Brianna Bush ED 202: Teaching Strategies Pre K- Grade 4 March 29, 2011 Dr.

Harris

Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) is based on knowledge about how children develop and learn. Professionals make decisions about the well-being and education of children based on three important kinds of information and knowledge. They base it off of what is known about child development and learning, what is known about the strengths, interests, and needs of the individual child and the knowledge of the social and cultural contexts in which children live. At the Child Development Center located on campus all the twelve principles and five guidelines of developmentally appropriate practice can be seen through observation. The first principle of DAP known as: The domains of childrens development-physical, social, emotional, and cognitive- are closely related. Development in one domain influences and is influenced by developmental in other domains. While at the CDC this was able to be seen through when the children sing and dance. They were listening to a song that required them to move their heels back and forth while keeping their feet on their piece of tape in the circle. This fulfills the first principle of DAP because it makes the children use their physical skills and their cognitive thinking skills at the same time. The second principle of DAP is known as: Development occurs in a relatively orderly sequence, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge building on those already acquired. During the first nine years of a childs life growth and change occur. You can observe the children at different age levels the younger children are less advanced then the older children. However you can see that the younger childrens skills are

progressing into the skills that the older children already have built. The third principle of DAP is known as: Development proceeds at varying rates from child to child as well as unevenly within different areas of each childs functioning. We need to notice that all children learn at different stages and we need to recognize the individuality of each child and use practices to help the child succeed. You can see that at the CDC the teachers really try to help each individual child. If the child needs help or is not developmentally ready for an activity the teacher adapts the activity to meet individual needs. For example the children were going to be doing a number matching game with cards. On the cards the teacher had the written number along with dots representing the number for the children that may not have known the higher numbers. The fourth principle of DAP is known as: Early Experiences have both cumulative ad delayed effects on individual childrens development. Optimal periods exist for certain types of development and learning. All children need a positive environment to occur frequently rather than a negative environment. When a negative environment occurs to often it can have a powerful, lasting effect on the child. At the CDC the learning environment is very pleasant and all the children receive a very positive environment to learn in. There is discipline for the children but every child needs some form of discipline in their life to keep them safe and know what is right and wrong. The fifth principle of DAP is known as: Developmental proceeds in predictable direction toward greater complexity, organization, and internalization. Through art projects or computer time or dramatic play the children can get first hand experiences about their behavioral knowledge. They grow through all their experiences. The sixth principle is known as: Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts. Children can directly be affected by biases based on sexism or racism and there may be children in the classroom that have a nontraditional set of parents the teacher should embrace this and help the other children to learn about the differences.

The seventh principle of DAP is known as: Children are active learners, drawing on direct physical and social experiences as well as culturally transmitted knowledge to construct their own understandings of the world around them. For example while observing the children while reading a picture book, the one child made a comment based on one of the pictures. He used prior knowledge gained outside of the classroom to make a comment related to the picture. The eighth principle of DAP is known as: Development and learning result from interaction of biological maturation and the environment, which includes both the physical and social worlds that children live in. Any human is influenced by heredity and the environment. Through knowing parents or other siblings you can see how heredity plays an important role in how the child acts or interacts with other people. The ninth principle is known as: Play is an important vehicle for childrens social, emotional, and cognitive development, as well as reflection of their development. Children need time to play they are active learners and they need time to play and be able explore on their own. At the CDC the children are given plenty of free play time. During this play time you can really see that they learn on their own and from each other. The children were building bridges and cars and doing puzzles on their own. The tenth principle of DAP is known as: Development advances when children have opportunities to practice newly acquired skills as well as when they experience a challenge just beyond the level of their present mastery. Again the children were given note cards with numbers and were asked to match the number with the number of bows to put on a kites tail. The children had just learned about kites and this gave them a chance to put their own number of bows on the tail while still learning. The eleventh principle is known as: Children demonstrate different modes of knowing and learning different ways of representing what they know. Some children are visual learners some are auditory learners. The lessons should help both types of learners. During the lesson at the CDC the children were read a book which helped the auditory and visual learners at the same time. Also they matched numbers to bows on a kite which helped the more hands on learners and the visual learns as

well. The twelfth principle is known as: Children develop and learn best in the context of a community where they are safe and valued, their physical needs are met, and they feel psychologically secure. At the CDC this principle is seen throughout everything. From the moment you walk in the door you need to be let in by a worker or a teacher. This is defiantly a secure place for children. The children are part of their own community within the CDC as well as outside of it. Also the teachers really strive to help all the students needs be met based on their own individual needs. The five different guidelines are very seen throughout the CDC. The five guidelines are creating a caring community if learners, teaching to enhance development and learning, constructing appropriate curriculum, assessing childrens learning and development and, establishing reciprocal relationships with families. The children and teachers care for one another and they help each other to learn. Also the curriculum helps build upon all of the principles of DAP; everything is incorporated into all the lessons that are taught. You have the children caring for one another; you have the children learning on their own and from others as well. The children are expected to be able to perform at their highest level possible and they are assessed based on their knowledge and understanding. Also at the CDC the teachers form close relationships with families. Which through the guidelines and principles of DAP help to make this such an inviting and wonderful learning environment for any child.