Celebrating the Week of the Young Child Through Advocacy in Ohio

By Qianna Tidmore, Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children (Ohio AEYC)

Follow Qianna on LinkedIn.

As we enter the Week of the Young Child (WOYC), we have an opportunity to celebrate young learners, honor the work of early childhood educators, and shine a spotlight on how policy decisions affect our profession and the families we serve. WOYC is a call to action, by uplifting our voices around the state budget process, we can help ensure that Ohio’s youngest children receive the high-quality early learning experiences they need and deserve.

The Power and Purpose of the Week of the Young Child

The Week of the Young Child, organized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), reminds us to reflect on both the joy and the complexities of early childhood education.

Each day spotlights the creativity, exploration, and growth that define early learning.

• Music Monday

• Tasty Tuesday

• Work Together Wednesday

• Artsy Thursday

• Family Friday

While these fun themes invite us to celebrate, they also encourage us to step up our advocacy and draw attention to the vital importance of a well-supported early childhood workforce. NAEYC has provided a toolkit for ECE advocates to follow along.

Ohio’s Early Childhood Education

According to data from NAEYC;

• Ohio is home to 798,955 children under the age of five

• 71% of these children have all available parents in the workforce.

• 58% of child care programs report severe staffing shortages,

• Nearly half of programs have had to raise tuition

• Across the state, 39% of people live in a child care desert.

For the educators working in these programs:

• 58,600 professionals who serve children from birth through age five.

• The estimated annual salary for a child care worker in Ohio is around $23,234

• 46% of our educators to rely on public benefits just to make ends meet.

All of these figures highlight the urgent need to strengthen and stabilize the early childhood sector in Ohio.

Who We Are: Ohio AEYC

Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children (Ohio AEYC) is one of your NAEYC State Affiliates. We represent a diverse community of professionals committed to ensuring that every young child, from birth to age eight, receives high-quality early learning. This includes teachers (public, private, and homeschool), child care center directors, family care providers, social workers, early intervention specialists, higher education faculty, and many more.

Simply put, we are you—the educators, advocates, and allies who share a passion for serving children and families. Our mission is to empower all who care for, educate, and advocate on behalf of young children, and we do this by working tirelessly at both the state and local levels to influence policy decisions that impact early learning.

Your Voice Matters

NAEYC and Ohio AEYC invite you to use each day of the Week of the Young Child to elevate your advocacy. Whether you’re sharing a story about the impact of low wages on Tasty Tuesday or writing letters to elected officials on Work Together Wednesday, your voice, and your experience, are powerful tools for change.

Here’s how you can get involved:

1. Contact Your Legislators

   • Share how critical early childhood education is in your community. Use social media to thank elected officials for supporting early learning, or encourage them to do so if they haven’t already.

2. Use the #WOYC25 Hashtag

   • Post about your WOYC celebrations, connect with educators across the state, and highlight the need for greater investments in child care. Tag your elected officials to bring them into the conversation.

3. Share Your Story

   • Personal narratives are some of the most effective ways to influence policy. Educators and families can illustrate the realities behind the statistics—stories of what it takes to keep a program running, or the relief a family feels when they secure reliable child care.

NAEYC is collecting these stories for advocacy purposes. If you have a story, whether it’s about struggling to cover tuition, staff shortages, or the joy of seeing children thrive in a quality program, please consider sharing it using the NAEYC Share Your Story survey. Your experiences will help inform policymakers about what’s happening on the ground in Ohio’s early learning landscape.

As Ohio moves forward with its budget process, let’s ensure that our children, and the educators who support them, remain front and center. Let’s sing, cook, build, create, and share our stories.