Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Birth Through Age 8.

By: Kelly Jo Crisafulli

Jen Crawford

Caity Riggs

Why did we choose this topic?• Important for future employment

• It is not being done as diligently as it should be.

• High quality education should be based on the developmental needs of the child.

Appropriate Practices Birth to age 2

• Examples of Appropriate Practices for Infants• Relationships among caregivers and children• -Relationships are built and gain an understand of temperament, needs, and cues• -Adults engage in one-to-one interactions with infant using simple phrases, calm voice, and eye

contact• -Warm, responsive interactions occur throughout the day• -Especially attentive to care giving needs; diaper changing, feeding, changing clothes• -Recognize that crying and body movements are the infants’ way of communicating• - Every infant receives nurturing care• -Playful interactions with babies are done in ways that are sensitive to the child’s interests and level

of tolerance for physical movement, loud sounds, or other changes• -Adults show respect for infants; play by observing, commenting, and providing a safe environment• -Frequently read to, sing to, and talk to infants• -Infants and their parents are greeted warmly each morning• -Consistently respond to infants’ needs for food and comfort• -Adjust to infants’ individual feeding and sleeping times• -Adults respect each infants’ individual ability and respond positively as each baby develops new

abilities• -Know that infants are curious about each other• -Model interacts with others• -Adults frequently observe the infant at play and are careful to not intrude upon how the infant wants

to play• -Healthy, accepting attitudes about children’s bodies and their functions are expressed

• Environment and experiences • -Walls are painted with lead-free paint• -Pictures of infants and their families are hung at child height• -Auditory environment is not over stimulating or distracting• -Play areas are comfortable; pillows, foam mats, soft carpet• -“Quiet areas” are available• -Visual displays are displayed at the infants’ line of sight• -Books are available for children; within children’s reach• -Toys are responsive to child’s actions; grasping toys, skill development materials, containers, balls, bells,

rattles• -Safe household items are available for children to play with• -Toys are a size that allows infants to grasp, chew, and manipulate• -Mobile infants have an open area where balls, push toys, and other equipment is available• -Toys are out so infants can make choices• -Room temperature can be controlled• -Infants are frequently moved; from floor, baby seat, stroller; different perspectives• -Outside space has many sunny and shady spaces• -Infants are held with their bodies at an angle while given a bottle• -Highchairs are used only when needed• -Children who can sit up eat in groups with a caregiver• -Bottles and formula are labeled• -Sleeping area is separate from active play area• -Cribs are made of wood, metal, or approved plastic• -The lighting is dim, but not so dark that the caregiver can not see every infant• -Infants have their own diapering supplies and extra clothes• -Storage for disinfectants, gloves, and plastic bags is clearly labeled

• Health and Safety•  • -Adults follow health and safety procedures• -Diapering and food preparation areas are separate• -Use bleach mixture to disinfect everyday; kept out of reach of

children• -Health records are kept of each infant• -Adults are aware of the symptoms of common illness,

environmental hazards, and food or other allergies• -Parents give written consent to give nonprescription and

prescription drugs• -Each infant has a daily record book• -Caregivers directly supervise infants by sight and hearing at all

times• -Safety check inside and outside several times throughout the day• -Emergency evacuation plans are posted

• Reciprocal relationships with families•  • -Caregivers work in partnership with parents,

communicating daily to build mutual trust to ensure well-being of the child

• -Caregivers help parents feel good about their parenting• -Caregivers and parents confer in making decisions about

how best to support children’s development•  • Policies•  • -Staff enjoy working with infants and are warmly

responsive to their communications and needs• -The group size and ratio of adults to infants is limited to

allow for one-to-one interaction

• Examples of Appropriate Practices for Toddlers•  • Relationships among caregivers and children•  • -Every toddler is able to form a relationship with a primary caregiver• -Adults warmly greet toddlers and their parents by name when they arrive• -An adult initiating a conversation with a child gives the child ample time to respond• -Caregiver asks parents what sounds and words their toddler uses so that the caregiver will

understand what the child is saying• -Adults have appropriate expectations for toddlers and are supportive when toddler acquire new

skills• -Children are acknowledged for their accomplishments• -Adults respond quickly to cries and other sounds of distress• -Adults comfort toddlers and let them know they are appreciated with warm responsive touches• -Adults respect children’s developing preferences for familiar objects, foods, and people• -Adults respect toddlers’ desires to carry familiar objects around with them, to move the objects from

one place to another, and to roam around or sit and parallel play with toys and objects• -Adults give simple, brief, accurate responses to children’s staring at or questions about a child with

a disability• -Adults model positive interactions with others• -Adults patiently redirect toddlers to help guide them toward controlling their own impulses and

behavior• -Adults recognize that constantly testing limits and saying “No!” to adults is part of a child developing

