recognizing the essentials of developmentally appropriate

1 Curriculum – Teaching and Learning ▲ #4400203 ▲© Exchange Press, Inc. 2007

What’s In This Kit?

This training kit is designed to introduce teachers to the essentials of developmentally

appropriate practices in early care and education. It contains:

• Expected training outcomes

• Preparation instructions

• Training strategies and tips

• Implementation steps

• Follow-up activities for teachers

• Follow-up activities for administrators/directors

• A learning assessment

• A training evaluation/further needs assessment

• A resource list

• The article “Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice”

by Marjorie Kostelnik

• A training certificate to award to teachers for attendance and participation

• A certificate for the trainer and other presenters

Who’s the Target Audience?

The target audience for this kit is for beginning teachers working with children from age birth to 8.

Teacher Skill Level Children’s Age Level

beginning intermediate advanced infants toddlers preschoolers school-agers birth to 8

Recognizing the Essentialsof Developmentally Appropriate Practice


Kit Timeline:

Preparation time for this kit is 1.0 hour. Implementation time is estimated at 1.5 – 2.0 hours

Training Outcomes:

1. Teachers will define developmentally appropriate practice as an approach to informed

decision making within the context of the early childhood classroom.

2. Teachers will identify three essential components or principles of developmentally

appropriate practice.

3. Teachers will understand that developmentally appropriate practice is more than a list

of dos and don’ts.

4. Teachers will identify misconceptions about developmentally appropriate practice.

5. Teachers will show how an understanding of early childhood education and

development supports developmentally appropriate practice.

6. Teachers will examine the concept of previous knowledge.

7. Teachers will examine children’s contextual factors.

8. Teachers will analyze how respect for children is translated into teaching behavior.

9. Teachers will plan ways to apply the essentials of developmentally appropriate practice

to their teaching practice.

These training outcomes address the following:• Section 1, Section 2, and Section 3 of the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and

Accreditation Performance Criteria (2005), www.naeyc.org.

• Standards 1, 2, 3, and 4 of NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation, Initial

Licensure Level (2003), www.naeyc.org.

• Standard 1304 (a), (b), and (c) of Head Start Performance Standards (Federal Register, Nov. 5, 1996,

Volume 61, Number 215), www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/.

• Section E and Section F of the National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education

Programs, National Association of Child Care Professionals (2005), www.naccp.org.

You may want to take the time now to locate additional state and local standards that

relate to this topic or requirements of other regulatory bodies specific to your program.

Add those to this plan to personalize it.

Preparation:

1. Read the article “Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice.”

Locate and read any of the following resources to support an understanding of the

topic:

Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1998). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early

Childhood Programs. Washington, DC: NAEYC.


Kostelnik, M. J. (1992). Myths Associated with Developmentally Appropriate Programs.

Young Children, 47(4): 17-23.

Vander Wilt, J. L., & Monroe, V. (1998). Successfully Moving Toward Developmentally

Appropriate Practice: It takes time and effort!? Young Children, 53(4): 17-24.

2. Read through the entire training kit to familiarize yourself with the kit’s design,

implementation, handouts, etc.

3. Duplicate and distribute the article for teachers to read before the training session.

4. Collect the supplies and materials needed for this session, including flip chart paper

and markers.

5. Prepare the flip charts.

6. Duplicate the learning assessment and the certificate of attendance and participation.

Training Strategy:

• Small group activity

Training Tip: This training kit is designed for beginning teachers, yet it includes synthesis

level small group activities. Benjamin Bloom (1956) created a taxonomy for

categorizing educational activities that provides a useful structure for understanding

levels of thinking that are important in learning. A synthesis level activity requires

teachers to use prior knowledge or skills to create a new or original understanding that

can then be used in the dynamic role of teaching. Even beginning teachers benefit

from such thoughtful experiences. When teachers have the opportunity to synthesize

and apply what they have learned during educational experiences, it is more likely to

become part of their teaching skills and behavior.

This experience may be new for some teachers. Allow plenty of time for small groups to

work together. Support the process of figuring out the activity and the struggle to use

what they know individually in new ways in the small group activities. Resist the

tendency to provide answers. Resist the tendency to find a “right” or “best” answer.

Pose questions to further thinking as the groups work. Both the trainer and the teachers

will surprise themselves with the richness of the endeavor and the results.

Implementation:

1. Review the essentials of developmentally appropriate practice using Flip Chart 1:

Essence of Developmentally Appropriate Practice.

