Latest / Look Who's Talking / Eamonn FitzGerald - Fayette County Public Schools

Transcript

Eamonn FitzGerald - Fayette County Public Schools · Look Who's Talking

• 0:14
  You are listening to Look Who's Talking. I am
• 0:19
  Cameron Minter. I am the co -host. And Jessica
• 0:24
  Coffie, our wonderful director. It's here. What's
• 0:30
  going on, Jessica? Oh, I thought you were going
• 0:32
  to just pump me up a little bit more. No, I was
• 0:35
  done. I was done. Then I was like, I don't know
• 0:37
  what her title is anymore. I'm done. I'm just
• 0:40
  done. It's been good. It's hot. It is warm out
• 0:45
  here, ain't it? It's hot. It's been a while since
• 0:48
  we've been on this podcast. It has. It has. I
• 0:51
  think it's your fault, but go ahead. It's all
• 0:53
  right. It's all right. It hasn't been this hot.
• 0:56
  No, it hasn't. Unfortunately, doing this podcast
• 1:01
  with you, I have so many freaking memories that
• 1:04
  when the hot weather comes, I remember in one
• 1:08
  of our shows, it was like, you said summer was
• 1:11
  your month, and you're going to sit in the air
• 1:13
  conditioning all summer long. All summer long.
• 1:16
  I ain't really complaining. I'm not going to
• 1:19
  complain about this heat because that's what
• 1:21
  I wanted. I didn't want that ice and snow. Well,
• 1:24
  it is summer outside and in my office. It is
• 1:29
  an Arctic. Oh. It's negative 10 degrees in the
• 1:33
  office. Wow. But I'm not complaining because
• 1:36
  my side of the office, our area, it's freezing.
• 1:41
  And in our executive director's area, it is Aruba.
• 1:46
  Wow. And I'm like, man, you're the executive
• 1:50
  director, but they don't respect you. They can't
• 1:53
  fix this. Right. So I'm not complaining. I bet
• 1:56
  that goes over well. I am usually bundled up
• 2:00
  in, I have a blanket, a heater that I'm probably
• 2:04
  not supposed to have, and I usually wear a jacket.
• 2:07
  Confession is good for the soul. These are my
• 2:10
  confessions. Well, you know, that's unfortunate.
• 2:16
  It is summertime and we are enjoying the summertime.
• 2:20
  Have you listened to it yet? Absolutely. You
• 2:23
  know what? We actually played that in the gym
• 2:26
  today. Wow. In the gym. I've been working out.
• 2:32
  I'm so proud of you. How long has it been now?
• 2:36
  What? Never mind. I've been consistent for six
• 2:40
  months. That's what I was saying. You've been
• 2:42
  consistent. How long has it been? Seven months.
• 2:45
  Wow. And I've dropped 30 pounds. Look at you,
• 2:50
  mama. Look at you. That's good news. But I needed
• 2:54
  to because when I would bend over and tie my
• 2:58
  shoe. Oh, my. Oh, my. My stomach hurt. And I
• 3:02
  said, what's happening? Then I couldn't fit in
• 3:08
  any clothes. And I'm like. Am I washing and drying
• 3:12
  and they're shrinking? No, they were not shrinking.
• 3:15
  And then I sit here on the podcast with you and
• 3:19
  you didn't tell me how different I looked. There
• 3:23
  are video footage and this is a shameless plug.
• 3:27
  All of our shows are also posted on our YouTube
• 3:30
  channel. Go through and look and listen and re
• 3:34
  -enjoy. How about that? Yes. How about that?
• 3:38
  You know what? And I'm glad that it's not winter
• 3:39
  because that makes me work out. You know, in
• 3:43
  the wintertime, I'm a whole bear. I hibernate.
• 3:48
  I go fetch food every day, but I'm in the house
• 3:52
  not doing nothing. Right, right. Well, speak
• 3:55
  of not doing nothing, we're coming up on a holiday.
• 3:58
  What are you going to do for the 4th of July?
• 4:02
  I'm going to stay in my pajamas and eat Frosty
• 4:06
  Flakes. What? Frosty. Don't! That's right. Not
• 4:12
  no Captain Crunch. Frosty Flakes. Okay, if you're
• 4:17
  going to spend a holiday staying in the house
• 4:20
  to eat Frosted Flakes, that was the cereal my
• 4:29
  grandmother allowed us to eat. After, you know,
• 4:32
  many years of just kicks. Rice Krispie Treat.
• 4:37
  I mean, no, not Rice Krispies. Rice Krispies.
