Dr. Towns
CHDV B36
February 11, 2017 Developmentally appropriate practices also known as DAP was adopted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children(NAEYC) in 1987. DAP is about applying child development knowledge in making thoughtful and appropriate decisions about early childhood program practices. It provides learning environments where a child’s abilities are matched to the developmental task they need to learn. DAP is only based on what is currently known about children and not what adults or parents want them to know; it gathers information about children and what they are like. DAP “is not a curriculum; it is not a rigid set of standards that dictate practice. Rather it is a framework, a philosophy,