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I know it may sound Pollyanna-ish but I believe early childhood education can save the world! Not the current state of early childhood education drowning in the push down of academics and ignoring the power of play, but my vision of early childhood education that capitalizes on children’s unlimited imagination, boundless energy, endless curiosity, and faith in fairness to create a space where they can be free.

by Judith Van Hoorn, Pete Van Hoorn, and Rebecca Wheat “Our son Grant came over with some food for Cooke…

It is no secret that I am a play advocate. I believe in the power of play to support children’s…

by Mary Bell, M.M. MAT, has been inspired by young children’s wisdom, creativity, and sense of wonder throughout her 30…

Senator Stuart Adams of Utah recently endorsed Waterford Upstart Online “preschool” programs. We disagree and we sent a letter explaining…

by Jim St. Clair Jim St. Clair is a former kindergarten teacher in New York and Boston.  He is a…

It is a new year and we at Defending the Early Years are excited to continue our work promoting policies…

Denisha Jones and Marcy Guddemi led DEY’s Annual Organizing meeting, held during the NAEYC conference on November 23 in Nashville,…

It has been one year since I became the Director of Early Childhood Organizing for Defending the Early Years. Through…

Dr. Denisha Jones, DEY Director of Early Childhood Organizing, interviews Becky Slone. Becky Slone has worked in the field of…

  For my final reflection from the 1st True Play Conference in Anji, China, I want to discuss a theme…

Written by Erika Christakis, Early Childhood Educator and Author of The Importance of Being Little: What Young Children Really Need…

Welcome back to my five-part series on my trip to the 1st International True Play Conference in Anji, China.  At…

by Blakely Bundy, Co-Director of DEY and former Executive Director of The Alliance for Early Childhood, located on the North…

As the Director of ECE Organizing for Defending the Early Years, I developed a plan that would support our work…

New York Times, July 7, 2019  Virtual Pre-K Closes a Gap But Exposes Another

Defending the Early Years (DEY) and Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC)  issued a statement urging The Audacious Project, housed…

Part three in my five-part blog series reporting on my experience attending the first annual True Play Conference in Anji,…

Phyllis Doerr, a kindergarten teacher from Newark, NJ,  is greatly concerned about what is happening in kindergartens today, setting kids…

Part two in my five-part series on true play will focus on the five principles of Anji Play. Founded by…

As a play advocate and a protector of childhood, I was immediately drawn to learning more about the play revolution,…

Makai Kellogg is an anti-bias educator in the DC area. She teaches at School for Friends, serves as the Equity and Diversity…

At the last DEY organizing meeting during the NAEYC conference in Washington, DC, I met Heather Siskind who is the…

  by Craig Simpson ​I am a retired Early Childhood educator of more than 40 years much in the Commonwealth…

A new study in American Educational Research Journal ostensibly found that teaching advanced academic content in kindergarten is beneficial in…

The experts at Defending the Early Years find fault with the premise of the article which pits family support and…

Diane spoke with Stephen Henderson on Detroit Today, Detroit Public Radio, January 11, 2019 on the topic of the impact…

Diane spoke on NPR Morning Edition with Jasmine Garsd, January 10, 2019 on the topic of the impact of digital…

NPR article, published Jan. 2, 2019: Why Millions of Children Can’t Read and What Better Teaching Can Do About Itby…

  Last month I announced that Defending the Early Years would be collecting stories of resistance with the goal of…

Defending the Early Years, an early childhood education initiative launched by Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Dr. Ed Miller, and BU Wheelock…

​Education in the United States, and especially early childhood education, is a decentralized patchwork of local, state, national, and private…

DEY Statement on Protecting Immigrant Families We oppose separating children from their families because it is inhumane and has lifelong…

The American Academy of Pediatrics has just released a new report that strongly endorses the important role of play in…

Back to school was always my favorite time of the year.  I loved going to school so much that I…

Some of my biggest pet peeves as a college professor are students who refuse or do not know how to…

As a teacher educator I spend a considerable amount of time reflecting on my practices. Especially when my school is…

By now, most of us have heard about or seen the harrowing pictures of children as young as 12-months-old being…

Some of my readers might not know this, but in 2014 I decided to return to school as a part-time…

by Alison McDowell Alison McDowell is a parent of a public school student and a member of the Alliance for…

  In April, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel about the OECD’s new International Early Learning and…

Diane Levin reflects on how young children’s play has changed and how we can encourage it again. Click to download.

  by Dr. Marcy Guddemi ​ Marcy Priess Guddemi, PHD, MBA, a national consultant, is an expert on preschool children’s…

It’s April in the U.S. and that can only mean two things, taxes and testing season. For those people removed…

  When asked why we do not have enough preschool teachers, most people would immediately say its because the pay…

  People have a hard time understanding what I do all day at work. They are not perplexed that I…

“A DEY shout-out to early childhood activists who testified on Monday, March 12 at a meeting of Philadelphia’s City Council’s Education committee…

Last month I wrote about addressing anti-blackness in early childhood classrooms with the goal of affirming black as beautiful in…

We can all agree, that a high quality early childhood education is in the best interest of not only all…

  Presented at the DEY Organizing Event at NAEYC 11/17/2017 by Marcy Guddemi, PhD, MBA, National Consultant Thank you, everyone,…

  Most early childhood educators are aware of anti-bias work and many use an anti-bias curriculum in their classrooms. But…

This past summer I was invited to give the Thomas Wright Lecture at Sarah Lawrence College as part of the…

View the live stream here. To view the Live Steamed broadcast of DEY’s Annual Organizing meeting during the 2017 NAEYC…

  By now we should all know how essential play is to the healthy development of all children, but we…

  by James St. Clair ​Some years back I was asked to sit in on a meeting for a 3rd…