• 4:40
  No sugar, no sugar. And corn flakes. No sugar.
• 4:46
  We got a little older. She splurged a little
• 4:49
  bit, and we got frosted flakes. That's an old
• 4:51
  people's cereal. It's so good, though. It's all
• 4:53
  right. None of them taste like they used to.
• 4:56
  But it's like. You know, because I don't like
• 5:00
  soggy cereal, so I'm eating it fast. That's it.
• 5:03
  Yeah, me too. It's that crunch. It's that sugar.
• 5:05
  And then about time you get to the end, you have
• 5:09
  sugar milk. It's so good, Cam. There are so many
• 5:15
  more better options like Captain Crunch with
• 5:17
  berries. I do like Captain Crunch. There's Cocoa
• 5:20
  Pebbles. It gets soggy too. I do not like any
• 5:22
  chocolate cereal. I do not like cinnamon toast
• 5:26
  crunch. Blasphemy. Blasphemy. No, I don't like
• 5:30
  that. Oh, why? Because it gets soggy too quick?
• 5:33
  Yeah. You're eating it too slow. And something
• 5:36
  about, I just don't know why, but cinnamon and
• 5:39
  sugar in cereal and milk, it just doesn't sit
• 5:42
  right with me. Come on. Just have a cinnamon
• 5:45
  roll. Okay, what kind of hot cereal do you like?
• 5:49
  Brown sugar cream or wheat. That's an old person's
• 5:54
  cream of wheat. Cream of wheat, baby. Most of
• 5:57
  our audience doesn't know what cream of wheat
• 5:59
  is. With some butter toast. I know, though. Then
• 6:01
  look. With some butter toast. And maybe two pieces
• 6:04
  of bacon. Look, now you're going to change your
• 6:07
  whole menu now. It's good. I might eat some cream
• 6:12
  of wheat. But it's summertime, babe. Don't do
• 6:15
  the cream of wheat. That go down hot. That's
• 6:18
  like taking a shot. I'm going to be in my cold
• 6:21
  house. Okay. Listen, it's so cold in my house,
• 6:25
  I could eat chili. Wow. It will go perfectly.
• 6:29
  You don't keep your air low, right? What's your
• 6:33
  thermostat set to? 69. Wow. I keep it on 69.
• 6:39
  Even when you gone, what's wrong with you, girl,
• 6:42
  wasting all that money? Even when I'm gone? Yeah.
• 6:44
  You know what? I never change it. So it's like
• 6:47
  the bill is the same. It's not. Yeah, it's high.
• 6:50
  No, it's not. No, my bill is not high. It's not.
• 6:54
  Well, I do automatic payments, so I actually
• 6:58
  don't know what it is. But I have not been concerned.
• 7:04
  Yeah, your bill high. Yeah, we're 72 during the
• 7:08
  day. 72 is so hot. Well. And then what you turn
• 7:13
  it down to at night? Oh my goodness, Pam. But
• 7:18
  you know what? I was told when I first purchased
• 7:20
  my house, don't change it because when you change
• 7:24
  it, that's when your bill fluctuates. I change
• 7:27
  it at night because it's not competing against
• 7:30
  the heat. It agrees with me and it stays that
• 7:34
  way and it doesn't come on very often. I guess.
• 7:38
  This is all very interesting. Shut up. You had
• 7:42
  an anniversary. I did. 28 years. Oh, now I got
• 7:47
  rid of my horse. Yeah, you don't even. The claps.
• 7:51
  28 years. 28. 28. That's a great milestone. Many
• 7:59
  thought we wasn't going to make it. Never would
• 8:02
  have made it. So what can you say from the difference
• 8:06
  between year one and year 28? A lot. Marriage
• 8:12
  is work. It's not all fun and games. Did you
• 8:16
  not think that at year one? No. I mean, at year
• 8:20
  one, you're just in love and everything's just,
• 8:22
  oh, the world is going to be our oyster and blah,
• 8:26
  blah, blah. And then life says smack, smack,
• 8:29
  smack, smack, smack. And then you have to find
• 8:31
  ways to deal with issues as a couple. And, you
• 8:35
  know, it can be challenging, but 28 years. Got
• 8:39
  you. 28 years. So how did you celebrate year
• 8:42
  one, if you could remember, as opposed to how
• 8:46
  did you celebrate 28? Well, year one, that was,
• 8:48
  well, I'm not real sure. I can't even remember
• 8:53
  what we did for year one. But this last one,
• 8:56
  it's not so much of what we do as how we do things
• 8:59
  together. You know what I'm saying? We've grown
• 9:02
  closer. We don't require, you know, there's a
• 9:07
  lot of times that you're trying to impress and
• 9:09
  improve, you know, and it's not that we don't
• 9:12
  still do that because we still go out on date
• 9:13
  night. But like our anniversary is just our day.
