Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8

Book info: Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 (Paperback, 368 pages) – The National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2008. Language: English.

The book Developmentally Appropriate Practice has been an essential resource for the early childhood field since its first edition in 1987. This third edition is the most extensive yet, fully revised to align with the latest research on development, learning, and teaching effectiveness.

In this book, early childhood practitioners and students will find a wealth of information:

• • NAEYC’s official Position Statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice
• • A chapter by Carol Copple and Sue Bredekamp that makes clear the connection between DAP and excellent teaching, and challenges the field to think about developmentally appropriate practice with more openness and precision
• • Overviews of children’s development and learning in four periods of life: the infant and toddler years, the preschool years, the kindergarten year, and the primary grades
• • Pages of specific examples for each age period describing key practices seen in high-quality early childhood settings (centers and school classrooms as well as family child care)―and, by contrast, practices that are less likely to serve children well

A CD of additional resource material will further support learning:

• • More than 60 readings (pdf format) taken from Young Children articles and NAEYC’s books and position statements that relate to, expand on, and explain DAP concepts mentioned in the book

• Two dozen video examples from real early childhood classrooms, plus commentary text, that highlight significant elements of developmentally appropriate practice in action Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Because early childhood settings tend to be children’s first communities outside the home, the character of these communities is very influential in development. How children expect to be treated and how they treat others is significantly shaped in the early childhood setting. In developmentally appropriate practice, practitioners create and foster a “community of learners” that supports all children to develop and learn. The role of the community is to provide a physical, emotional, and cognitive environment conducive to that development and learning.