2. Divide teachers into small groups. Ask each group to select a reporter/recorder to

complete the handout and share the results.


3. Distribute Handout 1: Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate

Practice. Ask each group to identify three attributes of children in their classrooms and

explore the teaching practices they think will support these attributes. To structure this

discussion, use Fip Chart 2: Child Traits and Attributes, as a starting place.

4. Return to the larger group. Invite reporters to share one trait or attribute and the

related early care and education teaching practices identified by the group. Use Flip

Chart 3: Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice, to record

the examples shared.

5. After reporters conclude, ask teachers to return to their small groups to consider the

practices they identified further. Distribute Handout 2: Three Questions. Ask teachers

to consider the three questions identified in the article by Kostelnik to determine the

congruence of teachers’ ideas with current views on developmentally appropriate

practice. Encourage teachers to complete the last column — carefully identifying

knowledge, considering individual differences, and considering respect. You may

want to provide copies of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (1997) for the groups

to use as a reference.

6. Reconvene the large group and facilitate a summary discussion of the experience,

focusing on how much information and understanding the group’s questioning

created.

7. Distribute Handout 3: Applying the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

(Sample) and Handout 4: Applying the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate

Practice.

8. Review the example (Handout 3) to illustrate the next activity.

9. To give teachers experience applying the essentials of developmentally appropriate

practice, ask teachers to return to their small groups, identify a classroom problem or

issue that needs attention, and then complete Handout 4 as a group.

10. Reconvene the large group and ask reporters to share the issue the group worked on

and one insight, understanding, or plan of action.

11. Conclude the training session by returning to Flip Chart 1: Essence of Developmentally

Appropriate Practice. Review the three esentials of developmentally appropriate

practice and remind teachers to use this helpful strategy in decision-making for future

issues or problems.

Follow-up Activities for Teachers:

1. The next time a child poses challenges or problems in the classroom, use the process

practiced in this session to identify developmentally appropriate practices to use in

supporting the child’s continued development.


2. Observe to see if the identified developmentally appropriate ideas generated work. If

they don’t seem to, repeat the process and fine tune the suggestions.

Follow-up Activities for Directors:

1. Use the process practiced in the training session when teachers come to you with issues

or problems to consider. Resist the tendency to solve the problem or make suggestions.

Instead, use Handout 4 to consider the three essentials of developmentally appropriate

practice and to discover strategies that might work. To make this easy, keep some

copies of Handout 4 close by to record your discussion related to the identified issue.

2. Create a file with completed copies of Handout 4. Mark out children and family

members’ names and use the samples. Keep copies to provide ideas about how to

handle similar issues faced by different teachers at different times with different

children.

3. When one teacher works through an issue with a positive outcome, use her to mentor

other teachers in how to consider options that are developmentally appropriate.

4. Order copies of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (1997) or the brochures that

summarize key elements of developmentally appropriate practice for different ages of

children from NAEYC (go to www.naeyc.org for ordering information). Share them with

teachers and families.

Learning AssessmentAsk teachers to complete the learning assessment to validate their understanding of the topic.

Training Evaluation / Further Needs Assessment:

1. Ask teachers to complete the evaluation.

2. Use the responses to identify further training needs.

What’s Next?If the training evaluation and further needs assessment indicates that your staff needs furthertraining in curriculum, take a look at “The Project Approach in the Early Years,” (Out of the BoxTraining Kit #4400201).

Resources: Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1998). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood

Programs. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.Kostelnik, M. J. (1992). Myths Associated with Developmentally Appropriate Programs. Young Children,

47(4): 17-23.Vander Wilt, J. L., & Monroe, V. (1998). Sucessfully Moving toward Developmentally Appropriate Practice:

It takes time and effort!? Young Children, 53(4): 17-24.


Flip ChartsRecognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Flip Chart 1

Essence of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

1. Developmentally appropriate practice means taking into account everything we know about

how children develop and learn and matching that to the content and strategies planned for

them in early care and education programs.

2. Developmentally appropriate practice means treating children as individuals, not as a cohort

group.

3. Developmentally appropriate practice means treating children with respect — recognizing

changing capabilities and having faith in children’s capacity to grow and learn.

Flip Chart 2

Child Traits and Attributes

Active Learners

Busy

Capable

Careful

Cautious

Challenging

Competent

Curious

Eager to Learn

Fiesty

Flexible

Hands-on Learners

Happy

Inquisitive

Playful

Talkative


Flip Chart 3

Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Child Traits Early Care and Education Practices

Flip ChartsRecognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice


Handout 1Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Child Traits or Attributes Early Care and Education Practice

The early care and education teacher:




Handout 2Three Questions

Is this practicein keeping withwhat I knowabout childdevelopmentand learning?