• 9:17
  It's not like, you know, like Valentine's Day
• 9:19
  is your day, right? Anniversary is our day. And,
• 9:24
  you know, we just reflect a lot, reflect a lot,
• 9:28
  and we're grateful. So we just went to the Derby
• 9:31
  Dinner Playhouse. And if you haven't been, you
• 9:33
  need to go. Do you eat and watch a play? Yes,
• 9:37
  you do. Oh, wow. Absolutely. The room is set
• 9:40
  up like a square, and there's tiers, and the
• 9:42
  stage is in the middle. There's no bad seats.
• 9:45
  It's a buffet. Fit it all. Oh, that's good. That's
• 9:50
  good. What was the play? It was really good.
• 9:54
  It was half -baked, and it was a really good
• 9:58
  comedy. Oh, good. Yeah. Oh, yeah. A lot of times
• 10:01
  you're... Waiter is also an actor singing. Really?
• 10:06
  Yeah. So, like, do they serve and sing at the
• 10:10
  same time? No. Oh, okay. No. All right, all right.
• 10:15
  We have talked and talked. We have. But I think
• 10:18
  it's time for a Coffie Break. All righty. So
• 10:29
  for today's Coffie Break, I just want to remind
• 10:31
  folks that a negative mind will never give you
• 10:36
  a positive life. You know, I try to do like daily
• 10:41
  affirmations because what a lot of people don't
• 10:45
  realize is we can be our own worst critic and
• 10:48
  we can speak negativity in our life and, you
• 10:51
  know, have negative thoughts without us really
• 10:54
  thinking that we have negative thoughts. But
• 10:56
  if you practice, daily affirmations or saying
• 11:00
  just positive things about yourself about your
• 11:03
  surroundings what you love about your job on
• 11:07
  a daily basis practice that then you then you
• 11:12
  would be in a more positive aura yeah I love
• 11:18
  that that's good I wake up and I'm thankful to
• 11:21
  God that I have seen another day and I'm thankful
• 11:24
  you know because a lot of people didn't make
• 11:26
  it you know there's a lot things to be positive
• 11:28
  about as you start your day because as the day
• 11:33
  goes on you you'll find those things but start
• 11:36
  it off right right i'm saying let's start off
• 11:39
  let's start off on a positive note so that we
• 11:42
  can tackle these things as they come and you
• 11:45
  know what positivity like rubs off on people
• 11:48
  it does it does it does because you can change
• 11:52
  even if you're in a bad mood and you run up against
• 11:55
  somebody who's in a good mood It kind of changes
• 11:58
  you. Yeah. It puts you in a little check. Yeah.
• 12:00
  That's a good word. I appreciate that. Thank
• 12:03
  you. Nice Coffie Break. Now, what are we talking
• 12:08
  about today? So today, we have another anniversary
• 12:13
  guy. What? Today's his anniversary. Sorry, I
• 12:17
  got to put that out there for the listeners.
• 12:18
  What are we even announcing? Come on. We have...
• 12:22
  Eamon Fitzgerald, also known as the birth to
• 12:27
  five guy. The birth to five guy. Now, look, I
• 12:30
  got to tell myself real quick. What's going on,
• 12:32
  Eamon? Not much. I'm happy to be here. I am so
• 12:34
  glad you are here. But I was reading like the
• 12:37
  notes and it said the birth to five guys. And
• 12:42
  I said, what? You birth five guys? Oh, goodness.
• 12:48
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. But Eamon works with Fayette
• 12:54
  County Public Schools. Also does, I don't want
• 13:00
  to mess up your title, Child... So official title
• 13:04
  is the Family and Community Early Childhood District
• 13:07
  Liaison. Wow. Not a great acronym. Wow. That's
• 13:13
  pretty long. But essentially birth to five guy.
• 13:15
  That works. Birth to five. Sorry, I didn't birth.
• 13:19
  Five Guys, which is one of Cam's favorites. Yes,
• 13:23
  yes, yes. So, Cam, today we're going to be talking
• 13:25
  about family engagement in early childhood. Absolutely.
