members and recommendations for carrying their work forward.
“ 100 Years of Music in NAEYC,” by Holly Carrell Moore, is the result of a question. Moore delved into the NAEYC archives to learn how early childhood educators can use music in their settings. The answer: They can integrate music with other content areas and infuse music for its own sake during routines and activities. On a personal note, this is one of my favorite activities to take part in when visiting a program and to remember about my own children’ s early childhood education! and hearing about past reflections and hope to read and hear more of yours in the year ahead. I hope you will enjoy reading these stories and then bring forward your own throughout this centennial year. We are building on a rich story 100 years in the making, and I invite you to contribute to it. Thank you for all you do.
— Michelle Kang, NAEYC CEO
Diane Pesco and Andréanne Gagné write about another aspect of an engaging curriculum in“ Still on Stage! Engaging Children in Telling and Acting Out Stories to Impact Learning.” They highlight the work of Vivian Gussin Paley and the educators and researchers who have applied storytelling and story acting in their own settings, many sharing their stories in YC.
Stacy Simonyi, Leigh-Ann Leinhauser Brown, Kaitlin Northey, and Heather Duhamel close out the cluster with an emphasis on collaboration. They examined the first 10 years of YC’ s archive for insights in“ Looking to the Past to Inform the Future: A Review of NAEYC’ s Earliest Writings on Collaboration and Inclusion.”
However, the focus on NAEYC’ s rich past and inspiring future does not end there. In this issue, YC’ s regular columns are dedicated to NAEYC’ s anniversary, including a special edition of
› From Our President that offers Tonia R. Durden’ s observations about how NAEYC has transformed over time
› Member Spotlight that presents four members’ reflections about what NAEYC means to them
› Voices of Practitioners that underscores the importance of teacher research and having a wide-reaching space to share their work
As immigrants to America, my parents often talked about the importance of remembering and reflecting on the past so that we can appreciate where we are going. I am so inspired by reading
A 4-year-old, Eliana, drew this picture to celebrate NAEYC’ s anniversary. She included balloons to show a birthday celebration.
Is your classroom full of children’ s artwork?
To feature it in Young Children, see NAEYC. org / resources / pubs / authors-photographers / photos or email editorial @ naeyc. org for details.
We’ d love to hear from you!
Send your thoughts on this issue, and on topics you’ d like to read about in future issues of Young Children, to editorial @ naeyc. org.
Would you like to see your children’ s artwork featured in these pages? For guidance on submitting print-quality photos( as well as details on permissions and licensing), see NAEYC. org / resources / pubs / authorsphotographers / photos.
Spring 2026 Young Children 5