Developmentally Appropriate Practice Essay

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)? Illustrate how DAP is child-centered?

“Developmentally Appropriate Practice, often shortened to DAP, is an approach to teaching grounded in the research on how young children develop and learn and in what is known about effective early education. Its framework is designed to promote young children’s optimal learning and development.”

(National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2009)

DAP is a tool that guides teachers in making good decisions for the children, both as individuals and as part of a group, based on their understanding of the child’s development and learning as well as in setting learning goals that are both challenging and realisable for the children. In a developmentally

Through this knowledge, the teacher can presume how children of a particular age group will act, what they are capable of doing and what they are not likely able to do. Consequently, the teacher can devise activities rather confidently by taking all these aspects into consideration. At this stage, the teacher can take advantage of the windows of opportunity for the child’s growth. In other words, the teacher benefits from the sensitive period of a child’s development to provide him with enriching activities; the best period for the child to learn and develop further. In addition, what the children learn should be relevant to their environment and life experiences. Some examples of age appropriateness approach in classroom can be as follows:

• The teacher allows children of age 3 to trace dotted lines to form words or pictures while those of age 4 and 5 must reproduce words or pictures on their own.

• The teacher knows that a child of age 3 will not stay in her place or concentrate for more than, say 20 minutes. Other activities of their interests are made available for them to