Gay Cioffi

Gay Cioffi was the Director of the Little Folks School in Washington, DC for 38 years. The Little Folks School is a small independent play-based nursery school designed to meet the needs of the whole child. 

Gay Cioffi has written extensively about early childhood.  Her papers on early childhood education have been presented at the Oxford Round Table, Oxford, University, at the National Association of Early Childhood Education Conferences and at the Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.  Her essay, “The Right Place: Nursery School in the Twenty-First Century” was published in the book, Choosing the Right Educational Path for Your Child. 

In addition to writing about early childhood, Gay has developed workshops for parents and caregivers on topics such as The Importance of Play, Discipline, Affluenza, and How to Talk to Children About Death.

She has received two outstanding teacher awards from the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.  Ms. Cioffi received her undergraduate degree in Education from Penn State University and Masters in Education from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

Gay’s extensive work with children, parents, and teachers has provided her with a wealth of knowledge about the needs of young children. The world has changed dramatically since she began her career in the early seventies, but the needs of children have not. Little Folks Big Questions is a website with answers to the many questions that arise from parents and those who care for children, in today’s world.