Rights & Needs of Young Children
Defending the Early Years
DEY’s Mission
approaches to learning informed by child development theory and evidence-based research.
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.
What’s New at DEY?
Dear DEY Community,
In 2012, three early childhood professionals agreed to form a nonprofit organization to give a voice to the concerns of early childhood educators, caregivers, and parents of young children about the impact of school reforms on the developing child. Those concerns included the adoption of the Common Core State Standards and their lack of alignment with child development research. They recognized the danger of pushing academics down into the early years, increasing standardized testing, and teaching to the test, and how these practices led to a decrease in time for hands-on, active learning and child-directed play. And they knew that others shared their concerns and desired a space to address them, through awareness and advocacy. Together, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Diane Levin, and Ed Miller launched Defending the Early Years (DEY).
For June, we are hosting our final two book talks! First, join us on Tuesday, June 2nd, at 7 pm EDT for a discussion with DEY National Advisor and early childhood advocate Kisa Marx about her new book, We Are Who We’re Waiting For: Transformative Change in Early Childhood Education.
Then, on June 10th, at 7 pm EDT, you’re invited to our final book talk with early childhood educator and researcher Alissa Mwenelupembe about her book, Stories of Resistance: Learning from Black Women in Early Care and Education.
We are thrilled to conclude our Research into Practice Book Talk series with two Black women early childhood authors in honor of the Black Lives Matter at School Year of Purpose Black Women guiding principle for the month of June!
Kisha Reid and Madeline discuss the impact of freedom on human development. Madeline shares about her journey homeschooling from the jungle to the forest. She gives practical tools for parents to offer play and nature to their children. Madeleine is a former teacher at Discovery Natural Learning Center. She is a play and movement enthusiast who unschools her two young children and currently hosts forest play and homeschool groups.
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.
For April, our Diversity Is Not Divisive Resource is the book Seeing Ourselves in Nature: Stories for Educators and Children of Indigenous, Black, and Other People of the Global Majority. In this book, editor “Jessica Fong asks how Black and Brown educators in the United States create space for predominantly Black and Brown children and families to reconnect to nature. Recognizing the scarcity of stories from people of the global majority in the predominantly white literature surrounding nature education in the United States, Fong sought out thirteen other educators of color to share their rich and profound experiences with young children in nature. Sharing these stories is a first step in the long road to making nature education equitable for all children.”
Our latest DEY Dialogue: Discussions in Defense of Childhood, Denisha spoke with Dr. Katie Sloan on resisting fascism in early childhood education and care.
Her article Mapping American Fascist Tendencies and Pedagogical Responsibility in Early Childhood Education was published in Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education in 2026. You can access her article here.
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 to defend childhood and advocate for the well-being of society’s youngest members.
Did you miss the livestream? You can catch up on all our DEY Dialogues here.
We’re thrilled to announce the release of our resource for the campaign, In Defense of ECEC: Restoring the Link Between High Quality and Child Development. This advocacy toolkit is a powerful new resource designed to equip early childhood educators, advocates, and leaders with clear, compelling messaging that links what we know about child development to what we do in practice and policy.
Click on the image to download the toolkit, and you can watch the webinar recording below.
You can also download individual pages for each topic covered in the toolkit!
DEY has released a framework to support early childhood educators, caregivers, and parents in supporting young children’s healthy racial identity development. Fostering Healthy Identity Development in Young Children: Affirming Race, Culture, and Ethnicity in the Early Years is a framework designed for early childhood educators, caregivers, and parents to understand the development of racial identity and support healthy development in the early years. Click the image to download the framework.
Click on the image to download the framework, and you can watch the introductory webinar recording below.
Also, check out the DEY 2025 BLMAS Resource List here!
From the American Library Association 2/26/2026 In response to H.R. 7661, introduced on February 24, American Library Association President Sam Helmick…
Denisha talks with hosts of the Liberated Learning Podcast, Kisa Marx and Mike Huber.
For April, our Diversity Is Not Divisive Resource is the book Seeing Ourselves in Nature: Stories for Educators and Children of Indigenous, Black, and Other People of the Global Majority. In this book, editor “Jessica Fong asks how Black and Brown educators in the United States create space for predominantly Black and Brown children and families to reconnect to nature. Recognizing the scarcity of stories from people of the global majority in the predominantly white literature surrounding nature education in the United States, Fong sought out thirteen other educators of color to share their rich and profound experiences with young children in nature. Sharing these stories is a first step in the long road to making nature education equitable for all children.”
Kisha Reid and Madeleine discuss the impact of freedom on human development. Madeline shares about her journey home schooling from the jungle to the forest. She gives practical tools for parents to offer play and nature to their children.
Madeleine is a former teacher at Discovery Natural Learning Center. She is a play and movement enthusiast who unschools her two young children and currently hosts forest play homeschool groups. When not holding space for play, she is an active birth worker. She approaches each of these roles with a desire for humans to find liberation in remaining connected to their inner authority and authentic nature.
The project served as community-level advocacy by translating child development theory into practical, visible learning experiences. It reinforced the importance of developmentally appropriate practices that should inform early childhood education policies and decision-making.
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.
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.
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.