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Little Stories That Stick Helping early childhood educators build early literacy through play, oral language, and storytelling. Research-informed. Developmentally responsive.

Practical strategies that make literacy visible in everyday play. Founded by Laura Shea.

I’ve been deep into neurographic doodling lately, usually while listening to an audiobook. Doodling keeps my hands busy ...
09/29/2026

I’ve been deep into neurographic doodling lately, usually while listening to an audiobook. Doodling keeps my hands busy while the book keeps my mind occupied. It’s the kind of break my business-owning, ADHD, homeschooling-mom self needs.

The other day, I found my daughter sitting in my chair with a notebook that resembled my journal, some of my art tools, and her Yoto player beside her. She was listening to a book while making her own intentional patterns.

I hadn’t invited her to join me or taught her how to do it. She had simply watched me return to something I genuinely enjoyed often enough that it became an idea she could take up for herself.

In classrooms, we often hear, “They copied me!” Sometimes they did copy exactly. But often, a child saw something another person was doing and felt inspired to explore it too. They encountered a new idea, technique, or way of using materials and wanted to try it themselves.

Children don’t only learn from what we intentionally prepare and teach. They also learn from seeing the people around them read, write, make, wonder, and create for their own reasons.

Not everything we model for children needs to become a lesson.

What is something you genuinely enjoy that the children in your life have watched you do? Have they ever taken it up for themselves?

I used to be really good at finding teachable moments.A child made a mark? I could talk about letters or writing.They sa...
09/28/2026

I used to be really good at finding teachable moments.

A child made a mark? I could talk about letters or writing.

They said something that rhymed? I could extend it.

They were telling a story? I had a question I could ask.

I thought noticing the opportunity was what made me an intentional teacher.

Now, noticing is where my thinking starts.

Because just because I can teach something in a moment doesn't mean the child needs me to.

So I'm trying to ask different questions.

- What am I actually noticing?
- What might this child be working on or trying to figure out?
- Is there something I know about their development that matters here?

And then:

Does this moment need anything from me?

Sometimes the answer is yes.

I might model something. Add language. Ask a question. Explicitly teach. Offer a material. Help them do something they couldn't yet do alone.

And sometimes the answer is no.

I might watch. Listen. Remember what I saw. See if it happens again.

The shift hasn't been from teaching to not teaching.

It's been from assuming that noticing an opportunity means I should act on it, to slowing down long enough to decide.

And that pause has become one of the most important parts of my teaching.

This is the thinking behind my Notice → Name → Decide framework.

If you want a tool to help you practice it with the children you work with, comment NND and I'll send you my free Reflection Tool.

And if you're wondering about something that happened in your own work... what you noticed, what you decided to do, whether you'd do it differently next time, or just a question you can't stop thinking about... bring it to my Wednesday Office Hours.

Comment or DM your question anytime, and I'll respond with a personal voice note Wednesday between 12–3 PM ET.

I used to think my role was pretty clear when a child repeatedly dumped materials: help them understand how the material...
09/22/2026

I used to think my role was pretty clear when a child repeatedly dumped materials: help them understand how the materials were supposed to be used.

But I had already decided what the materials were for, what the child should be doing with them, and that good teaching meant helping them get there.

I wasn't “listening.”

The more I began to notice what children were doing, name how it connected to their development, and then PAUSE before deciding what to do next... the more I actually learned about the children in front of me.

This is the same thought process I go through as I notice a child making up a song about p**p, I watch them draw on a wall, or see them collecting books in a pile.

I slow down and listen.

I really notice what they’re doing, without judgment and without intervening.

Because I can stop the p**p song. I can tell them we only draw on paper. I can make them put the books back on the shelf.

But if that’s where my thinking ends, I still don’t know what they were showing me.

And I can’t make a very thoughtful decision about how to support their language and literacy if I haven’t taken the time to understand what they’re actually doing.

This is the kind of thinking we practice inside the Play-Led Literacy Lab. We bring the actual moments—the dumping, the p**p songs, the writing on the wall, the pile of books—and slow them down together.

If you want ongoing support practicing this, DM me LAB.

Or if you have one moment you’re trying to make sense of, send it my way for Wednesday Office Hours. I’m answering questions by voice note from 12–3 PM ET.

Both can tell me something.If I ask a child to write their name, spell a word, label a picture, or tell me what sound th...
09/22/2026

Both can tell me something.

