What is developmentally appropriate practices (DAP)?

DAP, or Developmentally Appropriate Practice, encompasses a wider set of beliefs and practices, which are professed by many experts in the field of early education and child development to be “best practice” for teaching young children, from birth to 8.  According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), DAP encourages teachers to make choices about education based on sound knowledge of child development and learning processes while taking into account individual differences and needs, as well as social and cultural constructs.  Sounds like a reasonable expectation right?

  What this means, is that teachers need to be free to make decisions based on what children need developmentally (generalized by age and stage), individually, and culturally to make the most of their educational experiences.  This implies highly trained teachers with an appropriate amount of autonomy.  You can’t very well create a one-size-fits-all approach, implement it across the board, and call it DAP because the entire philosophy implies an attention not only to general developmental levels, but those of individuals as well.

According to Carol Copple and Sue Bredekamp, authors of Basics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice, teachers who practice DAP meet learners where they are (not necessarily where they should be) and take into consideration all the developmental areas of the whole child (physical, emotional, social, cognitive).  They provide learning opportunities that are challenging yet achievable, working within the ZPD.  And they recognize learners as individuals, with different needs, backgrounds, and stories of experiences.  More succinctly, they state: 

“Developmentally appropriate practice refers to teaching decisions that vary with and adapt to the age, experience, interests, and abilities of individual children within a given age range.” (pg7)

DAP is a way of teaching that focuses on how children learn best.  And it’s something that policymakers would do well to become more aware of.  Ignoring DAP in an effort to “get ahead” is generally counterproductive because it ignores the way children are naturally wired to develop.  It replaces in-born motivation and inquisitiveness with mandates no 5-year-old can understand or care about.  Considering DAP while creating policy, curriculum, and individual learning environments yields the best results because it is based on what is known through research and observation and recognized widely in the field of early education as best teaching practices.  It is built from what we know about how kids learn.

 So how do kids learn best?  

Children need:

• Relationships with responsive adults
• Active, hands-on involvement
• Meaningful experiences
• Opportunities to construct their understanding of the world (a process supported by the three previous constructs)

So what would you see in a DAP learning environment?  

Teaching would take place in a variety of formats.  It’s woven into every aspect of the environment from procedures and environment, to experiences, activities, and even moments of direct instruction.  In Copple and Bredekamp’s book, they outline four learning formats where teachers can implement a variety of teaching strategies.  They are:

• Large groups
• Small groups
• Play and engagement in learning centers
• Daily routines

Each format provides a different opportunity for teaching, learning, and discovering together.  Within the variety of teaching formats, strategies, and particular activities, practitioners of DAP promote the health and development of the whole child, not just the aspects measured on the standardized tests.  Copple and Bredekamp, as well as NAEYC, promote attention to:

• social-emotional development
• language development
• literacy development
• mathematics
• technology and scientific inquiry and knowledge
• understanding ourselves and our communities
• creative expression and appreciation for the arts
• physical development and physical skills

These areas of development are interrelated and many are often supported with the same activity.  For example, painting at the easel may promote physical development (motor skills), creative expression and appreciation for the arts, social-emotional development (if painting to express feelings), and language development (if discussing the painting with a thoughtful teacher).  So as you can see, the notion that a developmentally appropriate approach can be pitted against an “academic” approach is really nonsensical.  The method of DAP certainly yields academic understandings, but the method of instruction may take on a different (and I would say more appropriate and effective) form.

What it Boils Down To

In case I haven’t bombarded you with enough bullet lists, here are the basic principles of child development that guide the decisions of practitioners of DAP, outlined by NAEYC and paraphrased by me from their position statement (linked below).  If  all educators – teachers and parents alike – and all policymakers would agree to these precepts, I would be a very happy girl, and our children would reap all the benefits.  These tenets are based on the intentionality that is central to DAP.  That teachers are intentional in their teaching, making decisions based on these researched and practiced beliefs is the central premise for DAP:

