What is it? What does it mean for my classroom and my school?

Knowledge Must Inform Decision Making

Goals Must Be Challenging And Achievable

Teaching Must Be Intentional To Be Effective

◦What is known about child development and learning

Age related characteristics Predict what experiences will promote

learning and development

What is known about each child as an individual has implications for:

How best to adapt curriculum How to be responsive to each child.

What is known about the social and cultural contexts in which children live:

Understand values, expectations, behavior and languages of children

Ensures their learning experiences are meaningful, relevant , and respectful for each child and their family.

Meet children where they are but don’t leave them there

Scaffold learning

Reflect on student learning and advancing learning in a developmentally appropriate way

Intentional in everything you do◦ Setting up the classroom◦ Planning curriculum◦ Making use of various teaching strategies◦ Assessing children ◦ Interacting with children◦ Working with their families

Direct your teaching toward the goals of the program (i.e. standards)

DAP is not a curriculum◦ Provides guidelines for what makes a curriculum

developmentally appropriate◦ Teachers use this set of guidelines to help them

make sound decisions

Teachers make decisions with the following key points in mind:

Age Appropriateness

Individual Appropriateness

Social and Cultural Appropriateness

1. View the DVD included in Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs◦ Video Examples #2

What Does Developmentally Appropriate Practice Look Like?

2. Read the handout “Key Messages of the Position Statement”

3. Use the 3,2,1 protocol to share with your co-workers