On Saturday, October 14th, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel titled Reclaiming Childhood and Restoring Teacher Voice…

Backpack Full of Cash was shown at the recent Progressive Education Network Conference in Boston. Following the showing, DEY’s Nancy…

DEY’s Senior Advisor, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, and her son, Matt Damon, participated in the recent screening of Backpack Full of Cash….

  by Rae Pica ​Note that this piece was originally posted on the NAEYC Hello website.  It is re-published with…

  “As teachers, we are fighting for kids to play.” – Bianca Tanis, Special Education Kindergarten Teacher”Policymakers’ de-emphasis on play…

  ​This is a re-posting of a blog written in October, 2016.by Emily Kaplan ​I had a student once, a…

I recently read an article in the Washington City Paper entitled, “A DC Teacher’s Bold Vision to Improve Scandalously Poor…

by James St. Clair   Something is missing in kindergarten. I know this because for the past year I’ve been…

This post is reprinted from the Mission Hill School Newsletter, 4.28.17. DEY Co-director Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin is a also teacher of…

  by Brandi Byers My son is a pre-kindergarten student at an inner-city public school in Phoenix, Arizona. He is…

Don’t Use Kindergarten Readiness Assessments for Accountability More than 40 states either have or are in the process of developing…

  In January, proponents of school choice held their annual National School Choice Week to “raise public awareness of all…

DEY was represented at the recent tribute to Diane Ravitch, held in New York City. Left to right: Diane Ravitch;…

On November 8th, 500 kindergarten and pre-k teachers on Long Island came together for the first time in a conference…

  by Tama Koss Caldarone Tama Koss Caldarone lives in Florida with her husband and two children, ages 6 and…

  Dr. Diane Levin, DEY Senior Advisor, and Dr. Denisha Jones, a member of DEY’s national Advisory Board and DEY’s…

  We live in a world where technology will continue to take us to new places. From driverless cars to…

​On July 7th, our newest member to DEY’s National Advisory Board, Ruth Rodriguez-Fay, made the following speech at the First Focus…

​ Our fight for public education is only good if we fight for social justice. – Denisha Jones, SOS, United…

  Save Our Schools Coalition Set to March in DC on July 8th! www.saveourschoolsmarch.org For the last ten years the…

​by Diane Levin ​ In May, I was in Kathmandu, Nepal, working with colleague, Professor Kishor Shrestha, Country Coordinator of Global…

  Today’s post is written by second grade teacher and guest blogger, Emily Kaplan. On Saturday, May 21st Emily presented…

The 2016 Network for Public Education Conference, held April 15-17 in Raleigh, NC, is truly an experience—something hard to describe.  For a few…

  ​DEY Senior Advisor Nancy Carlsson-Paige and DEY National Board member Denisha Jones will join Susan Ochshorn and Michelle Gunderson…

  The following are some responses to yesterday’s New York Times article: Testing for Joy and Grit? Schools Nationwide Push…

Please Support DEY   #GivingTuesday   Join people around the world today, Tuesday, Dec. 1st, known as #GivingTuesday. This is a…

  Here at DEY we strive to understand the complications and confusions that many of you are facing around the…

  On Twitter this week, a teacher asked DEY why our concerns regarding the Common Core State Standards and young…

Last weekend the Network for Public Education (NPE) hosted their second annual national conference. It was, to say the least,…

  Today’s post is written by DEY’s Senior Adviser Nancy Carlsson-Paige. She just posted the comment below on Diane Ravitch’s…

  Resistance to over-testing and high stakes testing continues to mount across the country. Here are some inspiring examples: Karen…

DEY will be presenting and exhibiting at NAEYC’s Annual Conference in Dallas, TX on November 5-8th!  If you are attending,…

Please see the exciting press release below. Here at DEY we are happy to help spread this news from  New…

​Please read and share DEY’s feature article, Are the Common Core State Standards failing our kids? in the current issue of…

  We encourage you to take 15 minutes to view this powerful Tedx talk from Dr. Peter Gray. “Dr. Peter…

  The Gesell Institute of Child Development is known as the oldest voice in child development on our country and…

Massachusetts public school parent Ricardo D. Rosa has publicly opted his child out of high-stakes testing. His letter to the…

  Bailey is a former special education teacher and principal from Tennessee who is committed to getting education reform on…

“What can the larger world of American education take away from one school’s experiences?” A Year at Mission Hill was…

Back from Washington, DC and beginning to reflect on all that happened.  Here are just a few initial thoughts –…

  Today we share more examples of resistance to the current education “reform” movement… In New York City, parents at…

  This piece was written by our colleague Blakely Bundy. Bundy is the Outgoing Executive Director of The Alliance for…

  Early childhood activists have been organizing in the UK. Last week the Save Childhood Movement in England – “a growing collaboration…

  H​ere at DEY we are always happy to share news of parents, teachers and citizens standing up – to…

  Contact: United Opt Out National  Email:unitedoptoutnational@gmail.com Website: http://unitedoptout.com OCCUPY THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 2.0 The Battle for Public Schools…

  Barbara Beatty, professor of education at Wellesley College, recently wrote a piece Huffington Post. Her article, The Looming Fight Over…

  Defending the Early Years has joined the recently formed Network for Public Education. We strongly encourage you to join as…

  ​More than 136 Massachusetts education professors and researchers have added their voices to a growing national rebellion against high-stakes…

  ​DEY would like to introduce you to Stephen Round. Stephen Round is a second grade teacher who, like many…

  There is a bit of a standardized testing revolt brewing in Seattle! About a week ago, the teachers at Garfield…

The following letter ran in the December 12th edition of the Boston Globe. See below how grandmother, and retired librarian, Lani…