The long-awaited new edition of NAEYC's Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs is here, fully revised and updated! Since the first edition in 1987,this book has been an essential resource for the early childhood education field. Early childhood educators have a professional responsibility to plan and implement intentional, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that promote the social and emotional development, physical development and health, cognitive development, and general learning competencies of each child served. But what is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)? DAP is a framework designed to promote young children's optimal learning and development through a strengths-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. As educators make decisions to support each child's learning and development, they consider what they know about (1) commonality in children's development and learning, (2) each child as an individual (within the context of their family and community), and (3) everything discernible about the social and cultural contexts for each child, each educator, and the program as a whole. This latest edition of the book is fully revised to underscore the critical role social and cultural contexts play in child development and learning, including new research about implicit bias and teachers' own context and consideration of advances in neuroscience. Educators implement developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the many assets all young children bring to the early learning program as individuals and as members of families and communities. They also develop an awareness of their own context. Building on each child's strengths, educators design and implement learning settings to help each child achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas.

Edited and compiled just for teachers, this resource explains developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) so teachers can apply DAP in their work with children in first, second, and third grades. Chapters include: What Is Developmentally Appropriate Practice? A brief introduction to the main ideas of DAP Teaching Children in First, Second, and Third Grades Connecting DAP to excellent teaching An Overview of Development in the Primary Grades Overview of learning and development in first, second, and third grades Developmentally Appropriate Examples to Consider Examples of key DAP practices, as well as contrasting practices that are less likely to serve children well Supporting Children’s Learning While Meeting Standards Connecting the standards to DAP Young Children Articles Ten articles from Young Children that provide examples of applying developmentally appropriate practice when working with children in first, second, and third grades.