Stumbling Through Work

Dr. Jerek Hough
  • 5.0 (11)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Semiweekly

Working in education is to stumble through your everyday! We love what we do, but staff, families, policies, regulations and sometimes even the children make us quit everyday then come back the next day. Just remember, you are not in this alone.

  1. 2d ago

    Degrees, Drama, and Daycare: Confidence Is Not Competence

    Send us Fan Mail Viral debates about who “counts” as an expert can feel like entertainment, until you realize early childhood education lives with the consequences. I start with the online credibility mess and pull it back to the question directors, teachers, and families face every day: who do we trust, and why. Confidence sells, but children deserve competence, evidence, and leaders who refuse to outsource their judgment. From there, I dig into Indiana’s proposed childcare licensing changes and the bigger workforce crisis underneath them. When staffing is tight, do we invest in a career pipeline or quietly lower expectations and call it “access”? We talk professionalization in ECE, what qualifications are actually for, and the practical supports that keep people in the field: mentoring, onboarding, coaching, scholarships, paid training, better wages, and realistic career growth that does not automatically mean becoming the director. Then we switch gears into consent, context, and privacy. A photo release is not a blank check, and “but it’s cute” is not an ethical standard. I break down what informed consent should look like for child photos, staff images, testimonials, and marketing, plus why AI tools raise new privacy risks for observations, incident reports, and family communication. If you lead a program, work in a classroom, or simply care about how childcare operates, this one will sharpen your radar. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review so more educators can find the show. Follow me : Website:  https://www.abbreviatedlearning.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abbreviatedlearning Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abbreviatedlearning

  2. 6d ago

    Career Corner: The Real Signs It’s Time To Quit Your Job

    Send us Fan Mail Follow me : Website:  https://www.abbreviatedlearning.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abbreviatedlearning Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abbreviatedlearning

  3. Jul 21

    From Toy Story To Tablets: What Screen Research Really Says

    Send us Fan Mail Toy Story 5 has everyone arguing about kids and screens again and I want to pull this conversation back to reality. Screen time isn’t automatically “good” or “bad,” and the research doesn’t support bumper-sticker parenting. What matters is context: what children watch, who watches with them, what you talk about after, and what the screen replaces. A family movie that sparks pretend play, drawing, building, and storytelling is a very different experience than hours of algorithm-driven videos meant to keep kids quiet. From there, we shift into the part of early childhood education leadership that keeps directors up at night: safety and trust. One staff decision can undo years of credibility, and what destroys families’ confidence fastest isn’t always the mistake, it’s the cover-up. I talk about supervision that goes beyond quick walk-throughs, why culture is what happens when you’re not in the room, and why “years of experience” can still hide years of bad habits if nobody is coaching and correcting. Then we go where many programs need to grow: representation that isn’t seasonal. If Black culture only shows up in February, children learn that story too. I break down how year-round representation supports identity, belonging, and respect through books, classroom visuals, dolls, newsletters, and everyday curriculum choices that reflect the world as it actually exists. We also answer listener questions about sick leave pressure and stepping into an assistant director role, plus practical leadership basics like first impressions for families and onboarding for new staff. We close with a clear policy reminder on background checks and why ongoing screening matters, followed by quick childcare industry headlines on funding and subsidy rates. Subscribe, share the episode with a director or teacher who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Follow me : Website:  https://www.abbreviatedlearning.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abbreviatedlearning Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abbreviatedlearning

  4. Apr 21

    Child Care Is Not Okay

    Send us Fan Mail We break down the newest NAEYC workforce survey data and call out the real reason child care keeps teetering on the edge: the money does not match the expectations. Then we get practical about leadership restraint, parent trust, messy staff conflict, hiring for reliability, and policies that keep you out of legal trouble. Follow me : Website:  https://www.abbreviatedlearning.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abbreviatedlearning Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abbreviatedlearning

