Developmentally Appropriate
Practices
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This is my slideshow presentation regarding Developmentally appropriate practices
(DAP). I hope and pray I met all the requirements and created both a colorful, and
informative presentation/interview for a teaching position at a local school or childcare
facility. This presentation will elaborate on what developmental age group I wish to
work with one day, as well as fostering developmentally appropriate practices in my
future classroom. I hope you enjoy my hard work with this presentation and dedication
to educating our youth.
What is DAP?
What Is Dap and how does it apply to my teaching of the
children in this preschool? The developmentally
appropriate practice (DAP) is a perspective within early
childhood education whereby a teacher or child caregiver
nurtures a child's social/emotional, physical, and
cognitive development by basing all practices and
decisions on (NAEYC, 2014). Its framework is designed
to promote young children(s) optimal learning and
development. Activities such as stringing beads help
strengthen their web circle which is your index, and
pointer fingers, and thumb to help them with grasping
their writing utensil, and prepare them for early writing
skills.
Activities such as stringing beads help strengthen their web circle
which is your index, and pointer fingers, and thumb to help them with
grasping their writing utensil, and prepare them for early writing
skills. Allowing a child to engage in block play also help promote
growth in the physical domain by working his/her fine motor skills.
Out door play such as jump rope, hop scotch and more, helps work
promote growth with their gross motor skills. Cognitive development
is all on how your child’s /students brain works and how a child
retains information through their executive functions. According to,
(Farrar & Montgomery, 2015, sec. 11.2)” Vocabulary development,
also contributes to reading achievement, particular comprehension. In
order to understand a text they are reading children need a good
vocabulary”. The working memory is in place here by using repetition.
Working Memory is one of the most important and critical function,
its role focuses on the brain being able to read, write, and to be able to
remember mathematical processes. “Affective development is the
dimensions of development that focus on social and
emotional growth” (Jaruszewicz, 2013, Pg. 10). A great instructional
technique/plan for the affective domain is to have some quiet time
such as independent reading and rest time each day where we discuss
our emotions. This will aid the children with character development
and help them be more accepting, tolerant, and sympathetic
individuals (Yang & Rusli, 2012). Things like role playing and the
game Simon Says will be utilized to help the child build on social
skills and large motor skills.
Developmentally Appropriate Teaching
Practices
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Cognitive-Repetition: Students are unlikely to remember anything the first,
second, or even fourth time so repetition is key, read, write, recite.
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Affective- The use of circle time will concise of rhyme and rhythm, which
has been proven extreme effective in helping students learn their
emotions through songs like “If your happy and you know it”, and more.
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Physical-There will be plenty of hand on activities such as puzzles, painting
to help with eye-hand coordination as well as fine motor skills.
Preferred Age Group
The age range of children I prefer to work with are pre-school aged children, which
are typically between the ages of 3-5 years of age, depending on when their birthday
is. I wish to teach children within this age range, because I believe highly in learning
through play, such as make-believe/dramatic play, and this is the age range this type
of learning is introduced. I am very enthusiastic, and I’m not afraid to get creative,
and to watch my future student’s imagination’s flourish. I may not have experience
teaching in a classroom setting however, I have five children one with a seizure
disorder who did not attend a Pre-school/Head-start program. However, he was
prepared for Kindergarten, as well as my other four children. I taught all five of my
children at home, and they all continue to excel to this day. I strongly feel that my
future students will greatly benefit from the diligence and attention to detail that I
will bring to my future classroom. With that being said, this presentation was created
for this particular developmental age/level.
Learning Environment Considerations
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Making sure all materials are easily accessible to all the
students in the classroom.
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Grouping the students in small groups will encourage
cooperative learning.
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To help those with sensory issues the classroom would be
decorated in a way that would not distract them and cause
them to suffer from a sensory overload.
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A music center, to encourage learning through music.
Learning Environment
Considerations Cont.
