April 2021 Bits & Bytes
All month long, DCAEYC is celebrating the Month of the Young Child! Join us as we host activities honoring early learning, young children, their teachers, families, and communities. To keep up with our full calendar of events visit dcaeyc.org/moyc21.

Month of the Young Child Events
for April 12th through April 16th

Music Monday, April 12th:
11am - Dramatic Solutions: Choose Kindness
1pm - Inner City-Inner Child: Dance with Books

Tasty Tuesday, April 13th:
3pm - Joyful Fruit Salad Fun with Martha's Table via Instagram Live

Work Together Wednesday, April 14th:
12pm - Wellness Wednesday Mid-Day Yoga
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Activity Idea: Up, Up and Away with the Wind - Flying. a Kite

Artsy Thursday, April 15th:
Activity Idea: Sip and Paint

Family Friday, April 16th:
Activity Idea: Family Friday Videos

Full details and activity registration links found at dcaeyc.org/moyc21.
Bulletin Board:
Early Educator Fellowship - The Early Educator Fellowship will bring together 20 early childhood educators - from a range of center, family home care, and public school settings across the District of Columbia - for a shared learning and community-building experience. Over the course of one year, Fellows will engage in programming focused on building relationships, knowledge, and skills. The Fellowship will also include opportunities for Fellows to use their voices as experts and advocates for early childhood. Fellows will be selected through a competitive application process and will receive a stipend to acknowledge the value they bring to the group. For more detail about the fellowship, please read this overview. 
 
Applications are open through Monday, April 12th, and should take about 20-30 minutes to complete. Please consider applying and share this with others you think will be interested. You can also nominate a fellow.
Week of the Young Child - On top of the the events DCAEYC has for planned for Month of the Young Child, this week is extra special as it's also the 50th anniversary of Week of the Young Child! Make sure to add #WOYC21 this week to all your Month of the Yung Child posts social media (#MOYC21)
Upcoming Events:
Directors' Nook

Tuesday, April 20, 2021
1:00 pm-2:00pm
Join our virtual meetting for DCAEYC members who are early childhood directors. This meeting will be a safe place for all early childhood directors to meet, share and discuss topics related to our work and any additional interests.

Register here.
Click the above image to access the pdf with links. Click here for a version in Spanish.
Early Education Community Meeting

Wednesday, April 21, 2021
7:00 pm-8:00pm
Join DC parents and early educators for an informational meeting about the Under 3 DC Coalition's work to improve early education..

Click here to RSVP. Help promote this event with flyers in English and Spanish.
2021 DC Early Educator Experience

Friday, April 30, 2021
Join us for a day to celebrate some of the most valuable professionals in our city. To conclude Month of the Young Child in April, DCAEYC and other hosts and sponsors are bringing you the 2021 DC Early Educator Experience. This exciting new event ― to be held virtually this year ― connects early childhood educators who work in the District of Columbia for a full day of learning, networking, advocacy and celebration.
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Click here today to register.


Member Tribute:


Elizabeth Davis
1951-2021

Educator, Social Justice Advocate, and Washington Teachers' Union President
Last week the Washington DC area lost a true education advocate and reformer. President Davis was a former teacher for 44 years at DC Public Schools before being elected to President of the Washington Teachers’ Union in 2013. 
As a loyal and consistent supporter of DCAEYC, she played an essential role in the initial phase of transforming DCAEYC to be a high-performing, inclusive organization. President Davis agreed quickly to have the WTU become a partner of DCAEYC. Partnering included purchasing a Group Membership for the members of the WTU who work with young children and their families, initiating the creation of the DCAEYC/WTU Early Childhood Education Task Force, and pinning an op-ed supporting early childhood education.

President Davis leaves a legacy of transforming the WTU into a social justice, solution-driven organization that is dedicated to advancing and promoting quality education for all children, irrespective of their zip codes, improving teaching and learning conditions, and aggressively amplifying the voice of teachers in the dialogue around issues of teaching and learning.

Read more about President Davis’s life and legacy here.
Principle of Practice:
21st Century Teaching and Learning
"Responsive 21st century teaching and caregiving requires educators to create environments and provide experiences that encourage exploration and inquiry, and nurture creativity and curiosity."
This April, DCAEYC celebrates the Month of the Young Child in part to honor the importance of early childhood education. As we explored in last month's newsletter, the early childhood education field has evolved in no small part because of the work activists have done to innovate and move the early childhood education field forward. Compared to its beginnings it is a much more interdisciplinary field, and has evolved in a way educators only decades ago couldn't have imagined.
So what does early childhood education look like in the 21st century? With how quickly technology continues to change, it is no surprise that technology integration and STEAM instruction have become vital components. But as important as these considerations are, early childhood education in the 21st century is about so much more; it is also about fostering ways of thinking and promoting dispositions that support success in an age driven by rapidly changing and expanding technologies. Responsive 21st century teaching and caregiving requires educators to create environments and provide experiences that encourage exploration and inquiry, and nurture creativity and curiosity.

For more on developmentally appropriate ways to address the needs of young children growing up today, check out the NAEYC article 21st Century Teaching and Learning. Want to enhance how you bring STEAM into the classroom? Check out the NAEYC article "Breaking Down STEAM for Young Children."
Policy Beat:
DC Budget Season Update
While the DC Budget season is fast approaching, previously scheduled hearings have been delayed as the DC Council awaits for new guidance on federal spending on funds coming due to the American Rescue Plan. In the meantime, we're still working to ensure the early childhood education sector in DC gets the support it needs!

DCAEYC and the Under 3DC Coalition are advocating for $60M in OSSE’s budget to support early childhood education and avoid cuts to the District’s core programs and services for infants and toddlers. These programs include Healthy Steps, Healthy Futures, Help Me Grow, and home visiting. We also signed onto a letter written in partnership with our coalition partners with recommendations to Mayor Bowser on how we believe federal funds should be used to around childcare. You can read the letter in full here.

Stay tuned as we await further updates on rescheduled dates for budget hearings with the DC Council. In the meantime, brush up on the DC Budget process with A Resident’s Guide to the DC Budget FISCAL YEAR 2022 from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute.
Job Opportunity:
Two Open Positions: Family Services Associate at Children's National Hospital

Children's National is excited to be launching the new Clark Parent and Child Network with the goal of improving health and support for families with young children (ages 0-3) from under-resourced communities.

As part of this initiative, Children's National primary care clinics will be developing a network of Family Services Associates who will be embedded into the primary care setting and who will be focusing on social factors that influence health. These specialists will support families through resource connection, peer support and will be trusted partners in our health system who can further empower families to use their voice, and be strong advocates for their children, their families and our community. We are currently seeking two Family Services Associates to staff this novel and important primary care-based program.

Please see here and here for more information.