a healthy sense of self

• Living and learning with toddlers•  • -Time schedules are flexible and smooth; based more on children’s

needs than adults• -Adults adapt schedules and activities to meet individual children’s needs

within the group setting• -Adults create an inclusive classroom • -Adults engage in play with toddlers modeling how to play imaginatively• -Adults respect toddlers’ solitary and parallel play• -Adults read, sing, do finger plays, act out simple short stories• -Toddlers are given appropriate art materials and explore freely without

assistance• -Children have daily opportunities for exploratory activity• -Routine tasks of living (eating, toileting, dressing) are opportunities to

help children learn about their world• -Adults respect children’s eating and feeding schedules• -Adults work cooperatively with families with potty training• -Healthy, accepting attitudes about children’s bodies and their functions

are expressed• -Caregivers plan a transition into naptime that is predictable

• Environment•  • -Walls are painted with lead free easy to clean paint• -Floor coverings are appropriate for the activity that occurs there• -Toddlers’ artwork is hung at a level that is just above the child’s reach, but still low

enough for them to see• -The environment and schedule have enough predictability and repetition to allow

toddlers to form expectations• -Caregivers organize the space into interest areas• -The environment contains private spaces with room for no more than two children• -A child-size sink is located near areas designed for cleaning up and washing their

hands• -Sturdy picture books are provided• -Children have many opportunities for active, large-muscle play both indoors and

outdoors• -Walks around the neighborhood or to a park are provided to see many outdoor

spaces• -Diapering/toileting, sleeping, and eating areas are separate• -The toddler naptime area can be in the play area as long as cots are well spaced• -Each toddler has a cot and bedding that are personally labeled

• Health and Safety•  • -Health and safety procedures are followed• -Bleach water is used daily to disinfect and is kept out of reach of

children• -Toys that are mouthed are removed when a child has finished

playing with them• -Health records are kept• -Adults are aware of common illness and food or other allergies• -Families provide written permission to distribute prescription and

nonprescription drugs• -A daily record book is kept• -Extra clothes are available• -Caregivers directly supervise toddlers by sight and sound at all

times• -Adults do safety checks of all areas inside and outside daily• -Emergency evacuation plans are posted

• Reciprocal relationships with families•  • -Teachers work in partnership with parents communicating daily to

build mutual trust• -Teachers help parents feel good about their parenting• -Caregivers and parents confer in making decisions about how to

best support children’s development or handle problems or differences of opinion

•  • Policies•  • -Staff have training in child development/early education specific to

the toddler age group• -The group size and the ratio of adults to children are limited to allow

for the intimate atmosphere• -The staff pattern is designed to ensure each toddler builds a

relationship with a primary caregiver

Appropriate Practices for Ages 3 to Five

Promoting a Positive Climate for Learning

-Classrooms function as caring communities.

-Support beginning friendships and provide opportunity for students to learn from one another.

-Help to develop self-confidence and positive feelings towards learning.

Fostering a Cohesive Group and Meeting Individual Needs Needs

-Design activities based on children’s knowledge and interest.-Use many strategies to build a sense of community within the group.-Bring child’s culture into curriculum.-Recognizing the value of working and playing collaboratively.-Children with disabilities are included in the classroom.

Environment and Schedule-Provide a learning environment that fosters active exploration and engagement.-Maintain a safe and healthy environment.-Organize a daily schedule to allow for alternating periods of active engagement and quite time, adequate nutrition and naptime.

Learning Experiences-Using materials and people relevant to children’s own life experiences, interest and developmental levels.-Provide opportunities for children to plan and select their own activities from a variety of learning areas.

Language and Communication

-Encourage children’s language skills through talking with them throughout the day, emphasizing clear speaking and active listening.

Teaching Strategies

-Observe and interact with children in small groups.-Support children’s engagement in play and child-chosen activities-Extend the children's thinking by posing problems, asking questions, and adding to complexity of tasks.-Provide opportunities for children to reflect on activities.-Provide opportunities for children to work collaboratively.

Motivation and Guidance-Draw in children’s curiosity and desire to make sense of the world.-Motivate them to become involved in interesting learning activities.-Facilitate the development of social skills, self-control, and self-regulation using modeling techniques and positive behavioral supports.

Integrated Curriculum-Goals address learning in all developmental areas- physical, social, emotional, language, aesthetic, and intellectual.-Curriculum content from various disciplines.

Continuum of Development and Learning-Curriculum is designed to help children explore and acquire inquiry tools.

Coherent, Effective Curriculum

-Implement a curriculum to help children achieve important developmental learning goals.-Plan a curriculum that is responsive to children’s life experiences.

