Supporting the

Rights & Needs of Young Children

Defending the Early Years

DEY’s Primary Goals

  • To advocate at the grassroots, local, state, regional, and federal levels for education policies based on child development theory and research.
  • To mobilize the early childhood community to speak up for age-appropriate standards, assessments, and classroom practices that are based on research.
  • To promote appropriate practices in early childhood classrooms and to support educators in counteracting policies and practices that undermine whole child health and optimal learning.
Three girls playing tug of war

DEY’s Mission

Our mission is to work for just, equitable, and quality early childhood education and care for every young child. We inform educators, administrators, and parents about how children develop and learn best. We advocate for active, playful, experiential
approaches to learning informed by child development theory and evidence-based research.

What’s New at DEY?

Upcoming Programming
1

We are thrilled to share our upcoming course for the DEY Reflective Practitioner Series- Racial Identity in the Early Years: A Framework for Educators, Caregivers, and Parents. After our free introductory webinar, subscribers can delve deeper into the framework, through our three month course.

The Reflective Practitioner Series is a subscription-based Professional Learning Community where we explore how reflective practices can improve our ability to advocate for just, equitable early childhood education for all young children and their families. For $25 a month, you will receive access to the course materials including live Zoom discussions, videos, reflective workbooks, and more! Scholarships available!

Blue background with text: "DEY Professional Learning Institute. Reflective Practitioner Series. Racial Identity in the Early Years: A Framework for Educators, Caregivers, and Parents. Presented by Defending the Early Years.
Free Webinar on Newly Released Framework
1

You’re invited to learn more about the release of a newly published framework from DEY. Fostering Healthy Identity Development in Young Children: Affirming Race, Culture, and Ethnicity in the Early Years is a framework for early childhood educators, caregivers, and parents to understand how racial identity develops and to support healthy development in the early years.  As part of the national Black Lives Matter at  School (BLMAS) Week of Action, we are hosting a webinar on Tuesday, February 4th at 7 pm. Register today!!

Check out the 2025 BLMAS Week of Action here!

And the DEY 2025 BLMAS Resource List here!

Join us for a webinar titled "Framework for Fostering Healthy Racial Identity in the Early Years," featuring Denisha Jones. Scheduled for Tuesday, February 4th at 7:00 PM EST, this session supports defending the early years. Registration link included.
DEY Podcast, Dialogues and Banned Book Club Features
1

We are excited to announce the return of the DEY Podcast with Kisha Reid. We launched the podcast in 2021, and it was an instant success. In February 2024, Kisha announced that she was taking a hiatus as she opened her new outdoor learning program. We could not wait to welcome her back, and we look forward to sharing Episode 26 very soon! In the meantime, check out Episode 13, Really Seeing Children with Deb Curtis!

YouTube video

The DEY Podcast with Kisha Reid is a monthly discussion-styled show featuring educators, advocates and other changemakers about their grassroots projects, innovations in education and reimagining early childhood environments. Our goal is to amplify these voices so we can all learn and work toward a more equitable and playful environment for children. Check out all episodes here.

Check out our latest DEY Dialogue: Love Letter to Children.  Denisha talks with Carla Shalaby about her Love Letter to Children on the day after the election.

 

 

YouTube video

Moderated by DEY Executive Director Denisha Jones, these dialogues aim to inspire and reaffirm our dedication to protecting and nurturing childhood. Join us in this important mission of defending childhood and advocating for the well-being of society’s youngest members.

Check out our previous dialogues on quality in ECEC, resisting book bans, and concerns about the Science of Reading here.

Educator, author, and parent Jesse Hagopian features Rosa by Nikki Giovanni for our latest Banned Book Club feature. In honor of the great poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, we are thrilled to share one of her many children’s books with you.

Jesse’s newest book, Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education, was published by Haymarket Books on January 14th, 2025. Watch the trailer here and order your copy today.

YouTube video

DEY continues to resist the attempts to censor children’s literature that explores race, gender, sexual orientation, and the truth about our country’s history. Each month, we will feature a banned early childhood book that we encourage you to read to the children in your life.

Are you interested in sharing a banned book? Email denishajones@dey.org.

Announcements
1
Promotional image for the 7th Annual Summer Institute by DEY, June 23-25th, featuring a photo of children playing with blocks. Join us in defending the early years and celebrate the joy and importance of play in child development.

The next phase in our campaign to Restore the Link Between High Quality and Child Development is to publish short campaign statements highlighting what we know supports child development. These brief statements will help you advocate for polices and practices based in supporting optimal whole child development!

Would you like to contribute to a statement? We’d love to include your stories related to our statement.  You can share your thoughts by filling out each of these Google Forms that have specific questions for campaign statements 1-5 and6-10. You can also email your thoughts to denishajones@dey.org.

Click here to read and endorse our sign on statement.

Text titled "What We Know About Child Development," featuring ten key points about children's learning and developmental needs, emphasizes defending the early years as crucial for building a strong foundation.
DIALOGUES. PUBLICATIONS. RESOURCES
Governor Signs Bills Impacting Michigan Teachers

Governor Signs Bills Impacting Michigan Teachers

The bills signed by Governor Whitmer would impact teachers’ unions, pay in Michigan’s largest school district, and could help lure…

A group of people standing in a line inside a classroom with wooden desks and large windows in the background.

Promoting Play for Refugee Children: Kyegegwa district of Uganda.

The project aim was to improve on how children learn in primary schools by promoting, increasing and sustaining the use of learning through play techniques by teachers, parents, education managers who surround and interact with refugee children at school, home and in refugee camps.

A teacher reads a book to a group of attentive young children seated on the floor in a classroom.

The fallacy of settled science in literacy

Originally published on February 4, 2023 by the Boston Globe The ‘science of reading’ movement has unnecessarily polarized public education….

Take Action
Stand With DEY
Become an Activist

DEY seeks to rally parents and educators to take action on policies affecting the education of young children, by encouraging them to speak out with well-reasoned arguments against inappropriate standards, assessments, and classroom practices.

Apply for Action Grant

DEY provides mini-grants of between $200 and $500 to individuals and organizations to help foster work in communities across the country. DEY’s first mini-grant, awarded in 2014, resulted in a rally for play that took place in Minneapolis.

Support
DEY

Are you concerned about the direction that education policy is going? We are, too!
Help DEY continue its important work advocating for appropriate education for young children. Please Consider Making a Donation.

A Brief Look at DEY’s impact.
0
K+
DEY has an active presence on Facebook, with over 10,000 followers, and on Twitter, with over 2,000 followers.
0
K+
Viewer traction of DEY produced videos also available on DEY’s YouTube channel.
0
+
Distinguished nationally and internationally-known early childhood experts and organizations.
0
K
DEY’s mini-grant impact on ensuring child-initiated play prospers
0
DEY issued comprehensive reports, position statements, and fact sheets in English and Spanish.
0
+
DEY’s reports, position papers, and op-eds have been quoted and published in the major national media and press.
DEY Newsletter

Stay informed about what’s happening at Defending the Early Years.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.