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Playvolution HQ Podcast

Playvolution HQ Podcast

By: Jeff Johnson
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 The Playvolution HQ Podcast dives deep into play and early learning, from loose parts and power play to school readiness and curriculum. This weekly, short-format show goes beyond the resources available at playvolutionhq.com, delivering original content like DIY ideas, terminology deep-dives, commentary, news, early learning history, and more.Explorations Early Learning Parenting & Families Relationships
Episodes
  • PHQP_0030 More Knowledgeable Others

    PHQP_0030 More Knowledgeable Others
    Jul 28 2025
    In episode PHQP_0030 More Knowledgeable Others, Jeff talks about More Knowledgeable Others and misses his grandma. Episode Video Watch Now: PHQP_0030 More Knowledgeable Others Episode Notes Vygotsky’s More Knowledgeable Other Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory Vygotsky’s Zone Of Proximal Development The ART Of Effective Direct Instruction The ART Of Effective Direct Instruction Handout Play And Its Role In The Mental Development Of The Child Near Peer Self-Study--Understanding The More Knowledgeable Other The More Knowledgeable Others Transcript Welcome to the Playvolution HQ podcast. I'm Jeff Johnson. Thanks for pushing play. On with the show. So I was baking bread the other day, which I do once a month or so, and I had a grandma recipe realization. Every summer when we're on family vacation, we would go to my grandparents' farm in north, north central North Dakota, um, 50 miles or so from the Canadian border. And one of the things that happened every trip besides going fishing with my grandpa is we would, I would bake bread with my grandma and something she did like maybe once a week, once every week and a half or two weeks through decades and decades of being a farm wife. And I love the experience and I loved being at her elbow. And I had this realization that every time we baked bread together, she had this recipe card out and we were going through the card step by steps by step. And I realized that she didn't need that card, that card. I've baked bread enough to know that you quickly memorize your bread baking recipe. There's not a lot of ingredients. Um, she had that card out for me. It was a teachable moment for me. It was a chance to learn to follow instructions for me. I don't, I don't know if she intended it that way, but to, to some degree I'm sure she did because there's no way she needed to dig that card out every time she baked bread because she'd been doing it for 40 years by the time I was at her elbow helping. Um, and that got me reminiscing and feeling sad about not having her in my life anymore. She was born in the late 19 teens and grew up in the twenties and, uh, lived through the depression and World War II and was a wonderful, caring, loving woman. And that's not what this episode is about. So, um, love you grandma to grandma if she happens to be listening from any place. But what we're talking about is the more knowledgeable other, which she was an example of. A more knowledgeable other. Um, well first, let's look at Lev. Lev Vygotsky is the dude who came up with this concept. He was born in 1896, lived, uh, 37 years, died in 1934 of tuberculosis. He was born in Belarus, which was then a part of Soviet Union. And for decades after his death, his work was suppressed by the Soviets. Um, not just suppressed from the rest of the world, but suppressed within the Soviet Union. And then in the sixties, when relations with the West were starting to thaw, his, uh, his work was shared. And, and so we went decades without knowing some of the, the ideas this man had. And the more knowledgeable other and the zone of proximal development and other things that he worked on, uh, have daily impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of children around the world. And one of his ideas was the more knowledgeable other. And so short definition, a more knowledgeable other is anyone or anything with more expertise, skill, understanding, experience than the learner. And this can be kind of a wide range of, uh, of, of entities. It can be parents, which are probably the primary, more knowledgeable other in the lives of, of especially young children. It can be caregivers, excuse me, and teachers, peers, near peers, siblings, but beyond that books, videos, and even pets. I'll, I'll give you an example in a moment. Um, people in the communities, uh, relatives, uh, just about any, I mean, literally anybody who might have more knowledge or exp...
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    15 mins
  • PHQP_0029 Sample Staff Fitness Standards