1. All domains of child development (social, emotional, physical, cognitive) are important and interrelated.
2. Many aspects of child development follow a consistent documented progression, with later skills and proficiencies building upon the others already acquired.
3. Rates of development vary from child to child and even vary between domains of development within the individual child.
4. Development and learning takes place within the dynamic interaction of both biological maturation and personal experience.
5. Early experiences have profound effects, and there are optimal periods for certain types of learning and development.
6. Development builds towards greater complexity, self-regulation, and representational thinking capabilities.
7. Children learn best within caring and positive relationships with adults and peers.
8. Development and learning occur in and are  influenced by society and culture.
9. Children are always seeking to understand the world around them. They learn in a variety of ways and therefore a variety of teaching methods and learning experiences should be offered to reach those different learning styles.
10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well as social, language, and cognitive development.
11. Development and learning are advanced when children are challenged just above their competency and when they have many opportunities to practice new skills.
12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approach to learning (persistence, initiative, flexibility) and these dispositions in turn influence their learning and development.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Annual Earth Day Picnic

Mother Nature was nice enough to take a break for a bit so we could enjoy our annual Earth Day Picnic. Each class was able to grab their own sack lunch and sit outside picnic style. We were excited to see a few parents that were able to make it and enjoy lunch outside on this breezy afternoon.

Frog Street Press Training

It is important to The Academy to make sure our teachers have the best training. We were lucky to participate  in a training from our Frog Street Press representative. Our teachers were able to discuss Developmentally Appropriate Practices and how it is incorporated into our daily lessons. We can't wait for you to see some of the new ideas that they will be bringing to their classrooms.

Earth Day is Everyday!!

Earth Day began on April 22, 1970 and has been an important day ever since.  It's a day to reflect on our planet, our environment and what we can do to help keep them healthy.

From the beginning, children and schools were approached to support the formation and continuation of this special day.  And this makes sense!  Children have the most important stake in keeping our planet healthy.  They'll still be the caretakers long after their parents and grandparents have passed away.

Younger children can get a feel for what Earth Day is all about by singing songs, coloring pictures and making crafts.  Mary, from Songs4Teachers has kindly allowed us to use some of the songs she wrote especially for Earth Day using familiar tunes like Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.   

Check out her fun Reduce, Recycle, Reuse songs!

What Did Earth Day Accomplish? 

Well, after the first earth day in 1970 here's what happened:

• The Environmental Protection Agency was established later in 1970.
• The tough Clean Air Act of 1970 was passed with only a handful of dissenting votes in both Houses of Congress.
• The Federal Occupational Health and Safety Act aimed at "in-plant pollution" was passed by a coalition of labor and environmental groups.
• Within the next three years, such landmarks as the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act were passed.

Other countries have accomplished similar achievements.

But this is one of those jobs that's never complete.  Global warming and other issues never conceived of in 1970 are now common themes on the news.

What Did Earth Day 1990 Achieve?

• The UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.  The Earth Summit was the largest collection of national political leaders ever to meet in one place.  It made some important initial steps toward addressing climate change and preserving biodiversity.
• More than a dozen countries established eco-labeling programs to guide consumers toward environmentally preferable goods and services.
• Several Eastern European nations, responding to public demand, established new environmental protection agencies.
• CARE, the international relief agency, set out new environmental goals for itself in the 1990s that include planting 500,000,000 trees worldwide.

And in the new millenium there's still lots to do!  

But, What Can I Do?

All these big "news stories" are great, but what does that really have to do with you and me?  I mean, we're not part of the U.N.  Or anything important like that.

But we are important!  If it's important to us, then it's important to our leaders.  You can start with things like using recycled items in your crafting (most of the items on this site are!).  You can learn about your local areas recycling program.  Help your parents sort the recycling.  Encourage them to recycle (donate some of your allowance to purchase a small home recycle bin -- now that will get their attention!)  This is one of those times where the kids may be teaching the parents.

You can do the same thing at school, clubs, home and anywhere else you spend time.

Let others know what you've done!  Write a letter to your local government representative and let them know how much you care about the environment and what work you've put in to improve it.  There's nothing more inspiring than seeing people put thought into action!  It's simple to write to someone and say, "Hey!   Fix the environment!" but it's more convincing if that same note read, "Hey!  Here's what I'm doing to help fix the environment!!   Do you have any ideas on what else I could do?  What are you up to to solve the same problem?"

But the most important part is to be aware and make others aware every day of the year!

Egg Hunt

We want to thank all of our families for donating eggs for our annual egg hunts. We were able to collect over 2,000 eggs! The kids were so excited to watch the build up. Everyday they noticed new eggs and talked about what eggs they were going to look for. The success to our Easter egg hunt goes to all of you. We appreciate everything you do. Check out some of the pictures we were able to get. Happy Easter!