Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP)

1
Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP)

• 9/4/07

2
Agenda- 9/4/07

• Finish presenting Case Studies
• Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAPs)
  PowerPoint
• Class map of the Big Ideas

3
History

• Due to the result of Sputnik in the late 1950s
  curriculum was revised to focus on having
  children do more sophisticated work earlier in
  their school careers.
• Decisions about curriculum were made by
  individuals that had little knowledge of young
  childrens learning.

4
History

• Parents became more concerned with scores and
  achievement than they were with their childs
  becoming a successful learner.
• Many inappropriate programs resulted.

5
Developmentally Appropriate Practice-Origin

• National Association for the Education of Young
  Children (NAEYC) developed a document that
  defined Developmentally Appropriate Practice from
  birth-age 8.
• These practices seem to reflect the consensus of
  early childhood professionals.

6
DAPs

• Definition- Developmentally appropriate programs
  are those that reflect childrens natural
  learning abilities and interests, and assist them
  in growing socially, emotionally, physically, and
  intellectually.

7
DAPs

• Emphasizes stages of child growth and development
  and focuses on
• Rates that children learn
• Ways that children learn
• Hands-on, active learning
• Conceptual learning that leads to understanding
  along with acquisition of basic skills

8
DAPs focus on (cont.)

• Meaningful, relevant learning experiences
• Interactive teaching and cooperative learning
• Broad range of relevant content, integrated
  across subjects
• Development of learning processes such as
  reading, writing, thinking, and problem solving
• Continuous progress
• Assessment that is on-going and authentic

9
DAPs Discourage

• Rote memorization
• Drill and practice on isolated academic skills
• Teacher lecture
• Repetitive seatwork
• Testing skills in isolation

10
What does a DAP classroom look like?

• Recognizes and accepts individual differences in
  childrens growth patterns and rates by setting
  realistic curriculum goals that are appropriate
  to their developmental levels.

11
What does a DAP classroom look like?

• Educates the whole childwith attention to
  physical, social/emotional and intellectual
  developmental needs and interests
• Responds to the needs of children as developing,
  thinking individuals by focusing on the processes
  of learning rather than skills, content and
  products.

12
What does a DAP classroom look like?

• Provides multiple opportunities for learning with
  concrete, manipulative materials that
• Are relevant to children's experiential
  background
• Keep them actively engaged in learning and
  discovering through use of all the senses,
  leading to more input upon which thought is
  constructed

13
What does a DAP classroom look like?

• Provides a variety of activities and materials by
  incorporating
• Learning activities that encourage active
  participation through hands-on activity,
  communication and dialogue
• Large blocks of time to pursue interests
• Time to ask questions and receive answers that
  develop concepts and ideas for use at varying
  levels of difficulty and complexity
• Time to reflect upon and abstract information
  when encountering different viewpoints from peers.

14
What does a DAP classroom look like?

• Views play as fundamental to childrens learning,
  growth and development, enabling them to develop
  and clarify concepts, roles and ideas by testing
  and evaluating them through use of open-ended
  materials and role-enactment
• Play further enables children to
• develop fine and gross motor skills
• learn to share with others
• see others points of view
• be in control of their thoughts and feelings

15
What does a DAP classroom look like?

• Provides opportunities for the use of
  multicultural and nonsexist experiences,
  materials and equipment that enhance childrens
  acceptance of self and others and enables them to
  accept differences and similarities among people,
  including those with disabilities.

16
What does a DAP classroom look like?

• Embraces the teaching of all content areas,
  presented as integrated experiences that develop
  and extend concepts, strengthen skills and
  provide a solid foundation for learning in
  language, literacy, math, science, health, art
  and music.

17
What does a DAP classroom look like?

• Allows children to make choices and decisions
  within the limits of the materials provided,
  resulting in increased independence, attention,
  joy in learning and feelings of success necessary
  for growth and development.