Making sure all materials are easily accessible will allow children to get the need
materials for each project/lesson. Labeling allows them to be able to help them see
where each item goes, and helps to show them where to put them back once
finished. Grouping the students in smaller groups allows children to learn from each
other in cooperative learning games. Parallel play frequently initiates, encourages,
and leads to group play (Bakeman & Brownlee, 1980). Because of this parallel play
will be encouraged to provide full inclusion for all of our students. Students who
prefer to engage in parallel play will be given all the time they need to feel
comfortable in group play. Having a music center helps promote learning in the
affective domain, and music helps children with Autism Spectrum Disorders as well
as those with limited language skills by providing an easier outlet for
communication (Autism Speaks, 2013).
Classroom Set-Up Requirements
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The largest furniture in the classroom would be the teachers, desk, and
computer tables. The students tables and chairs would be built for their
use only.
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Teaching materials needed would be papers and pencils, crayons, fake
food, fake kitchen, customs, books, blocks, play dough and more.
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I will have an open floor so that the students can transition form each
activity smoothly see floor plan.
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Through informal and observation assessments will allow me to assess
each child’s growth.
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Individualized supports and services for students and families, systematic
instruction, comprehensible/structured learning environments,
specialized curriculum content, functional approach to problem behavior
family involvement will be available to accommodate atypically
developing children.
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In order to incorporate families I will set up meetings every
quarter to discuss their child's progress or lack off.
Classroom Set-Up Requirements
Cont.
In order for children to feel comfortable I would have their furniture smaller than my desk.
Materials such as books will help promote growth with their cognitive development. Make believe
items for pretend play such as a fake kitchen, foods, utensils, and more to encourage dramatic play,
which promotes growth with the social/emotional/assertive domains. A Music instruments will be
located in the reading center, so the children can learn valuable math skills, as well as letters, states,
communication and speech (Powell & Driver, 2013). Anecdotal records are used to document a
child’s behavior during a certain developmental domain/concept by taking notes of what you
observe the child is doing. By doing this you can see if, a child is reaching his/her developmental
milestones or developmental delays. Anecdotal records should be only what you observe with the
child, do not add what you may think the child is doing, and just write down what the child is
doing. You want to be as disruptive as possible during this process, only write down the facts. I will
be using the Anecdotal record as a tool to observe the cognitive domain of development of my
three-year-old son at home during “Homework Time”. Since my son does not attend head start, I
will use flash cards to and this observation to determine if he is reaching his developmental
milestones for this domain and determine if further instruction is needed. This observation will
allow me to see what other teaching strategies I can utilize to help with his shape/number
recognition. With regards to atypical developing children, Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA): is a law ensures that children, from age three to 21, with a disability receive proper,
gainful education (Powell & Driver, 2013). Good communication is important between the
parent(s) and the teacher(s) to ensure the child’s needs are being met in the classroom.
In order for this to work both the parent and the teacher have to build a good relationship
and understanding of the needs of the child with or without the disability. We will set up
communication through phone, email, or hand written letters, what ever it is more
convenient and effective for each parent to be able to voice to the parents their Childs
strengths and weakness as the year progress’s.
Developmental Milestones
Cognitive
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During this stage of development children show a “dramatic
increase in representational activity, as reflected in language,
make-believe play, drawing, understanding of symbol-realworld relations, and categorization” (Berk, 2013, P.248).
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They are also ego-centric, illogical, and magical thinkers,
while using receptive language.
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Children in this stage also learn to be more independent, such
as feeding and dressing themselves. They can make simple
choices of what they want to eat and what particular outfit,
shoes etc., they want to wear.
Developmental Milestones
Physical
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Preschool Age- 3-5 years old
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Through a creative curriculum, I can utilize play-based strategies.
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I am patient and very creative with inventing fun, and exciting new ways to
learn required concepts through play.
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I believe my experience with children and my educational background and love
of teaching young children will only make me a better educator and role model
for my future students.
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Through research and the love of teaching, I have created a number of playbased activities to help strengthen students cognitive, physical,
social/emotional/affective, and language developments.
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I want my future students to enjoy learning, in a safe, clean and welcoming
classroom environment.
Developmental Milestones
Social/Emotional
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Typical Social/Emotional Milestones that a child should
attain during early childhood is the development of their
conscience, and incorporating parental prohibitions, feelings
of guilt when disobedient, and the need to please adults.
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They also have the ability to control their emotions resulting
in less emotional outbursts.