  5. Apr 14

    Don’t End Up On The News

    Send us Fan Mail Something is deeply broken when a childcare worker thinks it’s acceptable to punish a crying child with humiliation and confinement. We react to a North Carolina daycare case under investigation and say the quiet part out loud: abuse is abuse, and leadership can’t hide behind “training” or “being overwhelmed.” If you run a center, the real question isn’t only who gets fired. It’s how your environment, supervision, and staff culture either block harm or make room for it.  From there, we shift into the daily leadership habits that decide whether families trust you. If you don’t know children’s and parents’ names, you’re not building relationships, you’re managing transactions. We break down why name recognition changes child behavior, improves emotional safety, and boosts retention, plus a practical system for learning hundreds of names without excuses.  Then it gets messy in the way early childhood education always does: break room talk that a coworker repeats in front of kids, parents hearing “sugar daddy” rumors at pickup, and how to respond without oversharing or feeding gossip. We also talk daycare policies that protect everyone, like diaper requirements for non-potty-trained toddlers, hiring signals that predict chaos, and the employee classification rules that prevent benefits drama and “Brenda” situations.  If you care about daycare safety, childcare leadership, staff training, and real-world center management, hit play. Subscribe, share with a director who needs this, and leave a review so more educators can find the show. Follow me : Website:  https://www.abbreviatedlearning.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abbreviatedlearning Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abbreviatedlearning

  6. Apr 7

    The Government Keeps Changing The Rules And Providers Pay The Price

    Send us Fan Mail They say it’s about fraud, but the numbers don’t match the panic. The federal government is rolling back key Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) rules, pushing child care subsidy payments back toward attendance-based billing and away from enrollment-based payments and advance pay. If you’ve ever tried to run a classroom, a center, or a small family daycare, you already know what that means: a sick kid becomes lost revenue, a vacation becomes a budget hole, and a no-call no-show somehow becomes your financial problem while rent, payroll, and food bills stay the same. I break down why this kind of child care funding whiplash keeps early childhood education unstable, and why child care should be treated like infrastructure instead of a welfare-style program with constantly shifting rules. Then we pivot into the real-world leadership piece that directors actually feel every day: your staff “not communicating” and your parents “being difficult” often points to people leadership, not a staffing problem. Presence matters. Clear, calm communication matters. Building ownership matters, especially if you’re tired of being the bottleneck for every tiny decision. Follow me : Website:  https://www.abbreviatedlearning.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abbreviatedlearning Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abbreviatedlearning

  7. Mar 31

    Are We Building Child Care Systems Or Seats

    Send us Fan Mail NYC is pushing toward universal city-run child care, and depending on who you ask, it’s either a long-overdue lifeline or a wrecking ball aimed at private programs. I’m holding both truths at once: expanding access can change family budgets, boost workforce participation, and bring better early childhood education wages and standards. But if we ignore what makes child care actually run, we’re about to learn the hard way that good intentions don’t operate a system. We break down the real trade-offs behind universal childcare policy: market displacement when “free” enters the room, fewer provider choices over time, and the uncomfortable question of long-term public funding sustainability. Then we get to the point that decides success or failure: childcare infrastructure. Not vibes. Physical space, staffing pipelines, training, coaching, enrollment systems, compliance tracking, leadership capacity, and all the unglamorous operational work that keeps quality from collapsing when scaling up. Follow me : Website:  https://www.abbreviatedlearning.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abbreviatedlearning Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abbreviatedlearning

  8. Mar 24

    Circle Time With Lenny Endsley

    Send us Fan Mail They promised families Disneyland, but too often educators are running a parking lot carnival on max ratio and pure willpower. We sit down for Circle Time with Lenny, a longtime educator with deep early childhood education experience and current middle school perspective, to get brutally honest about what makes childcare centers burn people out and what finally helps teachers breathe again. Follow me : Website:  https://www.abbreviatedlearning.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abbreviatedlearning Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abbreviatedlearning

See All (86)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Working in education is to stumble through your everyday! We love what we do, but staff, families, policies, regulations and sometimes even the children make us quit everyday then come back the next day. Just remember, you are not in this alone.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Jerek Hough
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    86
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Stumbling Through Work
  • Show Website
    Stumbling Through Work