Which theories, age characteristics, stage characteristics, etc.

Does thispractice takeinto accountchildren’sindividualneeds?

Which individual needs?; (e.g., developmental uniquenessacross domains; within domains; or alternate developmentalpathways, etc.)

Does thispracticedemonstraterespect forchildren?

How does it demonstate recognizing children’s changingcapabilities and having faith in their capacity to learn anddevelop?

YES NO


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Learning Assessment Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

1. True or False: No matter how well developed, no one set of guidelines can tell us everything there is

to know about early childhood education.

2. True or False: If a teacher knows and understands developmentally appropriate practice, it is easy

to just apply the guidelines without thinking or modifying them.

3. True or False: There are many ways to carry out a developmentally appropriate early childhood

program.

4. True or False: Developmentally appropriate programs are unstructured ones in which teachers offer

minimal guidance, if any at all, to the children in their care.

5. True or False: In developmentally appropriate programs, expectations for children’s behavior and

learning are low.

6. True or False: Developmentally appropriate practices cannot be adapted to meet the needs of

particular cultural groups or children of varying socio-economic backgrounds.

7. True or False: Respect for children involves having faith in their ability to eventually learn the

information, behaviors, and skills they will need to constructively function on their own.

8. In your own words, state the three essentials of developmentally appropriate practice according to

Kostelnik and how you might use them to solve a classroom challenge.

a.

b.

c.

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Date____________________


Learning Assessment Evaluation RubricEssentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

1. True or False: No matter how well developed, no one set of guidelines can tell us everything there

is to know about early childhood education.

2. True or False: If a teacher knows and understands developmentally appropriate practice, it is easy

to just apply the guidelines without thinking or modifying them.

3. True or False: There are many ways to carry out a developmentally appropriate early childhood

program.

4. True or False: Developmentally appropriate programs are unstructured ones in which teachers

offer minimal guidance, if any at all, to the children in their care.

5. True or False: In developmentally appropriate programs, expectations for children’s behavior and

learning are low.

6. True or False: Developmentally appropriate practices cannot be adapted to meet the needs of

particular cultural groups or children of varying socio-economic backgrounds.

7. True or False: Respect for children involves having faith in their ability to eventually learn the

information, behaviors, and skills they will need to constructively function on their own.

8. In your own words, state the three essentials of developmentally appropriate practice according to

Kostelnik and how you might use them to solve a classroom challenge.

Accept any answer that contains the following key ideas.

a.Developmentally appropriate practice means taking into account everything we know

about how children develop and learn and matching that to the content and strategies

planned for them in early care and education programs.

b.Developmentally appropriate practice means treating children as individuals, not as a

cohort group.

c. Developmentally appropriate practice means treating children with respect — recognizing

changing capabilities and having faith in children’s capacity to grow and learn.

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A look at DAP in the real world

A group of four year olds have been in circle time for 40 minutes.— not DAP

Aiysha wants the easel all to herself. LaToya wants a turn. Theprovider helps the girls develop a time table for sharing over the nextseveral minutes. — DAP

Carlos, a kindergartner in an after school program, laboriously copies aseries of words onto lined paper. — not DAP

Judgments Related to DAP

The guidelines for developmentallyappropriate practice put forward bythe National Association for theEducation of Young Children(NAEYC) and later corroborated andembellished by organizations such asthe National Association of StateBoards of Education (NASBE) andthe National Association of Elemen-tary School Principals (NAESP)provide an excellent resource forthinking about, planning, andimplementing high quality programsfor young children. They serve toinform our decision making and togive us a basis for continually scru-tinizing our professional practices.

Yet, regardless of how well they aredeveloped, no one set of guidelinescan tell us everything there is toknow about early childhood educa-tion. Neither can they be appliedunthinkingly. Every day practition-ers find themselves in situations inwhich they must make judgmentsabout what to value and what to do.Some of these situations demand on-the-spot decision making; othersallow time for longer deliberation.Some involve relatively minorincidents; others are much moreserious. Some require making majorchanges in the environment or in

Recognizing the Essentials ofDevelopmentally Appropriate Practice

by Marjorie J. Kostelnik, PhD

Taken at face value, it seems easy todetermine whether or not thepreceding child care situationsreflect developmentally appropriatepractices. Closer scrutiny, however,may prompt us to reassess ouroriginal judgments.