• 13:29
  And anything else that Amon wants to talk about
• 13:32
  because it's his anniversary. That's right. I
• 13:34
  need that. I wish I had that on. Oh, we should
• 13:37
  play that. Yeah, yeah. I'll sing it after. Yeah,
• 13:39
  please don't. So. What? Do you have questions?
• 13:44
  No. You look like you wanted to start off. No,
• 13:47
  go right ahead. Okay. So, Eamon, what we want
• 13:50
  to ask first is why are the first five years
• 13:54
  of life so important? Sure. And that's a great
• 13:57
  question. We get that a lot. So there's several
• 13:59
  reasons. First, the research shows that the first
• 14:03
  five years of life that the brain is 90 percent
• 14:06
  developed within the first five years of life.
• 14:09
  That's meaning, you know, the library is built.
• 14:11
  Now it's our job to then fill it with information
• 14:14
  and skills and those kind of things. But, you
• 14:17
  know, if we can, you know, if we can help aid
• 14:20
  the building of that library, make it bigger,
• 14:22
  you know, and more space for learning, more space
• 14:25
  for, you know, it makes things so much easier
• 14:27
  as they get older. Right. We talk a lot about,
• 14:30
  you know, the importance of early childhood in.
• 14:34
  kind of K through 12. And if you think about
• 14:36
  it in terms of like a tree, you know, when a
• 14:38
  child is born, it's kind of a seed planted in
• 14:40
  the ground. Early childhood is those roots. And
• 14:44
  the more we water and nurture those roots, kind
• 14:47
  of the deeper and the farther they go. Right.
• 14:49
  And so when that tree starts to grow, you know,
• 14:52
  it grows and grows and grows, branches out as
• 14:55
  they start to learn. Things happens like bad
• 14:58
  weather, for example. So if you have a tree.
• 15:00
  with very shallow roots yeah bad weather comes
• 15:03
  through we had this you know we've had this every
• 15:04
  couple months here is that tree falls down yeah
• 15:07
  tree breaks in half rips in half and so we think
• 15:11
  about if we invest early in early childhood deeper
• 15:14
  the roots the harder it is when that bad weather
• 15:17
  comes when that trauma comes for that tree to
• 15:20
  kind of fall over or break uh it's kind of like
• 15:23
  Building a tower. We talk about when you build
• 15:26
  a tower, a lot of kids just like to build a tower
• 15:28
  kind of straight up, as tall a tower as you can
• 15:30
  build. And then it falls over. And then what
• 15:34
  we want to do is we want to first teach them
• 15:36
  that you need to have a wide, stable base. And
• 15:39
  that's early childhood. So you have that wide,
• 15:41
  stable base. It's a lot easier to build a really,
• 15:44
  really tall tower that's not going to bend and
• 15:46
  sway. as much so you know it's one of those things
• 15:50
  that like it sets you up for for lifelong learning
• 15:52
  and all those kind of things good deal well we're
• 15:57
  gonna continue talking with amen after we come
• 15:59
  back from this break you are listening to look
• 16:04
  who's talking This past year has highlighted
• 16:17
  the strength of Community Action Council. Every
• 16:19
  day, our staff works together to help families
• 16:22
  recover from this crisis. We're educating children
• 16:25
  at home and in person, helping parents who lost
• 16:28
  their jobs, and helping households avoid eviction.
• 16:31
  Our work at Community Action Council has never
• 16:34
  been more important than it is right now. So
• 16:36
  why not join us? We have employment opportunities
• 16:38
  requiring a range of skills from entry level
• 16:41
  to advanced. Apply online at COMMAC. action .org.
• 16:47
  Community Action Council's Head Start programs
• 16:49
  are now enrolling for the 24 -25 school year
• 16:52
  in 15 counties, including Lexington. Head Start
• 16:55
  offers high -quality early childhood education
• 16:57
  for qualifying families with children between
• 16:59
  the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years old. Spaces are
• 17:02
  limited and filling up quickly. So, to help ensure
• 17:05
  your child receives the Head Start advantage
• 17:07
  this year, start your application today by calling
• 17:10
  859 -233 -4600 or go online at comaction .org.