    PHQP_0029 Sample Staff Fitness Standards
    Jul 21 2025
    In episode PHQP_0029 Sample Staff Fitness Standards, Jeff follows up on a promise made in episode 23 to share sample staff fitness standards. Episode Video Watch Now: PHQP_0029 Sample Staff Fitness Standards Episode Notes PHQP_0023 Fit For Care Why American Kids Grow Up Hating Exercise The Sample Staff Fitness Standards Transcript Welcome to the Playvolution HQ podcast. I'm Jeff Johnson. Thanks for pushing play on with the show. So, my dogs Slinky and Gigi are getting old. Slinky was napping today and it was time to go out and I just kind of gave him a little nudge with my foot to wake him up and he just shook like a bowl full of jello and didn't, I thought he passed away during his nap and I was befuddled and I nudged him again and oh hey, hey boss, ready to go? And we got up, but he is filling up with tumors and someday I'm gonna, he's just not gonna be awake from his nap and I'm gonna be heartbroken. Gigi is slowing down too. When we first moved to the beach three years ago, we'd go for five mile walks every morning and then maybe again in the afternoon, we'd put a couple miles in and about a year ago, Slinky just stopped going for the beach. He just goes outside and takes care of his business now and that's about it. Now Gigi's slowing down and why am I throwing that here in the podcast? Because life comes at you fast and you gotta make the most of it and enjoy those moments that are good when you can because sometimes the more savory, less sweet moments come up and that's kind of what I'm going through with my pups now and it kind of breaks my heart knowing that at some point in the probably not too long future for Slinky and the mid-range future for Gigi, it's gonna be the end for them. So that's kind of a depressing way to start the podcast but if you got thoughts about little pets, let me know. On with our one topic for this week. I said I'd come back, episode 23, I think it was, I talked about staff fitness standards and the lack of them and maybe the need for them because it is important to have staff who can keep up with the kids if you want kids to be physically active. And so I said in that episode, I don't wanna rehash that whole episode but I said I'd come back with some sample fitness standards and that's what we're gonna get into this episode. I know I wanna preface this, I talked about this in episode 23 as well. We need to be able to make accommodations in fitness standards because people are differently abled and we want to have those people working in the early learning profession because I think it's good for them and good for the children and good for the culture and civilization as a whole. On the other hand, we need to have enough people on staff who can meet the physical standards, some basic physical standards for health and safety reasons. And so while I throw these sample standards out there, I'm not saying every single person on the staff needs to be able to meet these, but absolutely there need to be enough staff people in the ratio at any time, on the premises at any time, that can handle the physical demands of the job. And beyond that, we make accommodations for people. Let's take a look at these though. So first, I think strength is, one of those standards we need to have. You need to have a certain level of strength before you can successfully work in this profession. There's a lot of lifting, a lot of toting to do, not only of kids, but of equipment. And so I think a reasonable strength standard for the early learning profession is the ability to repeatedly lift and carry up to 40 pounds. That's getting a almost preschooler toddler up on the changing table when you need to. That's moving tires that are out of the playground as loose parts around. That's hefting and hauling the water play table around the playground, those kinds of things. Filling up, carrying a cooler up to the playground for a picnic lunch,
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    13 mins
  • PHQP_0028 Interoception And School Readiness

    PHQP_0028 Interoception And School Readiness
    Jul 14 2025
    In episode PHQP_0028 Interoception And School Readiness, Jeff discusses the interoceptive system and its importance in school readiness. Episode Video Watch Now: PHQP_0028 Interoception And School Readiness Episode Notes Interoceptive System The Interoceptive System Simplified The Important Role Of Kinetic Chains In Early Learning PHQP_0027 Coordination 8 Sensory Systems That Drive Playful Learning The Benefits of Playful Aggression The Interoception And School Readiness Transcript Welcome to the Playvolution HQ podcast. I'm Jeff Johnson. Thanks for pushing play on with the show. So, I discovered something the other day. I, I, there we go. I discovered steak cut bacon. Now, look, listeners, if you knew about steak cut bacon and didn't tell me about it, I'm, I'm very angry with you. If, if steak cut bacon is a new thing for you, you'll be just as amazed as I was. I was doing my online shopping and I decided, hey, let's get a little bit crazy and move away from our regular bacon selection and see what other kind of bacon opportunities the world has to offer us. I found steak cut bacon. A pound of this stuff is four slices. So, each slice is like, like half an inch thick. And we, we, we partook, me and, me and the wife, Tasha, partook of the steak cut bacon earlier today. And it's delightful. So, what's that got to do with anything? Well, the world is full of amazing stuff and we don't know it all. And we should be open to, to checking things out and trying new things and, and looking for new things to try, I guess. And if you haven't tried steak cut bacon, you're in for a, it's just, it's just thick meat candy. Anyway, on with the show. Topic one and the only topic again for another episode, interoception and school readiness. So, the interoceptive system is a big part of school readiness, but it doesn't get much attention. Early learning programs spend a lot of time talking about, I don't know, knowing how to write your name and being able to, to name the colors and those kind of things. Those all seem, seem like school readiness things, but this is a very primordial, basic, simple school readiness thing that we often rush through in early learning programs and don't pay much attention to. So the interoceptive system is a, one of the eight sensory systems we've talked to. We've mentioned it on previous episodes. It's really about sensing the body's inner signals. So we've got all of these sensory systems inside of our body that are sending messages to our brains. And this kind of encompasses all of those. So this is internal signals that we're dealing with here and how to interpret the body's interpret, how to interpret the body's inner signals. And so it's not only wearing them up and being aware of them, but interpreting them, figuring out what they mean. And we'll get to that in a little bit more, more detail in a moment. So think for example, around your belly button, we can have a sensory experience in that six or eight inches around your belly button. And it might mean you need to eat because you're hungry. And it might mean you're feeling anxious or stressed. Maybe you need to relax. And it might mean you need to poop. And it might mean you need to pee. And it might mean you're getting sick and you need to throw up. And those sensations are in the same area. And the internal signals are very similar. And we can pretty much learn to discriminate against between them and tell the difference between them. And you get to the point where you know, oh, I've got to go pee or, oh, I need a grilled cheese sandwich. And being able to make those determinations when you're five, six years old and then heading off to kindergarten makes you a delight to have in the classroom and a happier student as well. It's good for the teacher and it's good for the student. The problem is learning to differentiate between those senses to make sense of them,
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    14 mins
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