For instance, we might revise ouropinion about the circle time uponlearning that the children are en-thralled by a storyteller who activelyinvolves them in the storytellingprocess and who has prolonged thegroup in response to the children’srequests to “tell us another one.”Likewise, helping children to share isusually a worthy endeavor. But, inthis case, Aiysha only recentlybecame a big sister and is having toshare many things for the first time— attention at home, her room, andmost of her things. Knowing this,we might determine that making hershare the easel on this occasion is

unnecessarily stressful. HelpingLaToya find an alternate activity thatwill satisfy her desire to paint couldbe a better course of action for now.A second look at Carlos reveals thathe is working hard to copy thewords “happy birthday” for apresent he is making for his mom.He is using a model created byanother child and is writing onpaper he selected himself. Withinthis context, it no longer seems soquestionable for Carlos to be en-gaged in copy work.

Scenarios such as these illustrate thatfiguring out what does or does notconstitute developmentally appro-priate practice requires more thansimply memorizing a particular setof do’s and don’ts. It involveslooking at every practice in contextand making judgments about eachchild and the environment in whichhe or she is functioning.

Reprinted with permission from Exchange magazine.Visit us at www.ChildCareExchange.com or call (800) 221-2864.Multiple use copy agreement available for educators by request.

Exchange 3/93

one’s teaching behavior; othersnecessitate only minimal changes ornone at all. Yet, hurried or meticu-lously planned, small or large,involving more or less action,practitioners continually have todecide whether or not their actionsand programs enhance or detractfrom the quality of children’s lives.

Confusion Over DAP

Spokespersons for NAEYC, NASB,and NAESP have tried to underscorethe evolving nature of developmen-tally appropriate practice and thecontextual nature of its application.Unfortunately, some people eagerfor quick answers or a finite set ofrules for working with youngchildren have overgeneralized theguidelines. Suggested alternativeshave become ironclad rules — issuesof “more and less” have become “allor none.” A number of erroneousassumptions have also arisen aboutDAP. Some of these include:

• There is only one right way tocarry out a developmentally appro-priate program.

• Developmentally appropriateprograms are unstructured ones inwhich practitioners offer minimalguidance, if any at all, to the childrenin their care.

• In developmentally appropriateprograms the expectations forchildren’s behavior and learning arelow.

• Developmentally appropriatepractices cannot be adapted to meetthe needs of particular culturegroups or children of varying socio-economic backgrounds.

• Developmentally appropriatepractice can be achieved simply byacquiring certain kinds of toys.

Assertions such as these have fueleda growing debate about the meaning,

usefulness, and unitary nature ofDAP. The resulting examination andexchange of views is healthy for thefield, but it has also led some childcare administrators to feel confusedabout what developmentally appro-priate practice really is and how toachieve it. In addition, some direc-tors are unsure which elements ofdevelopmentally appropriatepractice are the most critical orwhere to begin in operationalizingthe concept in their programs.

All of this uncertainty is com-pounded by the fact that every childcare staff is comprised of peoplewhose familiarity and experiencewith developmentally appropriatepractices vary. Furthermore, somestaff members may question whethercertain of the practices espoused inwritten documents are sensitive tothe unique needs of the populationwith whom they work. Others mayfeel overwhelmed at the thought ofmemorizing a long list of guidelines.Still others may not see an item onthe list that addresses a particularsituation with which they must cope.Many of these concerns arise from apreoccupation with the details ofdevelopmentally appropriatepractice rather than with its essence.That essence lies in three principlescommon to every major interpreta-tion of DAP suggested thus far.

The Essence of DAP

1. Developmentally appropriatemeans taking into account every-thing we know about how childrendevelop and learn and matchingthat to the content and strategiesplanned for them in early childhoodprograms.

2. Developmentally appropriatemeans treating children as individu-als, not as a cohort group.

3. Developmentally appropriatemeans treating children with respect

— recognizing children’s changingcapabilities and having faith in theircapacity to develop and learn.

In other words, we must first thinkabout what children are like andthen create activities, routines, andexpectations that accommodate andcomplement those characteristics. Inaddition, we must know more than afew descriptive facts about a child,such as age and gender, to designappropriate programs. We have tolook at children within the context oftheir family, culture, community,past experience, and current circum-stances to create age-appropriate, aswell as individually-appropriate,living and learning environments.Finally, we must recognize theunique ways in which children arechildren, not simply miniatureadults. Experiences and expectationsplanned for children should reflectthe notion that early childhood is atime of life qualitatively differentfrom the later school years andadulthood.