• 17:17
  That's C -O -M -M action dot O -R -G. You are
• 17:47
  listening to Look Who's Talking. We are talking
• 17:51
  with Amen Fitzgerald and we are talking about
• 17:54
  early education and the importance of those first
• 17:59
  five years. I love the analogy with the tree
• 18:04
  and the roots because, you know, in thinking
• 18:08
  like when, whether it's first time parents or
• 18:11
  parents who have, you know, more kids, Those
• 18:16
  first five years are so important. And sometimes
• 18:19
  we don't think about how important their development
• 18:23
  is in that time. You know, we say, oh, you know,
• 18:27
  we'll get ready for that when it's time for them
• 18:30
  to go to school. But those first five years,
• 18:33
  as you said, are so important. Yeah. And, you
• 18:35
  know, and it's one of those things that especially,
• 18:37
  you know, young parents, like they don't know
• 18:39
  what they don't know. Yeah. And, you know, giving
• 18:42
  them that information. early on, either before
• 18:45
  pregnancy or very early on in the birth of that
• 18:48
  child, just really sets that child up for success
• 18:51
  later on. And the families as well, you know,
• 18:54
  really gives them kind of that nice starting
• 18:56
  point on, you know, these are the things we should
• 18:59
  do and these are the things we should look for
• 19:01
  to help them kind of get going. Right. I think
• 19:04
  there's been a whole evolution with early childhood
• 19:06
  education from, you know, when I can think that
• 19:10
  I was young because my parents. Bless them. Bless
• 19:14
  them. There you go. I'm going to send it to them.
• 19:17
  I'm going to send it to them. They did the best
• 19:19
  they could with what they knew how to do. But
• 19:21
  we are so focused more in providing resources
• 19:25
  and education to parents now. I had a great,
• 19:32
  grand imagination. My parents, my sister did
• 19:38
  not. She did what they said. And, you know, you
• 19:41
  have two different personalities and, you know,
• 19:44
  they approached us the same way. And I'm like,
• 19:47
  what's this for? You know, so what advice do
• 19:51
  you have for parents when it comes to young children
• 19:54
  and, you know, teaching them at home? Sure. And,
• 19:59
  you know, we focus a lot on on families just
• 20:02
  because, you know, they are the child's primary.
• 20:05
  educator, especially that first five years of
• 20:07
  life, but also, you know, they see them the most.
• 20:09
  Uh, so we want to make sure that whatever we're
• 20:11
  doing is also correlating to what we're doing
• 20:13
  either, you know, in the classroom or out in
• 20:16
  the community and those kinds of things. Um,
• 20:18
  but the biggest advice that we give people, uh,
• 20:21
  because there's, there's lots of different, you
• 20:23
  know, there's, there's podcasts out there, there's
• 20:25
  videos out there. If you want, you know, if you
• 20:27
  want to be a helicopter parent, there's a book.
• 20:29
  If you want to be a free range parent, there's
• 20:31
  a book. You know, if you want to be, you know,
• 20:33
  a tiger parent, there's a whole series of YouTube
• 20:35
  videos on those kind of things. But what we tell
• 20:39
  families is, you know, you got to be engaged
• 20:41
  with their child first. Yeah. But the biggest
• 20:44
  thing is to show them. You know, if you want
• 20:46
  your child to learn to really love and appreciate
• 20:49
  books, you have to show them what a book can
• 20:52
  do. You know, what the power behind a book that
• 20:55
  it can transport you from. the living room to
• 20:58
  an island where the wild things are, that it
• 21:01
  can, you know, it can teach you all of these
• 21:03
  things that you didn't know. You know, it can
• 21:06
  show you pictures of. you know, a different country
• 21:10
  that they may or may not ever get to go to. And,
• 21:13
  you know, and that goes, so, you know, we tell
• 21:15
  families, you know, just show them, show them
• 21:17
  the importance of books, show them that you read
• 21:19
  also. Now it could be anything. It could be Sports
• 21:22
  Illustrated. It could be, you know, the Encyclopedia
• 21:25
  Britannica. It could be just a book, but show
• 21:27
  them that you read also. And we tell them to
• 21:30
  show them, you know, in terms of everything,
• 21:32
  you want your child to be kind. Yeah. You need
• 21:34
  to show them. And you need to be able to let
• 21:37
  them see you show other people kindness as well.
• 21:40
  And not just, you know, not just a school, not
• 21:43
  just a church, but out and about, you know, because
• 21:45
  that's what the things that the kids notice.
• 21:47
  They notice how you treat people and what you
• 21:50
  say to people. And that's what they're going
• 21:52
  to take away the most from. It's almost like
• 21:55
  the opposite of do what I say, not as I do. Because
• 21:59
  that's never been the case, especially for young
• 22:02
  children. You know, they learn by seeing. real
• 22:04
  world kind of tangible things. And that's, that's
• 22:07
  a lot of times that's the, that's the families.
• 22:09
  And then that, you know, trickles down to us.
