Literacy</p><br/><p><strong><a href="https://files.apmcdn.org/production/5e55ec6f380cf81a18780af1a012e7e7.pdf" class="amat-apm-attachment application-pdf">Early Risers Season 6 Episode 5 Discussion Guide</a></strong></p>
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23 MIN
Talking With Young Children About Race and Identity
OCT 23, 2024
Talking With Young Children About Race and Identity
<p>Nicol Russell is vice president for implementation research for <a href="https://teachingstrategies.com/">Teaching Strategies</a>, a professional development company for early childhood educators. She has taught young children, managed a childcare center, and worked in state government, consistently striving to promote self-esteem and a positive cultural identity in both children and educators.</p><br/><p>Nicol Russell started hearing about race when she was a little girl. Her parents were from two different backgrounds and made sure she was proud of them both. They gave her language and tools to understand her identity. Now Dr. Russell shows teachers of young children how to communicate to build kids’ cultural identities and self-esteem. Russell says adults should run toward–not away from– topics that may make them nervous.<strong> </strong></p><br/><p><strong>Episode Resources:</strong></p><br/><p><a href="https://www.naeyc.org/nicol-russell-0">NAEYC profile</a> of Dr. Russell</p><br/><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59lOz7x8rBA">Video: Talking About Race and Power with Young Kids</a> from Embrace Race</p><br/><p><a href="https://www.embracerace.org/resources/the-joy-that-binds-us">Video: Tiny Talk - The Joy that Binds Us </a>from Embrace Race</p><br/><p><strong><a href="https://files.apmcdn.org/production/704f14ccf49bb5f0e2c3c7ad1745cda4.pdf" class="default">Early Risers Season 6 Episode 4 Discussion Guide</a></strong></p>
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24 MIN
Sparking Early Childhood Conversations About Race
OCT 9, 2024
Sparking Early Childhood Conversations About Race
<p>Wouldn’t it be great to play games for a living? That’s a big part of John Sessler’s job for PBS Kids. He tells Early Risers host Dianne Haulcy the work is fun, but not simple. PBS Kids content is required to meet learning goals while also expanding what children know about race and culture. PBS Kids starts with diverse teams of content creators and ends with children as active and curious consumers of media.</p><br/><p><strong>Guest:</strong> John Sessler is Director of Professional Learning for Ready To Learn at PBS Kids. Sessler has spent 20 years designing experiences that develop young learners’ empathy, curiosity, reflection, and critical thinking skills.</p><br/><p><strong>Download the </strong><strong><a href="https://files.apmcdn.org/production-internal/ddd98172aafc8056b7af86a8e620f1d0.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJNRHN3DHC7K54PLA%2F20241001%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20241001T020913Z&X-Amz-Expires=900&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=5e93f27c08ec50c430a50074346df02527e186ad3d465b764466e4f237b12e75" class="default">Early Risers Season 6 Episode 3 Discussion Guide</a></strong></p><br/><p><strong>Episode Resources:</strong></p><br/><p><a href="https://pbskids.org/lyla">Lyla in the Loop</a></p><br/><p>PBS Kids <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhHRkJUUvTw">video on playful learning</a></p><br/><p>PBS Kids: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/parents/video/collection/talking-to-kids-about-race-and-racism?video=talking-to-children-authentically-about-race-and-racism">How to Talk to Children About Race</a></p><br/><p>Sesame Workshop: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk_HYAiS26I">Explaining Race</a></p>
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23 MIN