Although each of us may interpretthese basic tenets in slightly differentways, they provide a commonfoundation for defining high qualityearly childhood programs. Suchprograms are ones in which childrenof all abilities, ages, races, cultures,creeds, socio-economic, and familylifestyle backgrounds feel lovable,valuable, and competent.

The Need for Knowledge

Having specialized knowledge aboutchild development and learning isthe cornerstone of professionalism inearly childhood education. Suchknowledge encompasses recognizingcommon developmental threadsamong all children as well as under-standing significant variations acrosscultures. Interviews with child careproviders and observations of theirwork with children consistently findthat those who have such knowledge

Exchange 3/93

place to avoid or an area for explora-tion. Which judgment is madedepends in part on what kind ofclothing the children are wearing,whether soap and water is availablefor clean up, whether it is warmenough to go barefoot, and whetherthere is enough time for children toboth play in the mud and get cleanedup before moving into the next partof the day.

The Function of Respect

Respect involves having faith inchildren’s ability to eventually learnthe information, behavior, and skillsthey will need to constructivelyfunction on their own. Thus, havingrespect for children implies believingthat they are capable of changingtheir behavior and of making self-judgments. Caregivers manifestrespect when they allow children tothink for themselves, make deci-sions, work toward their ownsolutions, and communicate theirideas.

For instance, it is out of respect forchildren that child care workersallow them to make choices rangingfrom which activity to pursue towhere to sit at the lunch table. Forthis reason, too, practitioners encour-age toddlers to pour their own juice,preschoolers to become activelyinvolved in clean up, and school-agechildren to help determine theactivities for the day. Although anyof these activities could be moreefficiently and skillfully accom-plished by adults, respect forchildren’s increasing competenceinvolves allowing them to experi-ence the exhilaration of accomplish-ment. Similarly, adults who respectchildren know that self-control is anemerging skill that children achieveover time given adequate supportand guidance. With this in mind,children’s transgressions are handledas gaps in knowledge and skills, notas character flaws.

are better equipped and more likelyto engage in developmentallyappropriate practices. Instead oftreating their interactions withchildren as wholly intuitive, theybring factual information to bear onhow they think about children andhow they respond to them.

Understanding child developmentprovides practitioners with insightsinto children’s behavior and helpsadults better grasp the contextwithin which those actions occur.This expands providers’ notions ofwhat constitutes normal childbehavior. As a result, they are morelikely to accept typical variationsamong children as well as accuratelyrecognize potential problems thatmay require specialized intervention.Familiarity with child developmentalso offers clues to child care work-ers about the sequence in whichactivities might be presented tochildren and the degree of develop-mental readiness necessary forchildren to achieve particular goals.

Understanding how young childrenthink and expand their concepts andskills is the key to creating appropri-ate physical environments forchildren, to determining appropriateadult/child interactions, and todeveloping activities and routinesthat support rather than underminechildren’s natural ways of learning.

Children As Individuals

Practitioners are called on daily tomake decisions that require them tosee each child as distinct from allothers. The adult must weigh suchvariables as the child’s age, what thechild’s current level of comprehen-sion might be, and what experiencesthe child has had. Although age isnot an absolute measure of ayoungster’s capabilities and under-standing, it does serve as a guide forestablishing appropriate expecta-tions. For instance, knowing that

preschoolers do not yet have amature grasp of games with rules,child care workers would notconsider a four year old who spinstwice or peeks at the cards in amemory game as cheating. Norwould they require preschoolers toadhere to the rules of the game in thesame way they might expect grade-schoolers to do.

The kinds of previous knowledgeand skills a child brings to a situa-tion should also be taken intoaccount. Obviously, children withlittle or no exposure to a particularsituation or skill would not beexpected to perform at the samelevel of competence as childrenwhose backlog of experience isgreater. For instance, standards fordressing independently would bedifferent for a three year old thanthose for a six year old, not onlybecause of differences in maturity,but because the older child has hadmore practice.

Contextual factors also contribute todetermining the developmentalappropriateness of certain decisions.For example, under normal circum-stances, Ms. Sanchez’s goal is tofoster independence among thechildren in her family child carehome. Ordinarily, children are giventhe time to make their own deci-sions, to repeat a task in order togain competence, and to do as muchas possible for themselves. How-ever, these goals and strategies haveto be modified during a tornadodrill. Under such circumstances,children have no choice about takingshelter, nor can they take their timedressing themselves. As a result,slow dressers get more directassistance than is customarilyprovided.

