Real-Life Examples for DAP Principles
By- Selam Wude
Rasmussen College
Instructor- Melissa Shamblott

There are 12 Principles of child development and learning that inform practice. Four of the Twelve will be covered in this essay.
Principle 2 “Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well documented sequences, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge building on those already acquired” (NAEYC, 2009).
Principle No. 3 “Development and learning happen at different rate from child to child. Also within a particular child there are uneven rates of development in the different domains” (NAEYC, 2009).
Principle No.7 states children develop best when they have secure, consistent relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for positive relationships with peers (NAEYC, 2009).
Principle No 8. “Development and Learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts (NAEYC, 2009).
Principle 2 “Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well documented sequences, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge building on those already acquired.” (NAEYC, 2009) .This principle explains how children go through stages of development and experience certain milestones. Each child develops differently and each child experiences these milestones at different ages but these milestones that they experience build on each other. For example, infants learning to crawl will then take this new ability and build on it. Crawling over to a chair or shelf the infant can then learn to stand by grabbing the object and pulling themselves up, from this new skill the infant can then learn to take steps, with each new skill or milestone building on the previous. These sequences or stages of development allow the child to learn basic skills and build on them to learn more advanced skills. A child learning to count to 10, starting by learning to recognize the numbers 1 through 10 and learn that 2 comes after 1, 3 comes after 2 and so on and so forth. Once this knowledge is retained, the child can then take this new knowledge they have regarding numbers and apply this knowledge to basic mathematical skills like addition.

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Principle No. 3 “Development and learning happen at different rate from child to child. Also within a particular child there are uneven rates of development in the different domains”. Knowing what children are generally capable of and how they learn, within a given age range, provides teachers with a starting point for planning and organizing a program. But such a broad picture is not enough to achieve developmentally appropriate practice. Teachers must go beyond what is “typical”; they must recognize that they will have little success if they try to teach everyone the same way. Good teachers continually observe children’s engagement with materials, activities, and people in order to learn about each child’s abilities, interests, and needs. Daniel only knows a few letters, he does not sit still during story time, and he is significantly behind on many of the kindergarten literacy goals. His teacher knows, however, that all kinds of transportation vehicles fascinate him. He especially likes one book about all kinds of trucks. To interest Daniel in learning letters and words, his teacher prints the names of the different trucks on cards for him to match with the pictures. Soon, Daniel is drawing pictures of the trucks and trying to write the words himself.
Another example, four-year-old Lulu speaks Amharic at home and is learning English at school. His teacher often reads to him in a small group, with other children whose home language is not English, using books with limited vocabulary and clear correspondence between the pictures and words. She also uses other cues to aid his understanding. She stays in close contact with his parents, communicating through a translator, to learn about the competencies he demonstrates at home, and she encourages the family to talk and read with him in their own language.

Principle No.7 “Children develop best when they have secure, consistent relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for positive relationships with peers”. It is important for Educators to build a trust relationship with students, consistency is key is when doing so. The relationship a child has with their parents or primary care givers is the first and foremost important, and influence how the child is able to socialize and make friendships in the future.
A child who has positive relationships with caring adults is likely to have positive self-esteem, and a high capacity in resolving interpersonal conflicts cooperatively.
Positive teacher-child relationships are also necessary. They will promote a Childs learning, and achievement, social competence, and emotional development. For example, if they have a positive teacher-child relationship, and receives support, and help when they need it, encouragement, and praise, the child will be confident when facing a new experience, if the child has a negative teacher-child relationship, and receives little to no support, is ignored, or made feel incompetent when asking for help, they will likely give up, and/or avoid new experiences.

Principle No 8″Development and Learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts.” Children learn the values, beliefs, expectations, and habitual patterns of behavior of the social and cultural contexts in their lives. Cultures, for example, have characteristic ways of showing respect; there may be different rules for how to properly greet an older or younger person, a friend, or stranger. We typically learn cultural rules very early and very deeply, so they are not part of our conscious thought. Different cultures have different views on child development. If a child is not responding how we believe they should, it is possible that their actions are being influenced by other adults in their life, or what they are doing is considered a norm in their culture or in their home, not their ability to do something. For example, if a child is having difficult time sitting and eating independently, it could be that they are spoon fed, in a high chair at home. Another skill we help children master is toilet training, as much as we promote, and encourage the children to master the skill, if they are not encouraged to use the toilet at home, it will be difficult for the child to master the skill. It is important to form a good relationship with the parents, so you can have conversations about the Child’s development without offending the parent or their cultural believes.
Developmentally appropriate practice is important, because the healthy development in the early years is the foundation of child’s future well-being and success. A child’s healthy development in the physical, cognitive (mental), social, emotional and language areas depends on care and education that is positive and nurturing. Young children vary widely in their specific developmental and individual needs or conditions. With DAP caregivers benefit from a sound and accurate understanding of what children are generally capable of doing or not doing based on their age and developmental abilities. Children benefit when the adults around them provide a care environment that reflects an understanding of child development and developmentally appropriate practices.
Reference
http://www.naeyc. NAEYC Position Statement.