If I ask a child to write their name, spell a word, label a picture, or tell me what sound they hear, I can learn something from their response.

And this is information I need.

But I'm also paying very close attention to what happens when I didn't ask.

- The sign they decide their fort needs.
- The note they leave because they need me to remember something.
- The list that becomes necessary for their game.
- The marks they make because they have an idea they want someone else to understand.

Those moments give me different information.

Not only about what a child can do, but about what they understand literacy is for.

They know writing can carry a message.

They know marks can represent ideas.

They know print can help them solve a problem, communicate with someone who isn't there, organize their play, or preserve something they don't want forgotten.

And because the reason for writing belongs to them, I often get to see things I wouldn't have thought to ask for.

That's why I'm becoming less interested in asking:

“How can I get them to write?”

and more interested in:

“When are they already finding reasons to write?”

Then I can pay attention to what those moments tell me and decide what support might actually be useful next.

That's what I mean when I say I don't want to just add literacy to play.

I want to recognize when literacy is already becoming useful within it.

Want a way to practice looking at children's play this way?

Comment NND and I'll send you my free Notice → Name → Decide Reflection Tool.

We talk a lot about giving educators more strategies.More ways to extend play.More materials to add.More questions to as...
09/16/2026

We talk a lot about giving educators more strategies.

More ways to extend play.

More materials to add.

More questions to ask.

More things to do.

But this study caught my attention for a different reason.

Researchers trained 39 early childhood educators to more closely observe, assess, and support children's developing play skills. After the training, educators reported significant gains in their beliefs, knowledge, and ability to do that work.

But here's the part I'm especially interested in:

A smaller group continued practicing the observation and assessment process for 16 weeks.

And they showed additional gains.

That makes me think about how we approach professional learning in early childhood.

Because knowing that play matters isn't the same as knowing what you're looking at when a child plays.

And learning a framework for observation isn't the same as becoming skilled at using it.

That takes practice.

Looking closely.

Trying to name what you see.

Thinking about what it might tell you.

Deciding what, if anything, you would do next.

And then doing it again with another child, another moment, another kind of play.

The study wasn't about literacy specifically. It focused on educators' ability to identify and support discrete play skills, and the outcomes were primarily self-reported, so I don't want to stretch its findings beyond what was actually studied.

But I think there's an important idea here for those of us thinking about literacy within play:

Maybe becoming better at recognizing learning in play isn't something we learn once. Maybe it's a skill we develop through practice.

That's a big part of why I've become so interested in giving educators opportunities to actually practice noticing, not just telling them what they should notice.

Want to practice this with something you're actually seeing?

Send me a moment, observation, or question from your work with children. My Wednesday Office Hours are 12-3pm EST, and I'll respond with a voice note.

Kuser, S., Haslip, M.J. Training Early Childhood Educators to Observe, Assess and Enhance Discrete Play Skills. Early Childhood Educ J (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-026-02228-2

When I say the Lab is a place to bring the questions that come up in your actual work, this is what I mean.Not hypotheti...
09/15/2026

When I say the Lab is a place to bring the questions that come up in your actual work, this is what I mean.

Not hypothetical situations.

The TikTok that suddenly makes you question everything you believe.

The parent question that causes your confidence to disappear.

The child making a sign while you’re needed in three other places.

The weekly update that has somehow become an essay because you want families to understand how much learning is happening.

We bring those moments into the Lab. We slow them down, examine what we know, look at the research when it’s useful, and think together about what makes sense for that child and that context.

Because recognizing literacy in play is one part of the work.

Knowing what to do with what you notice is another.

So, what are you trying to figure out right now?

My Wednesday Office Hours are 12–3 PM ET. Comment or DM your question anytime, and I’ll respond with a personal voice note on Wednesday.

I catch myself doing this more often than I’d like to admit.I notice something a child could practice.A sound we could p...
09/14/2026

I catch myself doing this more often than I’d like to admit.

I notice something a child could practice.

A sound we could pull apart.

A word we could write.

A question I could ask.

A skill I could reinforce.

And suddenly there’s this feeling that because I could teach it right now, maybe I should.

But sometimes, when I slow down enough to ask myself why I want to step in, the answer isn’t actually about the child.

It’s fear.

Are they getting enough?

Am I doing enough?

Should I be more intentional?

What if they aren’t ready for what’s coming next?