• 22:11
  And I think, I think families need to take back
• 22:13
  ownership of that because we're so used to, you
• 22:17
  know, it's your world's job to educate my child.
• 22:21
  What? I'm the first one that's educated my child.
• 22:24
  I'm the one that's instilling morals and boundaries
• 22:28
  and things of that nature that I want my child
• 22:31
  to know. So, and, and, and, Totally grasping
• 22:35
  that first teacher aspect. We've put it off on
• 22:40
  teachers. We've put it off on the church to teach
• 22:42
  our kids these things when we've already taught
• 22:46
  them that it's not important because we're not
• 22:48
  teaching it. So, yeah, it's so important. And
• 22:51
  that partnership that you're talking about, we
• 22:55
  really focus in on. A lot of places are very
• 22:58
  good at parent involvement. Yes. Right? But there's
• 23:03
  a big difference between parent involvement and
• 23:05
  parent engagement. Kind of parent involvement
• 23:08
  is doing to and parent engagement is doing with.
• 23:11
  Yes. So, you know, we can have those activities.
• 23:13
  We can have the family nights. We can do all
• 23:16
  those kind of things. You know, but did we ask
• 23:18
  the families what they wanted? Yeah. You know,
• 23:20
  who are we asking to come to these things? You
• 23:23
  know, who's missing? from these events when we
• 23:25
  have the events are really big for us. One of
• 23:28
  the things we learned is, you know, it's easy
• 23:30
  for us to translate something into Spanish, not
• 23:32
  a problem, you know, or any other language you
• 23:34
  might have. So we'll do the posters, we'll do
• 23:36
  the flyers in Spanish also. But when the families
• 23:39
  that speak Spanish come there, do we have somebody
• 23:43
  that can show them around? Because if not, they're
• 23:47
  just standing around, you know, they came to
• 23:49
  this event, you know, and it was a big deal for
• 23:51
  them to come to this event. And then all of a
• 23:53
  sudden there is nobody that can engage with them.
• 23:54
  Right. You know, so for us, it's all about, you
• 23:57
  know, and it takes a lot of work. A lot of us
• 23:58
  are really good at family involvement, but it
• 24:01
  takes constant work to be that family engagement.
• 24:03
  You know, who's at the table, who's not at the
• 24:06
  table. Why aren't they at the table? Right. We
• 24:08
  want to make sure they get there to kind of do
• 24:10
  that partnership that Cam was talking about.
• 24:12
  Yeah, I absolutely love that. One thing that
• 24:15
  my mind shifted when I started working at Community
• 24:19
  Action about. when children learn right because
• 24:24
  I saw a child a one -year -old child I don't
• 24:28
  even know if the child was one just got a diaper
• 24:32
  change they took the child to the sink and the
• 24:35
  child automatically started rubbing their hands
• 24:38
  I was like oh my goodness That child already
• 24:43
  knows, like, I'm supposed to wash my hands and
• 24:46
  this is how I do it. That blew my mind to where
• 24:49
  I'm like, I wish we could have more parents come
• 24:53
  and observe the classrooms because. The kids,
• 24:57
  when they're with us, are very independent. We
• 24:59
  teach them how to be independent. But then you
• 25:02
  see them around their parents and they're trying
• 25:05
  to feed them or don't do that. You don't you
• 25:08
  can't. But they pour their milk here, but not
• 25:12
  at home. And, you know. The classroom extends
• 25:17
  from the four walls of school, you know. So if
• 25:22
  we could get parents to see some of those and
• 25:26
  being engaged and involved in things like that
• 25:30
  or seeing some of that. Yeah, exactly. We always
• 25:34
  go back to that families don't know what they
• 25:36
  don't know. And there's always that kind of,
• 25:40
  and I know you guys get it here, is that families
• 25:42
  are like, I didn't know she could do that. I
• 25:45
  didn't know she could do that. And it's not that
• 25:46
  they don't want them to do it. Maybe they never
• 25:49
  thought about. the opportunity to let them do
• 25:51
  that. You know, kids are hands -on learners.
• 25:55
  You know, you get all fancy and call it kinesthetic
• 25:57
  learning. But, you know, it's all about that
• 25:59
  hands -on learning. And I tell families a lot
• 26:02
  of times, it's like there was an episode of that
• 26:04
  show Big Bang Theory where there's these four
• 26:07
  uber -intelligent guys riding in a car together,
• 26:11
  and all of a sudden the car starts clunking.