Physical resources and availabletime affect judgments as well. Thisexplains why a huge mud puddle onthe playground could be viewed as a

Exchange 3/93

Applications

Each time child care workers arefaced with having to determine towhat extent their actions are congru-ent with developmentally appropri-ate practice, it is useful to ask thefollowing questions:

• Is this practice in keeping withwhat I know about child develop-ment and learning?

• Does this practice take into accountthe children’s individual needs?

• Does this practice demonstraterespect for children?

These queries can be used to addressimmediate concerns or to serve asthe basis for long-term deliberations.They can stimulate individualthinking or consideration of programpractices by an entire staff. New-comers to the field use the precedingquestions to hone their understand-ing of the fundamental nature ofchildren. Seasoned veterans often go

beyond the basics to consider theextent to which their practices takeinto account gender and culturaldifferences among children as wellas differences related to socio-economic status. In every circum-stance, the answer to all threequestions should be yes. If anyanswer is no, it is a strong sign thatthe practice should be reconsidered,revamped, or discarded. If there isuncertainty about a question inrelation to a certain practice, thatpractice is worth examining further.

To illustrate the power of theseessential principles as tools formeaningful reflection, take a mo-ment to consider the first questionabove. In my own experience, I havestarted the reflective process byasking child care workers to describethe children with whom they work(focusing on how they believe thoseyoungsters develop and learn).Often practitioners use adjectivessuch as active, curious, talkative, orplayful. The procedure of generat-ing descriptive words often leads to

thought-provoking discussions towhich both experienced and lessexperienced members contribute. Ifpeople decide they aren’t sure aboutsome items (e.g., What do childrenreally learn from play? Do childrenfrom varied backgrounds developand learn in the same way?), theirquestions serve as the impetus forstaff research or the basis for addi-tional in-service training. Next, wecreate a chart to examine whatimplications such characteristicshave for program practice. This isaccomplished by listing childdevelopment and learning traits inone column and correspondingpractices that support or match thosetraits in a second column. A typicalexample is offered below.

A chart such as the one illustratedhere serves two major functions.First, the people who create itbecome increasingly invested in thepractices they identify. These arelikely to be ones they take care toaddress in the future because theycan see the logic of such strategies in

Child Traits Child Care Practices

The child care teacher:Children are active learners. gives children opportunities for gross motor activities each day.

includes a daily free-choice period during which children can move freely.creates a schedule in which quiet, inactive times are followed by longer, more

active periods.keeps inactive segments of the day short.

The child care teacher:Children are curious. builds activities around children’s interests.

provides many chances for children to explore materials and concepts.encourages children to pose problems and investigate solutions.

The child care teacher:Children are playful. integrates play throughout the day.

provides children with a variety of props and other manipulative objects.encourages children to create and use their own ideas within their play.creates a classroom design and schedule that allows children to move about freely.monitors and enhances children’s play as an observer or as a participant.evaluates the sound and activity level within the program in terms of the quality of

children’s play — recognizes that high quality play is often noisy and active.

Exchange 3/93

relation to children they know andcare about. Second, their ideas canbe compared to those in publisheddocuments. As practitioners makesuch comparisons, they find manysimilarities between their ideas andthose of experts in the field. Thiscontributes to greater staff confi-dence and helps to make the NAEYCguidelines for developmentallyappropriate practice more personallymeaningful.

Summary

Ultimately, for DAP to have a majorimpact on the early childhoodprofession, people must see theprinciples which undergird it asextensions of their own values.These shared values will be whatmake DAP an integral part of ourthoughts and actions rather than justa fad soon to be replaced by another.In addition, fundamental valuessuch as these are likely to remainconstant, even as the strategies weuse to address them differ from onecircumstance to another or changeover time. Supporting child careworkers as they examine the essen-tials of developmentally appropriatepractice is not only an importantadministrative responsibility, it isone that promises to yield lastingrewards for staff and for children.

Marjorie J. Kostelnik, PhD, is a profes-sor in the Department of Family andChild Ecology at Michigan StateUniversity and is the program supervi-sor of the Child Development Laborato-ries on campus. A former child care,Head Start, and nursery school teacher,she has been actively involved in helpinga variety of early childhood programsexplore the implications of developmen-tally appropriate practice and translatetheir understandings into action.


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recognizing the essentials of developmentally appropriate

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