Alexandra Louis
Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) is a teaching method in the early childhood education curriculum where the educator natures the child's mind and helps them develop socially, emotionally, and physically, based on child development theories. What is individually essential to a child, is uncovered through assessment considering the child's cultural background.
The DAP approach was introduced by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYK) in 1987. Three core considerations are practiced in DAP. These considerations ensure the effective teachings of pre-school children. Knowledge of childhood development stages is one of the core considerations of DAP. The educator should research and learn more about the different stages of a developing child. This enables them to make the best decisions on the interaction of the children. This enables them to choose appropriate activities, materials, and the correct environment for the children to interact and play.
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Knowing what is individually appropriate for each child through assessment is the second core consideration of Developmentally Appropriate Practices. The educator should be able to observe the children and interact with them to identify their skills, talents, and strength. Often, this enables the teacher to handle each child differently, helping them with their challenges, and focusing on enhancing their strengths and interests that influence the development of particular skills.
Knowing what is culturally significant to the child is the third core consideration. Children come from different backgrounds, and early childhood educators must know the type of family that each child comes from. This includes the family setup, whether it is a nuclear family, a single-family, or a stepfamily. Most importantly, the tutor should find out about their cultural background and beliefs; this knowledge ensures the educator's approach to the children and their parents, is respectable.
The Developmentally Appropriate Practice approach has basic principles that are based on the aspects of observation, development, and early experiences. These principles state that; Learning and development of children should be observed and documented. Each child has their own uniqueness, and they should be allowed to develop at their own pace. All stages and aspects of development are important in a child's life. Experiences and incidents that occur in a child's early stages are important in the development of the child. To develop positively, children need secure and consistent relationships from their caregivers. Social and cultural practices greatly influence a child's learning and development. Social activities and playing, promote self-regulation in a child and enables the improvement of language.
An educator can achieve developmentally Appropriate Practices through concentrating in one age group and planning their activities, play materials, and play environment. The educator should choose appropriate age materials that are socially and culturally acceptable, for the children to play with. The educator should spend time with the children and guide their group activities. He/she should also understand and respect the social and cultural background of each child. The educator should encourage the children to engage in group activities and play. In a classroom experience, the tutor should ensure the classroom's furniture is physically appropriate for the children's age, and there should be enough space for the children to play and engage in their activities. The tutor should frequently change the playing and learning materials; this will help them identify the children's abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and interests.
Chapter one explains that the Developmentally Appropriate Practice approach for pre-school children is age, individually, socially, and culturally appropriate and are essential for the development of a child. By giving a case study, the chapter has helped us to understand and differentiate children's development stages and how they develop intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, and language-wise. The chapter has also enlightened on age-appropriate expectations. Younger children may not be expected to speak for a longer period of time in class as compared to the older ones. From this chapter, we learn that students from different social backgrounds have different ways of thinking and reacting to situations. An example given is a calf introduced to children from rural and suburbanized communities. The students from the rural areas will be comfortable around the calf, and they might even touch and play with it, but the students from the urban background may be mesmerized and fear the calf.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice is characterized by warm but appropriate relationships between the tutor and the students, self-regulations, focusing on a child as an individual, encouraging playing activities, and creating a conducive learning environment in the classroom. DAP helps to teach and enhance development and learning, create a caring community of learners, assessing the student's development and learning through play activities and learning materials. The approach has also helped to establish healthy relationships between the educators, students, and their families. This approach has been across curriculum models, and it has been well received.
From the article, DAP has been explained widely, starting from its history. The teaching approach has been evaluated, and the article points out ways to achieve DAP. However, the author should have given examples and case studies of the situation. This would have helped the reader to visualize situations and evaluate them critically. The article has enabled the reader to understand the concepts and principles of Developmentally Appropriate Practices.
