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Mdaeyc MDAEYC is an organization of early childhood education professionals who promote high-quality early learning for all children, birth through age 8.

🩺 What if your doctor wrote you a prescription… for play?The American Academy of Pediatrics did exactly that. In its rep...
10/21/2026

🩺 What if your doctor wrote you a prescription… for play?

The American Academy of Pediatrics did exactly that. In its report "The Power of Play," the AAP recommends that pediatricians prescribe play at well-child visits.

Why? Play builds executive function, language and social skills, and it helps buffer children against toxic stress. In one study the report cites, anxious preschoolers who played for 15 minutes had twice the drop in anxiety as children who listened to a story.

Play isn't a break from development. It is development.

On November 7, we're spending a whole day on the science of play. Join us at PLAY WORKS: mdaeyc.org/conference

Source: Yogman et al., "The Power of Play," Pediatrics, 2018

Centering Play in Leadership PracticePlay isn't just for children.What could change if we brought curiosity, joy, resili...
10/20/2026

Centering Play in Leadership Practice

Play isn't just for children.

What could change if we brought curiosity, joy, resilience, and play into the way we lead?

Join Lucy Recio on November 7 at PLAY WORKS.
mdaeyc.org/conference

Playing for LearningWhat happens when we intentionally design environments that invite children to explore, create, and ...
10/19/2026

Playing for Learning

What happens when we intentionally design environments that invite children to explore, create, and learn through play?

Patty Stine will help us look at play environments, open-ended materials, and the cues children give us through their play.

November 7. PLAY WORKS.
mdaeyc.org/conference

Four ways to PLAY. Four ways to learn. 🎨🧱 Playing for Learning, with Patty Stine🌱 Centering Play in Leadership Practice,...
10/15/2026

Four ways to PLAY. Four ways to learn. 🎨

🧱 Playing for Learning, with Patty Stine
🌱 Centering Play in Leadership Practice, with Lucy Recio
🪵 Wildly Playful Learning: How Sticks & Stones Meet Standards, with Monica Wiedel-Lubinski
💃 When Children Move, Learning Moves, with Valerie Branch

Every session runs twice. Pick one for the morning and a different one for the afternoon. Each session is limited to 50, so register early to get your first choices.

Early Play pricing ($175 members / $225 non-members) runs through Monday, October 19.

PLAY WORKS · Saturday, November 7 · Bowie, MD
Register: mdaeyc.org/conference

Joy, extended! 🎉We heard you, and we're giving you one more week to save. Early Play pricing for PLAY WORKS now runs thr...
10/12/2026

Joy, extended! 🎉

We heard you, and we're giving you one more week to save. Early Play pricing for PLAY WORKS now runs through Sunday, October 19!

$175 members · $225 non-members

Join us Saturday, November 7, in Bowie for a full day of joyful learning: keynote speaker Jeff Harry, hands-on breakout sessions, the Play Lab, outdoor play, lunch, and 6 Core of Knowledge hours.

Grab your colleagues and register together. Link in bio: mdaeyc.org/conference

🎬✨ Tomorrow Night! ✨🎬GatherRound and Mdaeyc are very excited to share that our final screening of Make a Circle Film is ...
10/07/2026

🎬✨ Tomorrow Night! ✨🎬

GatherRound and Mdaeyc are very excited to share that our final screening of Make a Circle Film is coming to La Plata at the Port To***co Players! 💛

This special documentary celebrates the power of connection, community, and the people who believe in creating meaningful experiences for children and families.

After bringing this film to communities throughout Maryland, we’re thrilled to gather one more time to watch, reflect, connect, and make a circle together.

Whether you’ve seen it before or this will be your first time, we hope you’ll join us for this special final screening! 🎥🌟

📍 Port To***co Players | La Plata, MD
🎬 Make A Circle
💛 Come be part of the circle!

Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/make-a-circle-screening-in-laplata-md-tickets-1994748122331?aff=oddtdtcreator

Last call: Comments on the Head Start proposed rule are due tonight (10/6) before midnight. We are recapping another re...
10/07/2026

Last call: Comments on the Head Start proposed rule are due tonight (10/6) before midnight.

We are recapping another resource you can use: four issue briefs from the National Head Start Association, each focused on how the proposed rule could affect a specific group or service area — children with disabilities, comprehensive health services, dual language learners, and suspension/expulsion protections.

Head Start and Children with Disabilities: https://nhsa.app.box.com/s/6xkc1sh7hxq4jo7qkeenftsztm4fb7eo
Head Start and Comprehensive Health Services: https://nhsa.app.box.com/s/glgkpoi754s2jt3o2ja0c7308ypdmc07
Head Start and Dual Language Learners: https://nhsa.app.box.com/s/w4auocbgwmc6n5ehm3ewb4u2ti9gz58y
Head Start and Suspension and Expulsion: https://nhsa.app.box.com/s/u24scf399xy59g3vd6p28mm4l9nsxrw1

These are good resources if you want to understand what's at stake for a specific service area or population being served, such as children with disabilities or dual language learners.

Public Comments on the Head Start Notice of Proposed Rulemaking are due tomorrow, October 6. Check out these resources t...
10/05/2026

Public Comments on the Head Start Notice of Proposed Rulemaking are due tomorrow, October 6.

Check out these resources to help you draft your comments:
First: NAEYC's breakdown of the NPRM, which walks through what's in the proposal, potential impacts for children and educators, and concrete action steps for advocates — and the proposal itself, the full text of the NPRM on the Federal Register.
NAEYC's breakdown: https://www.naeyc.org/.../public-policy.../head-start-NPRM
The Proposal itself: https://www.federalregister.gov/.../reducing-federal...

Together for Head Start Webinar #17Continuing our series on the Head Start NPRM: today's resource is a recorded webinar...
10/04/2026

Together for Head Start Webinar #17

Continuing our series on the Head Start NPRM: today's resource is a recorded webinar rather than a document — Together for Head Start Webinar #17 from Start Early, "What the Proposed Changes to Head Start Could Mean in Practice, and How to Respond." www.startearly.org/event/together-for-head-start-a-webinar-series-for-champions-and-changemakers/

It goes beyond a general overview to walk through specific impacts — on services for children with disabilities, child health and safety provisions, and prenatal/maternal health services — and includes practical tools and templates for submitting a federal public comment. Part of a longer series (17 sessions and counting); past recordings are also on the page.

Public comments are due October 6.

Maryland Head Start Fact SheetsContinuing our series on the Head Start NPRM: today we're sharing two Maryland-specific f...
10/04/2026

Maryland Head Start Fact Sheets

Continuing our series on the Head Start NPRM: today we're sharing two Maryland-specific fact sheets — First Five Years Fund's Head Start in Maryland snapshot and NHSA's 2025 Head Start Profile for Maryland.

Maryland by the numbers: 7,265 children served through Head Start and Early Head Start out of 52,352 poverty-eligible children in the state, across 153 program sites, with $138.3 million in FY2025 funding. 506 children experiencing homelessness were served, and 63% of Head Start parents were employed, in school, or in job training. Without Head Start, Maryland's child care access gap would widen by 17% statewide — and by 22% in rural areas.

Public comments are due October 6.

www.ffyf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026HS_MD.pdf
https://nhsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026_StateFactSheet_MD.pdf

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