Developmentally Appropriate Practice Essay

Module 1- Developmentally Appropriate Practice Developmentally Appropriate Practice or (DAP) is defined as not a curriculum, but a framework that is designed to promote young children’s optimal learning and developmental skills. Developmentally Appropriate Practice is often misunderstood to be a packaged curriculum, but is it a way of approaching all curriculum’s offered to children in early childhood programs. Developmentally Appropriate Practice refers to providing an environment and offering content, materials, activities, and methodologies that are coordinated with a child’s level of development and when a child is ready to advance. It needs to be remembered that it is fundamentally about looking at where children are at a certain age or stage in life before making classroom plans. All children are individually different and some need a unique approach on how they learn in the classroom. Developmentally Appropriate Practice must be considered as the foundation for the center of the classroom when teachers are planning new lessons or programs. It is a developmental and cultural knowledge of teaching for both children and their families. Why is Developmentally Appropriate Practice important? It is imperative to tap into ideas and approaches that will expand and enrich a child’s life. This is the primary goal as a passionate teacher! Finally, a high priority of DAP is to build reciprocal, open, …show more content…
She remembers that a new student, who has not been in a classroom setting yet, will be joining her classroom this week and she will need to evaluate the way the child learns in a classroom setting. She also knows from speaking to the child’s parents and watching him play during a showing of the school that the child is not at the right stage of learning as the others in her classroom are. She will need to change her curriculum to insert learning ideas for this child’s