FYI from EYI newsletter and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family

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At this year's conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Jacqueline Jones, Senior Advisor for Early Learning at the U.S. Department of Education, announced plans to create an Office of Early Learning within the Department. "Effective early learning programs are essential to prepare our children for success in school and beyond," said U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Ms. Jones will head the new office, which will operate within the Department's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). It will have responsibility for overseeing the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grants (which New York could win), along with Title I, IDEA, Promise Neighborhood and Investing in Innovation funds. "Establishing an early learning office reinforces this administration's unwavering effort and determination to address the essential needs of our youngest learners," said Jones. Perhaps this will help break the K-12 mold.

-- Dana Friedman, president, The Early Years Institute

Toy Tips for the Holidays...

With the holiday season around the corner, young children are making their wish lists and checking them twice. The Early Years Institute suggests comparing their wish lists with two other lists: the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood 's 2011 TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children ) Award nominees 0.9662921348314607 list and the National Toy Hall of Fame 2011 inductee list. Commercialized, one-purpose toys are the common theme of the TOADY nominees while the National Toy Hall of Fame's 2011 inductees include more open-ended toys which allow for creative, self-directed and open-ended play, e.g. a dollhouse or a blanket. For more information about the importance of play and the learning that results from open-ended toys, take a look at our Play Posters.

Play Groups School Celebrates Dedication of its Outdoor Classroom...

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Play Groups School, home to 160 preschool children and their families, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, October 15th, to celebrate the opening of its unique outdoor classroom. This dynamic, nature-based play and learning environment spans a full half-acre of secluded, bucolic woodland and offers children meaningful learning experiences in a uniquely beautiful space.

The outdoor classroom includes twelve distinct learning centers including several found in traditional indoor classrooms, such as block building and art, and others unique to the outdoors, like messy materials and the water sluice. Children can climb to the overlook high above these centers to survey the full expanse of nature and their classmates below. Muddy shoes, paint-stained fingers and smiling faces on the 250 participants at the event were evidence of overwhelming approval. Photo November newsletter

EYI's LINCK provided the inspiration for this new outdoor classroom. This is LINCK's 19th nature explore classroom to open on Long Island and the 13th early childhood program offering this extraordinary learning opportunity to their children. "Rather than looking at a worm in a textbook, children can turn over a rock or a log and see a real one," said Maggie Holland, the school's Outdoor Classroom Coordinator.

LINCK gets green with Networking Magazine November 2011

More on...The Roots of Migration

Roots of Migration Mexico 2011

During the first week of November, the Long Island delegation that traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, hosted more than 10 open presentations on Long Island with the help of Jacqueline Garcia and Tony Macias, of Witness for Peace. The Hagedorn Foundation funded this effort to help Long Islanders understand the "roots of migration" and help Long Island be a more welcoming place for immigrants.

The Early Years Institute is especially interested in this effort which enables us to reach communities to help them value children by investing early in their well-being and education. EYI hosted presentations in Long Beach and in the Westbury School District where over 50 pre-K and kindergarten teachers and administrators were in attendance. More than 50 percent of the elementary school children, in Westbury, are from El Salvador and the teachers in attendance had many questions as well as important feedback. EYI has been invited, by Superintendent, Dr. Constance Clark-Snead, to make the same presentation to the school administrators in December.

The Early Years Institute wishes you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

How wonderful it would be if we could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child's personality. A child is resentful, negative - or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they draw people. - Sir John Templeton

Through your generosity, EYI improves early learning

opportunities for all children in our region to help them achieve success in school and life.