• 26:13
  you know, and then it breaks down on the side
• 26:15
  of the road. And these four, like one of them's
• 26:17
  an astronaut. I mean, one of them's a doctor
• 26:19
  and a physicist. And they go, does anybody know
• 26:22
  anything about internal combustion engines? And
• 26:24
  they're like, yes, yes, we do. And then somebody
• 26:27
  goes, has anybody ever touched an internal combustion
• 26:29
  engine? They're like, no, no, because they've
• 26:32
  read about it, but they physically got to touch
• 26:35
  it. And that's the same with kids. We can tell
• 26:36
  them all the stuff that they want, but when they
• 26:39
  get to do it hands -on and learn. And mess up.
• 26:42
  I mean, I'd like to say that in early childhood,
• 26:45
  we're champion mistake makers. Because we learn
• 26:48
  from those mistakes. Most adults, given a brand
• 26:51
  new skill, are not going to get it right the
• 26:53
  first time. And that's okay. They're going to
• 26:56
  spill some milk when they're pouring, but eventually
• 26:59
  they'll get it. Now, I'll be honest, even as
• 27:01
  an adult, I'll spill some milk sometimes. And
• 27:03
  that's okay. Because what we learn from that
• 27:05
  is, well, now we clean it up and try again. Yeah,
• 27:09
  that spill milk thing. You know, because a lot
• 27:14
  of parents don't want to have to clean up, but
• 27:16
  you still got to clean up after you get done.
• 27:18
  Go ahead and let them, you know. And, yeah, it's
• 27:21
  so funny. And that's learning. Nico's throwing
• 27:23
  away stuff in the trash, and they're like, oh,
• 27:25
  my God, he knows what we're saying. Like, yeah,
• 27:28
  because he's doing it every day when he gets
• 27:30
  his diaper changed. He's changing, throwing his
• 27:32
  paper towel away. So, yeah. It's just funny.
• 27:35
  I love it. This makes me want to go to the classroom
• 27:39
  and be like, let's learn something today. So
• 27:43
  do you have any children? I do. You mentioned
• 27:48
  some type of parenting. What kind of parent are
• 27:51
  you? That's a good question. You know, so my
• 27:54
  kids are 13 and 7 now. And when we were when
• 27:59
  my wife found out she was pregnant with our first
• 28:01
  child. And everybody was just like, oh, you guys
• 28:04
  are going to be great parents with your background
• 28:07
  in early childhood and her background and counseling
• 28:11
  psychology. And she's way smarter than I am.
• 28:14
  They were like, you guys are going to be great
• 28:16
  parents. And I said, eh. Maybe, you know, because
• 28:18
  everything that I've learned, it kind of starts
• 28:21
  when they start child care, which in the state
• 28:23
  of Kentucky, that's six weeks. Nobody told me
• 28:25
  about day one through day five weeks and six
• 28:29
  days, an hour, many hours. So, I mean, it's a
• 28:32
  learning curve for everybody. It's a shock. And,
• 28:36
  you know, it is just like the classroom where,
• 28:38
  you know, you learn you learn as much as you
• 28:40
  can with the first child. And you're like, okay,
• 28:42
  I got this. Second child comes along, it's totally
• 28:44
  different. You know, same with the classroom.
• 28:47
  Some years, you get everything done. You're like,
• 28:49
  all right, we're firing on all cylinders. I'm
• 28:52
  going to do the exact same thing next year. next
• 28:53
  year rolls around you do it and it just falls
• 28:56
  apart nothing's happening right you know all
• 28:58
  the all the laminating all the saving you did
• 29:01
  all the themes kids don't like the themes that
• 29:03
  you did this year and that's you just learn you
• 29:06
  gotta learn uh as much as you can and so we tell
• 29:08
  teachers uh you know it's important to have as
• 29:11
  many tools in your bag in your tool bag as possible
• 29:15
  It sounds like you read up about the combustible
• 29:17
  engine. Yeah, I still can't fix one, but, yeah,
• 29:20
  I know all about it, man. I mean, but that's
• 29:23
  how it is. It's just getting in there. And we
• 29:26
  have to give ourselves grace to say, you know,
• 29:30
  we're going to make some mistakes. Preferably
• 29:32
  we won't make the same mistakes that we went
• 29:34
  through, but we are going to make mistakes. And
• 29:37
  we're going to learn from those, and our children
• 29:39
  are going to excel. So it's just embracing it.
