The ABC

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The ABCs of DAP

• Developmentally Appropriate Practices
• Cynthia Daniel

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A

• Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable
  stage of the human life cycle.
• Appreciate and support the close ties between the
  child and family.

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B

• Bring each childs home culture and language into
  the shared culture of the school so that the
  unique contributions of each group are recognized
  and valued by others.

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C

• Create a caring community of learners.
• Construct appropriate curriculum.
• Consistent, positive relationships with a limited
  number of adults and other children are a
  fundamental determinant of healthy human
  development.

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D

• Developmentally appropriate curriculum provides
  for all areas of a childs development physical,
  emotional, social, linguistic, aesthetic, and
  cognitive.
• Develop, refine, and use a wide repertoire of
  teaching strategies to enhance childrens
  learning and development.

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E

• Ensure that learning experiences are meaningful,
  relevant, and respectful for the participating
  children and their families.
• Establish and maintain regular, frequent two-way
  communication with childrens parents.

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F

• Functions as a community of learners in which all
  participants consider and contribute to each
  others well-being and learning.
• Foster childrens collaboration with peers on
  interesting, important enterprises.

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G

• Group children for the purposes of instruction,
  supporting collaboration among children, and
  building a sense of community.

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H

• Help children and adults achieve their full
  potential in the context of relationships that
  are based on trust, respect, and positive regard.
• Hold children accountable to standards of
  acceptable behavior.

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I

• Interacting with other children in small groups
  provides a context for children to operate on the
  edge of their developing capacities.
• Identify children who have special needs and plan
  appropriate curriculum and teaching for them.

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J

• Judgments about developmentally appropriate
  practice are constructed EACH DAY by teachers in
  relation to a specific group of children and
  within a specific social and cultural context.

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K

• Know the social and cultural contexts in which
  children live to ensure that learning experiences
  are meaningful, relevant, and respectful for the
  participating children and their families.

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L

• Listen and acknowledge childrens feelings and
  frustrations, respond with respect, guide
  children to resolve conflicts, and model skills
  that help children to solve their own problems.

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M

• Methods of assessment are appropriate to the age
  and experiences of young children.
• Moving from either/or to both/and thinking in
  early childhood practice.
• Children benefit from engaging in self-initiated
  spontaneous play or from teacher-planned and
  structured activities. Both are beneficial for
  children.

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N

• Necessary supports need to be available to both
  teachers AND children to ensure that childrens
  individual needs are met.
• It promotes continuity of childrens educational
  experiences and feelings of belonging to the
  group is given high priority.

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O

• Observe childrens spontaneous play and
  interaction with the physical environment and
  with other children to learn about their
  interests, abilities, and developmental progress.

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P

• Provide opportunities for children to be
  genuinely successful and to be challenged.
• Pose problems, ask questions, and make comments
  and suggestions that stimulate childrens
  thinking and extend their learning.

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Q

• Qualified personnel is an essential element to
  childrens education.
• Teachers must be experts in child development in
  order to construct age-appropriate curriculum.

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R

• Recognize that children are best understood in
  the context of their family, culture and society.
• Redirect children to more acceptable behaviors or
  use their mistakes as learning opportunities.

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S

• Social relationships are an important context for
  learning.
• Set clear, consistent, and fair limits for
  childrens behavior.

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T

• Teachers respect, value, and accept children and
  treat them with dignity at all times.
• Teachers make it a priority to know each child
  well.

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U

• Use various strategies that encourage children to
  reflect on and revisit their learning
  experiences.
• Understand that children develop and learn in the
  context of their families and communities.

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V

• Value the quality of childrens lives in the
  present, not just preparation for the future.
• Variety of materials and opportunities for
  childrens learning experiences should be
  provided in the learning environment.

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W

• Whole-group meetings or discussion times give
  children an opportunity to build a sense of
  community and shared purpose.
• Work with parents to resolve problems or
  differences of opinions and be respectful of
  cultural and family differences.

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X

• eXtend the range of childrens interests and the
  scope of their thought through presenting novel
  eXperiences and introducing stimulating ideas,
  problems, experiences, or hypotheses.

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Y

• Young children construct their own understanding
  of concepts from their experiences, they need
  many challenging opportunities to use and develop
  the thinking skills they bring with them and to
  identify and solve problems that interest them.

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Z

• Zones that include safe, age-appropriate
  equipment and play spaces should be provided,
  whether inside the classroom or outside on a
  playground.

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The End