May 2022 Update

Working for a just,
equitable, and quality
early childhood education 
for every young child.
DEY's Summer Institute
Our Fourth Annual Summer Institute
is once again a virtual gathering of educators and early childhood activists.

June 27-29 from 4-6 pm ET.

Registration is FREE.
DEY's Monthly Blog
This year, we explore the intersection of equity, policy, and practice in early childhood education and care within our current local, national, and global landscapes.

How do we foster equity in our practices, curriculum, and pedagogy when lawmakers pass legislation prohibiting racial and gender equity in public institutions?

What can we do to advocate for the early childhood experiences every child deserves?

Where can we find examples of early care and education advocacy in action?

With all the research on child development, teaching, and learning, how can we utilize these findings to improve our practices and relationships with young children and their families?

We will explore these and other questions at the 2022 Summer Institute. Read More...
DEY Book Review
Bill Crain's wonderful new book Forever Young: How Six Great Individuals Have Drawn Upon the Powers of Childhood and How We Can Follow Their Lead is one that members of our DEY community will likely enjoy and benefit from reading, as I did.
  
Forever Young explores the childhood experiences of six extraordinary adults: Henry David Thoreau, Charlotte Bronte, Howard Thurman, Jane Goodall, and Rachel Carson. Each of these inspiring people who contributed so much to our world had childhood experiences and traits that carried into their later lives and fueled their contributions as adults. The biographies are thoroughly engaging and accessible, yet the messages embedded in them are profound and can lead us to insights about ourselves, our life values, and childhood in general.
 
Through the biographies, important themes emerge that were present in the childhoods of these extraordinary people: connecting with nature, perceiving nature with fresh senses, curiosity and wonder, imagination, play, sensing the interconnectivity of all beings, feeling at one with all life.  We see how these various qualities played an important role in the childhoods of the six people highlighted in the book, and how they continued to inspire and strengthen them throughout life. Their stories encourage us to reflect upon our own childhoods, how they are part of us now, and what we can do to keep these aspects of childhood alive in ourselves and foster them in the children we work and live with. (Review by Nancy Carlsson-Paige)
 
William Crane is professor of psychology, City College of New York, and a member of DEY's National Advisory Board.
The DEY Podcast with Kisha Reid
Don't miss "The DEY Podcast with Kisha Reid" available on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.

May's first podcast featured Leigh Anne Yuen, co-founder of Garden Gate Child Development Center on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Listen to the podcast here.

In the second podcast in May, Kisha interviews Alissa Mwenelupembe, NAEYC's Senior Director of Early Learning Program Accreditation, discussing "Advocating from Within." Find the podcast here.
Apply for a DEY Mini Grant
To All Early Childhood Advocates!

We encourage you to apply for a DEY mini grant. You will be awarded $200 and $500 to help you achieve your advocacy goals in your classroom, school, community, region, or state.

Our next deadline to review applications is June 1.

DEY awards 12 mini grants a year of up to $500 each for grassroots efforts to improve early childhood education in your community.

To learn more about applying for a DEY mini grant, click here.
Our Leadership
Board of Directors
Nancy Carlsson-Paige
Founder and Senior Advisor

Diane Levin
Founder and Senior Advisor

Geralyn Bywater
Treasurer
 
Kisha Reid
Board Member

Co-Directors
Blakely Bundy

Denisha Jones

Marketing Consultant
Katherine Fligg
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


Defending the Early Years