Those are real pressures. And knowing more about literacy development doesn’t necessarily make them disappear.

For me, it’s made the decision-making more important.

Because being able to identify a teachable moment isn’t the same thing as knowing that this is the moment I should teach.

Sometimes I decide to step in.

Sometimes I keep watching.

Sometimes I make a note of what I saw and come back to it later.

And sometimes I realize the child was already doing exactly what they needed to be doing before my teacher brain tried to turn it into something else.

Intentional teaching isn’t doing something with every opportunity.

It’s understanding enough about what you’re seeing to decide what—if anything—to do next.

And if there’s one of those decisions you’re wrestling with right now, send it to me.

My Wednesday Office Hours are 12–3 PM ET. Comment or DM your question anytime, and I’ll respond with a personal voice note on Wednesday.

I want to be really clear about something here.There was nothing wrong with these spaces.Books are good. Writing materia...
09/14/2026

I want to be really clear about something here.

There was nothing wrong with these spaces.

Books are good. Writing materials should be accessible. Environmental print matters. And there are absolutely times when I intentionally introduce materials because I think they might support something children are exploring.

What changed wasn't that I stopped being intentional about the environment.

It was that I stopped thinking my ability to put literacy into the environment was the same thing as children using literacy meaningfully within it.

Those are different things.

And I think I spent a lot of years getting really good at the first one.

I could look at a center and immediately think of all the ways to make it “literacy rich.”

What book could I add?

What signs could I make?

Where could I put a clipboard?

What could the children write?

Now I'm trying to stay curious a little longer.

What are the children actually doing here?

What are they trying to communicate?

What problems are coming up?

Where is literacy already serving their play?

And is there something I could offer that would actually help?

Sometimes the answer is still a clipboard.

But now I want to know why I'm putting it there.

That's the shift.

And if this brings up a question about something happening in your own classroom, send it my way. Wednesday Office Hours are 12–3 PM ET. Comment or DM me your question anytime, and I'll respond with a voice note during office hours.

For a long time, I put a lot of weight on what children showed me when I asked them to do something.Write your name.Play...
09/08/2026

For a long time, I put a lot of weight on what children showed me when I asked them to do something.

Write your name.

Play this letter game.

Draw a self portrait.

Tell me what sound this letter makes.

And those moments can give us useful information.

But I’ve become much more interested in what children show me when I didn’t ask.

The note they write because they need someone to remember something.

The story they create in dramatic play.

The sign they make because other children keep knocking down their structure.

The sounds they play with because a word made them laugh.

The marks they make because they have something they want to communicate.

That doesn’t mean I don’t assess. It doesn’t mean I don’t explicitly teach.

It means I don’t want the things children do because I asked them to to be my only window into what they know.

Sometimes the clearest evidence is already happening in front of me.

I just have to know how to see it.

And speaking of questions… I’m trying something new.

Every Wednesday from 12–3 PM, I’m opening up a few hours for questions. Think of it like Office Hours.

If there’s something you’re trying to figure out around play, literacy, something you’ve observed in a child, or even one of my posts that has you thinking, leave a question in the comments or send me a DM.

I’ll work my way through them on Wednesdays from 12–3 and respond with a voice note.

I think one of the hardest parts of teaching young children right now is that we know so much.We know phonemic awareness...
09/05/2026

I think one of the hardest parts of teaching young children right now is that we know so much.

We know phonemic awareness matters. We know children need to learn how sounds map to letters. We know explicit instruction matters.

And when you know those things matter, it can start to feel like every moment you're not practicing them is a missed opportunity.

I know that feeling because I still have it.

That's what was happening when I reached for that index card.

It wasn't that spelling monster would have been harmful. It wasn't even that practicing those sound-spelling relationships would have been inappropriate for this child.

It was that I hadn't made the decision based on anything she was showing me in that moment.

I had made it because a little voice in my head said, She needs more practice. You should be doing something.

And I think that's an important distinction.

Knowing more about literacy shouldn't mean we feel compelled to teach more in every moment.

It should help us make better decisions about what to teach, when to teach it, and when to leave a moment alone.

That's where Notice → Name → Decide has become so useful for me. It gives me something to come back to when that urgency creeps in:

What am I actually noticing?

What does it tell me?

And what, if anything, does this child need from me next?

If you want the free Reflection Tool, comment NND and I'll send it your way.

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