Upcoming events...Getting outdoors...New staff and more from EYI

FYI from EYI

kids playing tag EYI New Logo kids in water

Wakanheza! (pronounced Wa-kine-ja)

July 2011

EYI is bringing the Wakanheza Project to Long Island! This unique program helps diffuse stressful situations that parents may experience with children in public. We've completed trainings at four pilot library sites where participants learned strategies to change the environment, improve customer service or intervene to make a situation less stressful. In addition to spreading Wakanheza to more libraries, EYI hopes to train people in a variety of places where families congregate. We hope the public will come to understand that the community can help in making parenting a little easier. It's an exciting program and we'll keep you informed of its progress. -- Dana Friedman, president, The Early Years Institute

Wakenheza

Wakanheza participants (standing, l. to r.) Barbara Moon, Suffolk Library System; Alison O'Reilly, Suffolk Library System; Fran Powell, Port Washington Public Library; Amy Johnston, Sachem Public Library; Colleen Multari, EYI; Deidre Escoffier, Uniondale Public Library; Dana Friedman, EYI. (Seated, l. to r.) Danielle LoDolce, Sachem Public Library; Renee McGrath, Nassau Library System; Rachel Wyneken, Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library.

Hot links: Getting outdoors, Parent-Toddler Conference and more

Here are some items of interest to all of us concerned about children:

View the Middle Country Public Library's Distinguished Speaker Series schedule for Fall 2011.
"Moving the Agenda on the Early Learning Challenge" is a commentary in Education Week by Sharon Lynn Kagan and Kristie Kauerz.
Richard Louv's latest article teaches us the "Ten Reasons Children and Adults Need Vitamin N."
There's new evidence that the world-wide increase in nearsightedness is related to being indoors. The New York Times' Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang offer "The Sun is the Best Optometrist."
The 5th Annual Parent-Toddler Conference will take place on Thursday, July 21 at CUNY's Graduate Center in Manhattan.
Dana Friedman has recently blogged about some of the requirements and concerns over the U.S. Education Department's Race to the Top, plus how "non-school" activities are so very important.

Pickapark.org launches with wide support

With support from parks officials and legislators, EYI launched Pick-a-Park at a Bethpage Park press conference in June. Pick-a-Park (on the web at www.pickapark.org) is the most comprehensive searchable online inventory available for the nearly 700 parks across Long Island. It features detailed descriptions and photos of each park and is searchable by zip code and specific family-friendly facilities such as bathrooms and playgrounds. Among the announcement attendees are (photo, l. to r.) NYS Parks Regional Director Ron Foley, Suffolk County Parks Commissioner Joseph Montuori, North Hempstead Deputy Parks Commissioner Kevin Kelly, and Suffolk Legislators Vivian Viloria-Fisher and Duwayne Gregory. Not pictured is NYS Assemblyman Joseph Saladino, who also attended.

Welcome aboard!

Colleen EYI is thrilled to welcome Colleen Multari as director of early learning. Colleen most recently served as a licensing specialist with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services and before was coordinator of disabililty services at NYIT. A Central Islip resident, she holds a bachelor's degree in psychology-child life from Utica College of Syracuse University and an MSW from Adelphi.