Developmentally Appropriate Practice
NAEYC DAP
- DAP: Defining Developmentally Appropriate Practice (NAEYC Webpage)
- 3 Core Considerations of DAP (NAEYC Webpage)
- 10 Effective DAP Teaching Strategies (NAEYC Webpage)
- 20 Questions for Teachers: A DAP Checklist (NAEYC Webpage)
- DAP with Preschoolers (NAEYC Webpage)
- Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (NAEYC Position Statement)
- Explaining Developmentally Appropriate Practice to Families (Article)
- North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions-Birth to Five
- Mastery Motivation: Persistence and Problem Solving in Preschool (Article)
- Whatever Happened To Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Literacy? (Article)
Authentic Feedback
- “Good Job” Alternatives (NAEYC Webpage)
- Giving Children Authentic and Specific Praise and Feedback (Webpage)
- 25 Alternatives to “Good Job” (Article)
- Behavior-Specific Praise in the Classroom (Article)
- Encouragement is More Effective Than Praise in Guiding Children’s Behavior (Article)
- Encouragement vs Praise for Teachers (Article)
Classroom Setup Resources
Curriculum and Instruction
- Calendar Time for Young Children: Good Intentions Gone Awry (NAEYC Webpage)
- Bring the World to Your Classroom (UNC-TV and PBS)
- Helping Others Understand Academic Rigor in Teachers’ Developmentally Appropriate Practices) (Webpage- NAEYC)
Arts
- The art of creating: Why art is important for early childhood development (Webpage MSU)
- Benefits of the Arts in Early Childhood Development (Webpage -ECC Jamaica)
- Creative Art Helps Children Develop across Many Domains (Webpage USDA Cooperative Extension)
- The Making of an Art Museum: A Preschool Project (NAEYC -Webpage)
- Look out Below (and Above)! Challenging Adult Understandings of Displaying Young Children’s Artwork (PDF Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood)
Early Math Concepts
- Making Math More Meaningful for Young Children (NAEYC -Webpage)
- Playful Math Instruction in the Context of Standards and Accountability (NAEYC -Webpage)
- Make Math Meaningful for Diverse Learners (Article)
- Strategies for Teachers Developing Strategies for Mathematics in Early Childhood Education (Article)
- Mathematical Problem Solving in the Early Years (Article)
- Mathematical Problem Solving in the Early Years: Developing Opportunities, Strategies and Confidence (Article)
Children were given a random assortment of items to sort. As children’s understanding of graphing grew, some children began to draw their own graphs.
Paper rulers were taped to incline blocks for children to measure their feet for the class shoe store.
Environment
- Building Friendships in Preschool (PDF HighScope)
- Helping Children Play and Learn Together (NAEYC -Webpage)
- North Carolina Guide for the Early Years (PDF – NC.GOV
- Play and the Learning Environment
Intentional Teaching
- Making Sense of ‘Intentional Teaching‘ (Article)
- Think before you (inter)act: What it means to be an intentional teacher (Article)
- Observing, Planning, Guiding: How an Intentional Teacher Meets Standards through Play (NAEYC Webpage)
Open-ended questions posted on teacher eye-level in the classroom.
Language & Literacy
- Whatever Happened To Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Literacy? (Article)
- What to Look for in a High-Quality, Literacy-Rich, Inclusive Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Learning Environment (Pamphlet NCDPI)
- Creating Print-Rich Learning Centers (PDF NAEYC)
- The Essentials of Early Literacy Instruction (Article)
- Literacy in All Interest Areas
- Learning to Read and Write: DAP for Young Children (NAEYC Joint Position Statement)
- Talking With Young Children: How Teachers Encourage Learning
- Promoting Preschoolers’ Emergent Writing (NAEYC)
One child is reading a favorite story to a friend, pretending to the be the “Teacher”.
Children used props to act out and retell the story of the 3 Little Pigs
Promoting Open-Ended Questions
- Big Questions for Young Minds: Extending Children’s Thinking (Webinar NAEYC)
- Moving Beyond Who, What, When, Where, and Why: Using Bloom’s Taxonomy Questioning to Extend Preschoolers’ Thinking (NAEYC Webpage)
- Talk, Read and Sing Together Every Day! (Article)
- How Planning and Reflection Develop Young Children’s Thinking Skills (Article)
- Tools to Enhance Young Children’s Thinking (Article)
- Conversations with Children! Questions that Spark Conversations and Deepen Understanding (NAEYC Website)
- Open-Ended Questions to Help Children Think (PDF Georgia PreK)
- How to Use Open-ended Questions in the Early Years (Webpage)
Science
- Science in the Preschool Classroom Capitalizing on Children’s Fascination with the Everyday World to Foster Language and Literacy Development (Article)
- Promoting the Development of Scientific Thinking (Article)
- Look, Listen, Learn. Where Does the Rain Go? Considering the Teacher’s Role in Children’s Discoveries (NAEYC Webpage)
- Childhood in the Garden: A Place to Encounter Natural and Social Diversity (Article)
- How to Create a Forest Classroom Experience (NAEYC Webpage)
- Connecting our Nature Walks to the Classroom (NAEYC Webpage)
- How to Celebrate Earth Day (Scholastic Webpage)
Non-fiction books about caterpillars were used as reference as children sought out caterpillars on the playground; eagerly looking at the pages in the book.
Teacher-Child Interactions
- Talking With Young Children: How Teachers Encourage Learning (Article)
- The Nature of Teacher Talk during Small Group Activities (Article)
- Teacher-Child Conversation in the Preschool Classroom (Article)
Technology
- Guiding Principles for the Use of Technology with Early Learners (Article)
- Supporting Children’s Reflection With Phones and Tablets (NAEYC Webpage)
- Using Technology Appropriately in the Preschool Classroom (Article)
- Technology and Young Children in the Digital Age (Report)
The teacher taking the child’s interest in different kinds of snakes to the internet and helping him to make a book of what research he found.