Announcing Second Audrey Duck Video. DEY's Summer Institute to be virtual. Staff changes at DEY. And much more.

May 2020 Update

Working for a just,

equitable, and quality

early childhood education

for every young child.

DEY's Newest Audrey Duck Video

We are proud to introduce our second Audrey Duck video, "Audrey Duck Tells Dr. Susan Linn, 'I'm Tired of the Virus!'"

This video focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on young children's social-emotional health and what the COVID experience continues to be like for young children. Dr. Linn also models how to talk to young children about what they are experiencing.

Find the first video here, "Audrey Duck and Dr. Susan Linn Talk About the Cornonavirus."

Note that children ages 3-8 can video chat with Audrey Duck. Email AudreyDDuck@gmail.com to find out more.

DEY's COVID-19 Resources

In response to the Coronavirus and the shelter-in-place orders in most states, we launched a series of resources for parents and educators to help them navigate the needs of young children. On our COVID-19 Resource Page, you will find our guide, plus three new and important blogs. All three blogs discuss dealing with the various aspects of the virus and its impact on young children and their families.

Denisha Jones, Ph.D., J.D., DEY's Co-Director, wrote two blogs: Opting-Out of Remote Schooling and Opting-In to Play is an Option All Parents Can Choose and

Making the Best Out of Remote Schooling: Ideas for Encouraging Children's Play at Home.

Mary Bell, M.M., M.A.T., a teacher, writer, and consultant in Illinois, imagines what school for young children might look like in the fall and asks some important questions, in her blog Protecting Play and Inquiry in a Socially Distant World.

Finally, Denisha was featured in Network for Public Educations, A Conversation with Diane Ravitch, Denisha Jones and Susan Ochshorn: Early Childhood Education in the Time of the Coronavirus.

DEY's Institute

Due to COVID-19, DEY's Second Summer Institute will now be virtual. It will continue to be a three-day event with expert panelists on each day, but held online from 4-6 pm EDT. And now, the Institute will be free to all participants.

Stay tuned for dates, topics, structure and registration details to be announced soon.

DEY Announces Staff Changes

DEY recently announced that Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin is stepping down as Co-Director of Defending the Early Years and Denisha Jones has been named its new Co-Director. Both serve with Co-Director Blakely Bundy.

Geralyn became Director of DEY in 2012, shortly after its founding. Under her leadership, DEY has grown in size and impact. Geralyn was a co-author of DEY's first report, "Reading Instruction in Kindergarten: Little to Gain and Much to Lose" in 2014 and also appeared in a video about the report's findings. Geralyn has expertly represented DEY in a myriad of different ways - presenting at conferences, writing articles, posting on social media, leading advocacy efforts, appearing in videos, and facilitating DEY's first Summer Institute, among many others.

Always balancing her DEY work with a full-time teaching job, Geralyn was named Co-Teacher/Leader at Mission Hill School in Boston in July, 2019. As that job has increased her school responsibilities, she made the decision to step down from her role at DEY. We at DEY salute Geralyn for her many accomplishments and her significant impact on our organization and want her to know how much we will miss her!

Denisha Jones, Ph.D., J.D., has been named Co-Director, joining Blakely Bundy in that leadership role. Denisha's should be a familiar name to DEY followers, as she has not only been DEY's Director of Early Childhood Organizing for the past two years, but also writes a monthly blog for DEY.

Denisha Jones is also the Director of the Art of Teaching Program at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the interim Assistant Executive Director for the Badass Teachers Association, as well.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from the University of the District of Columbia, Dr. Jones worked as a kindergarten and preschool teacher, and a preschool director. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana University in 2013. In 2018, she earned her Juris Doctor from the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia.

As an effective education justice advocate and a relentless activist, DEY is thrilled to welcome Denisha to her new role!

DEY Leadership

Board of Directors

Nancy Carlsson-Paige

Founder and Senior Advisor

Diane Levin

Founder and Senior Advisor

Marcy Guddemi

DEY Treasurer

Co-Directors

Blakely Bundy

Denisha Jones

PR and Marketing Consultants

Katherine Fligg

Nancy Retherford

National Advisory Board

Erika Christakis

Sherry Cleary

Bill Crain

Stephanie Feeney

Doris Pronin Fromberg

Ayla Gavins

Michelle Gunderson

Ed Klugman

Susan Linn

Deborah Meier

Ruth Rodriguez-Fay

James St. Clair

Judith Van Hoorn

Founding National Advisory Board

Constance Kamii

Lilian Katz

Maurice Sykes

Defending the Early Years, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Donations are tax deductible. Our Tax ID: 82-4308558

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Defending the Early Years

www.dey.org