Curriculum Content and Approaches-Provide opportunities for literacy and language development.-Provide opportunities to develop skills in math, science, social studies, and health.-Provide daily opportunities for aesthetic expression.-Provide opportunities for gross-motor and fine-motor development.-Provide opportunities to develop self-help skills.

Assessing Children’s Learning and Development-Use observations to assess student progress.-The program has a place for every child regardless of developmental level or prior learning of the child.

Reciprocal Relationships with Parents-Teachers work in partnership with parents, communicating regularly to ensure children’s learning and developmental needs are met.-Teachers and parents work together to make decisions about how best to support child development.-Parents are always welcome in the program.

Appropriate Practices Ages 6 to 8.

• Entering Primary School- more content related information

• There is a concern about low-achievement upon enter grade 4

• Less time to explore their surroundings- teaching to the test

• Importance of exploring their surroundings in primary grades

• Concerns about moral, social, and emotional development

– Social Skills– Emotionally– Morally

• NOT necessary to differentiate subject areas– Integrated curriculum

Development

• Physical Development needs• competition

• Brain Development• Brain reached adult size

• Visual Development• Closer work

• Cognitive Development

• Language/Communication

Classroom/School Environment

• Classroom Environment• Community• Comfortable• Exploration• Safe• Reflection• Goals

• Curriculum– INTEGRATION!!!!!

Appropriate Practices

• Math

• Reading

• Science

• Art/Music/Dance

• Physical Education

VELS-Victorian Essential Learning Standards

• What is it?

• Who did it?

• How was the program laid out?

ACTIVITY TIME!• Get with a partner (only one partner please)• Group one: Design one developmentally appropriate

activity/center for students to participate in.• Group Two: Design one developmentally appropriate

center for students to participate in. • Group Three: Design a integrated unit plan for one unit

theme. Your unit must include math, science, social studies, art, music, ELA/reading and should at least one activity for each category.

Needs Analysis Birth to Age 2

• Currently, one of the authors work at a home daycare. There are four women on staff, and at least two adults are present at all times. The children range in age from birth to five years. There are thirteen children enrolled. A Prayer and a Promise Childcare is a licensed daycare in New York State. The state regulations are followed, and the center is involved in a food program.

• The following chart is based on the needs of the daycare center to be truly developmentally appropriate for all children aged birth through five years old. The author provided a needs analysis based on the developmentally appropriate practices that are not currently being met at A Prayer and a Promise Childcare.

• Developmentally Appropriate Practice• Needs Analysis• Playful interactions with infants are done in ways that are sensitive to the child’s interests

and level of tolerance for physical movement, loud sounds, or other changes• A few times, one of the employees have forced a child to go past her comfort zone with

physical movement to the level the adult thinks she should be at. • Adults respect each infants’ individual ability and respond positively as each baby

develops new abilities• Some adults feel infants should be further ahead in development than they are, based on

the development of other children• Play areas are comfortable; pillows, foam mats, soft carpet•  • There is no space in the center where there is any type of soft surface other than carpet• Each infant has a daily record book•  • We do not keep daily record books• An adult initiating a conversation with a child gives the child ample time to respond• There is one child in particular that adults do not give time to answer. They get frustrated

quickly and expect him to answer at their speed• Adults have appropriate expectations for toddlers and are supportive when toddler acquire

new skills• The expectations for toddlers are generally based on the other students’ accomplishments.

• Adults patiently redirect toddlers to help guide them toward controlling their own impulses and behavior

• The adults generally make the decision for the toddler and do not let him make his decision.• Adults recognize that constantly testing limits and saying “No!” to adults is part of a child

developing a healthy sense of self• The adults generally tell the toddler “You can’t tell me no!”• Toddlers are given appropriate art materials and explore freely without assistance• The adults often “help” the toddlers with glue or sticker backings. The child gets told the

gluing is wrong if there is too much• Children have daily opportunities for exploratory activity• Some of the adults do not like the mess or understand the need for the exploration.• Adults respect children’s eating and feeding schedules• The children eat during the daycares time schedule• The environment and schedule have enough predictability and repetition to allow toddlers to

form expectations• The only thing that is the same every day is breakfast, lunch, and snack• Caregivers organize the space into interest areas• There is no organization among the toys. • A child-size sink is located near areas designed for cleaning up and washing their hands• It is a home daycare so there are no child size sinks or toilets• Staff have training in child development/early education specific to the toddler age group• The staff are not all trained in early childhood education.

• After looking through the needs analysis, the director of the daycare decided that she needed to educate the staff more. She said, “It’s tricky because they do no have educational backgrounds, so getting them to understand the importance of these areas is hard”(Crisafuli). Legally, the staff needs 30 training hours a year. Being a daycare, the trainings generally attended are for safety rather than developmentally appropriateness. The director decided she would look for trainings based on developmentally and age appropriate practices and if she could not find any, she would require them to read about them using various resources.

