School year 2020-21 was a year of wide-ranging and significant everything. Full of layered emotions and experiences existing between the ever-collapsing dichotomies of together-alone, 2D-3D, right-wrong, real-unreal, then-now, time-no time, nowhere-here. The stories we tell about our learnings of this time will be revealed as we take care to process and reflect together. What we think we’ve learned likely will be...
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I recently read a description of strong relationships as those built on a foundation where each person potentiates the other. I love thinking of potential in this practice-based way. We can tap into the expansiveness of this idea and know at a deep level what it means, how it feels when someone sees us fully, allows us to grow as,...
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Press play on any episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and you’ll find yourself invited to slow down and notice something. Settle in, take your time, look carefully, listen deeply. The beautiful slowness in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood episodes is not simply for the sake of being slow. The slowness allows depth to grow from the simplicity of noticing. Look at one thing,...
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On December 1, the Fred Rogers Center hosted a webinar on The Importance of Slowing Down featuring a panel of educators from Educators’ Neighborhood. During the 90-minute conversation, educators shared a wealth of ideas about why slowing down is important for children and for the educator-helpers who work in organizations that support children’s learning and care. Our discussion was anchored in the...
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One of my favorite songs by Fred Rogers is “Did You Know?” Did you know? Did you know? Did you know that it's all right to wonder? Did you know that it's all right to wonder? There are all kinds of wonderful things! Did you know? Did you know? Did you know that it's all right to marvel? Did you know that it's all right to marvel? There...
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As schools search for ways to educate children this school year, my heart reminds me to slow down to notice for what’s already here. We have a beautiful example of how to inspire joyful, curious learning through a screen. That example is Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. I study Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood [MRN] and work with teachers in Educators’ Neighborhood. We look to...
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Our educators of the neighborhood were in full swing in their classrooms in March, ready with next episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood to play, and creative ideas to try out with their students. Then, schools closed. Now, they remain closed. In challenging times, Fred Rogers is often quoted saying something he learned from his mother: “Look for the helpers. There are...
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A child was having a hard day, slumped in the corner of a classroom, shirt pulled over his head. He poked out of his shirt to yell to the teacher across the room who was engaged with the other children in the class: Hey, can we play that love song again? The teacher, one of the educators in the Educators’ Neighborhood...
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The 2019-20 school year is in full swing and educators who are part of the Fred Rogers Center’s Educators’ Neighborhood have been selecting and playing episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for their young students since September. A group of fourteen early childhood (preK-Grade 3) educators from Pittsburgh and across the U.S. have been thinking about how the life and work of...
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Recently, my third edited book was released featuring essays by 17 international thought leaders from the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Israel, Norway and Scotland. In Exploring Key Issues in Early Childhood and Technology: Evolving Perspectives and Innovative Approaches (Donohue, 2020), the contributing authors share their unique perspectives, innovative approaches and powerful ideas about the role of technology and media...
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