Understanding and Applying Developmentally Appropriate Practice Chapter 3

Understanding and Applying Developmentally Appropriate Practice Chapter 3

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CHAPTER !!!!***!!!!

I. Developmentally Appropriate Practice A. Often abbreviated DAP B. It is teaching that is attuned to children’s ages, experience, abilities and interests C. It helps them attain challenging and achievable goals. What does attuned mean?

Draw a picture. D. Children do not learn by sitting and listening, they learn by doing.

E. We want BRAIN FRIENDLY LEARNING!

Measuring Activity

What did you learn from the measuring activity?

II. The Brain

Meet the Immature Neuron *The neuron is a brain cell *Must become organized into systems to think and remember *Immature neurons have fewer dendrite spines Draw

The brain can grow dendrites. Meet the mature neuron. *Stimuli received through 5 senses *stimulated neurons transmit messages and grow new dendrite spines *growth of dendrites responsive to environment YOU CAN HELP THE CHILDREN GROW DENDRITES!!!!!!! Draw Your job this year!

HOW DO YOU GROW DENDRITES? ? SNED ? ? snu ? ? snu ?

This is the letter sned. We are going to draw it with our finger pencil. It makes the sound snu.

Feeding a Child’s brain Sned did grow any dendrites. Why not?

Dendrite Farming: *concrete, relevant experiences not sned *link language to sensory input *help children see & understand relationships Pick 4 you had not thought of.

*More work brain does, the more it becomes capable of doing *repetition

*active hands on exploration & investigation *new challenges

*Mental effort by child not adult *Current, active interest of child

Activities in all four areas of development: Physical Social Emotional Intellectual

III. Deciding what is Developmentally Appropriate A. It is age appropriate. B. It meets the individual child’s growth level.

C. It supports the child’s cultural and social environment. D. It is flexible and can be adapted to meet children’s needs Test Question

Examples of DAP You have a child who is restless during group story time. A DAP teacher will: Scold Sam and send him to time out. Encourage Sam to participate in the group discussion. Test Question

You have a child who is having trouble choosing a learning center to do. A DAP teacher will Choose a center for them. Ask the child do you want to play with magnets or read a story?

You are planning a math center. A DAP teacher will plan: The child rolls a dice and jumps as many times as the number they rolled while they count aloud. The child rolls a dice and counts to that number.

You are planning an art project. A DAP teacher will plan Put out paint, paper and a variety of tools for a child to paint with. A picture for the children to color

You have a child with a very short attention span. A DAP teacher will: When they notice the child is no longer participating in the activity, they will suggest the child choose a new center. Encourage the child to spend more time in each learning center.

IV. Developmentally Appropriate Practices in the Classroom A. Goals should be: 1. realistic and attainable 2. Allow continued practice of mastered skills. 3. Once goal is mastered, new goal should be set Test Question

4. The ultimate goal is to promote the learning and development of each child 5. Different children may have different goals that reflect their age, experience and abilities. Test Question

2 ideas in your own words. B. DAP is a Caring Community 1. Children learn to regulate emotions and behavior to make friends. 2. Children thrive because they feel safe and cared for. 3. There is respect for individual children and their home/community contexts. Test Question

IV. What Good Teachers Do in a DAP Classroom 2 ideas in your own words. A. Observe children 1. response to materials, activities and people 2. learn about their interests and needs 3. Adapt curriculum and teaching to fit individual needs. Test Question

B. Be an intentional teacher : 1. They have a purpose for their actions and reasons for their decisions Test Question 2 ideas in your own words.

2. They have a reciprocal or two- way relationship with parents Test Question

3. They ask “Does it work? ” for all aspects of a preschool program

VI. Ways of Thinking

A. Both / and Thinking NOT Either / Or 1. Either/or thinking looks like this: Explain the difference and give an example. Which is correct, teacher directed or child initiated experiences. Which is correct, teaching phonics or vocabulary to help a child learn to read.

2. Both / And Thinking looks like this: Several possible answers can be correct. Children of the same age can be alike and different. Like a camera, you can zoom in on one child or zoom out to see the whole class from different perspectives

You look at possible solutions from different perspectives The teacher The Child The Whole Class You have predictable structures and orderly routines but as a teacher are flexible. The parent Test Question

VI. Position Statements A. A position statement is based on research and explains your stand on an issue or problem. Preschool mission statement What did you sign in preschool that is a position statement?

B. NAEYC published its position statement in 1987 and revised it in 2009. 1. It includes guidelines and principles for teaching young children from birth to age 8. 2. It includes recommended practices for different age groups. 1 idea from NAEYC mission statement Test Question

VII. Research Conclusions A. It is difficult to conduct research on DAP because there are many different teaching behaviors and aspects of classroom organization Test Question 1 idea from research conclusions.

B. DAP when used, has lasting education effects for children.