• 29:43
  So what I want, if we could give parents some
• 29:47
  resources to maybe some apps that are good for
• 29:51
  early childhood. Sure. So we get this question
• 29:54
  a lot. At least once a week, we get folks from
• 30:00
  all walks of life, from new families, seasoned
• 30:03
  families that have had kids to kind of the higher
• 30:06
  academics. They're like, what's the best computer
• 30:09
  program or app out there to teach young kids
• 30:13
  to learn? And it's not the most popular answer,
• 30:17
  but what we tell them is the best app that we
• 30:19
  have out there is a lap. And that is a child
• 30:22
  with a book in their lap. The child may be in
• 30:26
  your lap as well because they're not just kind
• 30:29
  of reading that book. They're also kind of connecting
• 30:32
  with an adult there. You know, there's the social
• 30:34
  emotional piece. There's that physical piece.
• 30:36
  There's that that that mental piece that's there
• 30:38
  while they're learning. And, you know, studies
• 30:41
  show that, you know, kind of birth to five, you
• 30:43
  know, screens and apps aren't the greatest for
• 30:46
  kids. That's a whole nother episode we could
• 30:49
  do. But, and I understand that nowadays, you
• 30:52
  know, you can't get away from them. Right. But
• 30:55
  if you have the opportunity, the best app we
• 30:57
  have out there is a lap. And that's reading with
• 30:59
  a child, engaging, asking questions, and even
• 31:02
  reliving some of those. books and stories that
• 31:05
  they had as a child that the child may not have
• 31:07
  heard. For example, we've been talking to a lot
• 31:10
  of younger families, and one of the things that
• 31:13
  they don't know a lot about and would like to
• 31:15
  are nursery rhymes because those kind of got
• 31:17
  phased out. Now, we were raised on them, right?
• 31:20
  I mean, everything from the cadence of words
• 31:22
  to hand clapping to syllables, that is something
• 31:25
  they didn't get that they would love to do again.
• 31:29
  You know, and again, not a lot of there's not
• 31:31
  a lot of brand new ideas in early childhood.
• 31:33
  They just we just got to, you know, look back
• 31:35
  and see what worked and kind of refresh what's
• 31:37
  there. I love that. Yeah, that is that is awesome.
• 31:41
  I just. I appreciate the work that you do. I
• 31:45
  appreciate you guys, man. I can't wait to get
• 31:48
  to your five guys. Listen, if one of us ever
• 31:53
  wins the lottery, Cam and I, there'll be signs.
• 31:57
  Like there'll be a new five guys popping up in
• 32:00
  town. There'll be signs for sure. Is there anything
• 32:03
  that our listeners can look out for, whether
• 32:06
  Fayette County has any? engagement events or
• 32:10
  anything for early childhood that you will want
• 32:13
  our listeners to either come and support? Yeah,
• 32:16
  I mean, one of the things so, you know, one of
• 32:18
  the things that I've been very lucky to be a
• 32:20
  part of is this First Five Lex initiative that's
• 32:23
  through Fayette County Schools. But it's a it's
• 32:26
  a community collaborative group. I mean, there
• 32:29
  are everybody that's on this group has a vested
• 32:32
  interest in early childhood. And, you know, it's
• 32:35
  one of those things that we either all get credit
• 32:37
  or nobody gets credit. We either succeed altogether
• 32:41
  or fail altogether, you know. And so one of the
• 32:46
  things that we like to do is we've learned that.
• 32:50
  You know, sharing resources, each other's resources
• 32:53
  is just as beneficial as only sharing ours, more
• 32:57
  beneficial than just sharing ours. It's kind
• 32:59
  of like, you know, helping somebody else's light
• 33:01
  shine does not diminish your light at all. Right.
• 33:04
  And so what we found is that, you know, hey,
• 33:06
  I'm going to I'm going to tell everybody about
• 33:07
  community actions event. They're going to tell
• 33:10
  me they're going to tell us, you know, they're
• 33:11
  going to tell everybody about. Fayette County's
• 33:13
  events, we're going to tell everybody about the
• 33:14
  library's events and vice versa. And we found
• 33:17
  that that partnership just helps families grow
• 33:19
  even more. There's that wraparound engagement
• 33:22
  and learning and all those kind of things. So,
• 33:25
  I mean, hitting up the First 5 Licks Facebook
• 33:27
  page or website to connect you to other resources
• 33:31
  around town are great. What is that website?
• 33:35
  So, first5licks .com. Or find us on Facebook
• 33:39
  at First 5 Lex. All right. Thank you for being
• 33:43
  here today. We really had a good time. Yes. You
• 33:47
  have been listening to Look Who's Talking.