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They also begin to develop a conscience which helps them to
incorporate parental prohibitions, begins to feel guilty if
he/she has done something wrong, and happy when they do
something right. (simplistic idea of “good and bad”
behaviors).
Developmental Milestones
Physical
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During this age of development a child learns to refine
complex physical skills such as, running, jumping,
climbing, hopping, and learning to ride a bike with
training wheels (Gross motor).
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They are learning to grip a pencil, hold and stack
blocks, mold objects such as clay, cut with scissors and
more (Fine motor).
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Hand eye coordination has improved during this age as
well, by catching and throwing a ball, and being able to
draw simple shapes.
Developmental Milestones
Language
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During this age children improve in
phonological awareness and, are able to use
k, f, g, t, d, and n sounds properly when they
talk. (Berk, 2013,).
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Another language developmental milestone
that typically developing children should
achieve in this period of development, is the
ability to answer simple questions with the
four W’s (who, what, where, and why).
Developmental Milestones Cont.
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Cognitive-According to, (Farrar & Montgomery, 2015, sec. 1.1)
“Cognition refers to mental processes and includes topics such as
problem solving, memory, language, intelligence, and others.
Cognitive development reflects changes in these different aspects
of thinking across the life span”. Piaget’s stages of cognitive
development explores in- depth how a child learns through
different stages as they grow. “Each stage is qualitatively
different than the preceding one and is a description of changes in
the organization or structure of cognition.” (Farrar, &
Montgomery, 2015, sec.1.3).
Social/emotional-This area of development involves a lot of
learning especially how to interact with people and how to
understand and control their different emotions, in each of the
different periods of development. Children should attain a sense
of self-conscious, and as language develops, empathy becomes
more reflective. (Berk, 2013, P. 419).
Children learn to control their emotions and they have fewer
emotional out bursts, and they are more expressive with your
feelings and emotions. This makes it easier for them to express
Language-Phonology/sound “In general, terms, phonology is
themselves more clearly to their parents/caregivers, teachers,
concerned with the physical, or acoustic, properties of speech
peers, and other family members.
sounds and the rules that govern how those sounds are combined in
speech. From the child’s point of view, the business of phonology is Physical-“The physical domain of development covers physical
figuring out how to produce those sounds that are necessary for
growth and development, gross motor development and skills,
making meaning” (Piper, 2012). Syntax/ sentences. Is the rules that
fine motor development and skills, and perceptual motor skills”
apply to forming a proper sentence.” English sentence structure, or
(Estes, & Krogh, 2012, sec.3.1). This is all on how your child
syntax, is about word order. More precisely, English sentence
structure is about how morphemes are combined to form meaningful moves, such as crawl, walk, run, hold a pencil, toy and more.
utterances” (Piper, 2012).
“The motor skills of a 4 and 5 year olds take a leap as they
become more dexterous with fine skills, thereby becoming
gradually more independent in their own care” (Groark,
McCarthy, & Kirk, 2014, P.54). Their balancing capabilities and
coordination are better so they can ride a bike, throw and catch a
ball, and are able to play games like hopscotch.
References:
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Autism Speaks. (2013). What is Autism? Autism Speaks Inc. Retrieved from
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
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Bakeman, R., & Brownlee, J. R. (1980). The Strategic Use of Parallel Play: A Sequential Analysis. Child
Development, 51(3), 873-878. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.ep12330488
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Berk, L. E. (2013). Child development. (9th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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Estes, L.S., & Krogh, S. L. (2012). Pathways to teaching young children: An introduction to early
childhood education. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
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Farrar, M. J. & Montgomery, D. (2015). Cognitive development of children: Research and application
[electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu
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Goark, C., McCarthy, S. & Kirk, A. (2014). Early child development: From theory to practice.
Bridgepoint: San Diego, CA
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Jaruszewicz, C. (2013). Curriculum and methods for early childhood educators. San Diego, CA:
Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
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NAEYC. (2014). Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP). Retrieved From:
https://www.naeyc.org/DAP
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Yang, C., & Rusli, E. (2012). Teacher training in using effective strategies for preschool
children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 9(1),
Retrieved from http://journals.cluteonline.com/index.php/TLC/article/view/6715