Needs Analysis Age 3 to 5

Promoting a Positive Climate for LearningWe work very hard to facilitate and meet our children’s

need but not all of the teachers in the center know how to appropriately scaffold children to help them participate in

more sophisticated learning experiences.

Environment and ScheduleWe do a very good job not only maintaining a safe and healthy environment but in creating a schedule that we follow daily to

create structure and dependability within the classroom.

We include activities in our daily schedule that facilitate many different needs of the children. Large group, small group,

centers, dramatic play, arts and crafts, outdoor play, lunch and snacks, independent practices, toileting and free play.

Fostering a Cohesive Group and Meeting Individual Needs

The teachers at the center know the capabilities of each child are. They know what their interests are and what areas of pre-school they enjoy most. We work with the children in several different settings: whole group, small group, dramatic play and within centers. And though we currently have few students with disabilities all teacher do

everything necessary to include them in the day to day activities and to make them feel welcome and that they are

a crucial part of the classroom.

However there is very little celebration of who each student is: their family or cultural background. Adding something along these lines would be a great addition to our center’s

curriculum and would certainly be empowering to the children in the pre-school program.

Learning ExperiencesThere are many age appropriate activities for the children to

choose from and participate in daily. The one thing that could be changed in this area is the

amount of time being put into the lessons and planning for the day. Very little planning is done for the daily activities of

the pre-school classroom.

Language and CommunicationTeachers communicate appropriately with children all

throughout the day and help to facilitate activities where children communication with each other as well.

There are little to no opportunities for children to participate in active listening where they are expected to follow what

they teachers are saying and respond accordingly.

Teaching StrategiesVery few of the teachers are properly trained to work in

early childhood setting and are unaware of the best practices to use when working with young children.

The center needs to offer mandatory professional development opportunities so that the teachers in the center

and provide a higher quality form of early childhood care.Motivation and Guidance

Children are always encouraged and motivated to participate in any and all learning activities, but if they are showing resistance or serious

disinterest they are obviously not forced to participate.

The one drawback in this area what the technique of modeling. Many of the younger less educated teachers often hold inappropriate

conversations about their own personal lives, when they should be modeling appropriate behavior for the children in the classroom.

Integrated CurriculumContent from all different subjects are incorporated into the curriculum during all large group activities and some small

group and center activities.

Continuum of Development and LearningThe curriculum was planned entirely by the directors of the center and the head teachers and very few of the

other teachers have ever seen the it. It is possible that they don’t even know it exists.

Coherent, Effective CurriculumThe curriculum is based around the children’s

experiences, and things that they can relate to. Books and other developmentally appropriate materials are

used to introduce new ideas and concepts about

different people in the world. Curriculum and Content Approaches

The pre-school classroom is a print rich environment: literacy and sensory development items and activities are

available at all time to help promote fine motor development and appropriate practices are put into place to

promote independence.

The only problem in this area is that not all of the teachers are trained to know why these different activities are

important.

Assessing Children’s Learning and DevelopmentThere is no measurement of progress for any of the children in the

center.The program has a place for every child regardless of the

developmental level or prior learning of the child.

Reciprocal Relationships with ParentsParents are communicated with on a daily basis to ensure that their all of their children’s needs are being met to the best of our abilities, as well as to work together to make decisions on how to best support their child’s needs and

developmental goals.

Other High-Quality Child Care Centers in the Area.

-Seneca Nation of Indians Early Childhood Learning Centers: Locations in Salamanca and Cattaraugus – Uses the Creative Curriculum for planning and assessment to provide care to children ages 6 weeks – 12 years.

-Cattaraugus-Wyoming Counties Project Head Start - This to me is one of the highest quality most developmentally appropriate preschool’s available in the area. Head Start is a NAEYC accredited federally funded organization designed to provide high quality education to children from low-income families. It focuses on all of the previously stated Developmentally Appropriate Practices and can provide services from infancy to 6 years.

Needs Assessment: Ages 6-8

Donald

• Third grade integrated classroom (inclusion)

• IEP

• Learning Disabled and Dyslexia

• About Donald– Behaviors– Reading– intellegence

Current practices

• What is being done:– Departmentalized

curriculum (separate math, reading, science, and social studies)

– Too much assistance from teachers

– Not enough teachers setting high goals or expectations for students

– Not enough exploration

• What needs to be done:– Integrated curriculum– More

responsibility/ownership– Set high

goals/expectations– Reflection– Engaged- show it

applies to real life (schools is a full time job for students).

Donald’s needs

• Integrated curriculum (all subjects focus on one topic.– Better to generalize– Less frustration/confusion or

content to remember

• Responsibility/Ownership– Reflection– Set goals– Investment (see how it applies to

real life)