Characteristics Of A Developmentally Appropriate Environment For Preschoolers

Respecting children and help them to develop in a positive, caring, nurturing and responsive childcare environment.

Working with children requires us to build positive relationships with them quickly, but also in ways that are professional.

In summary I believe to be an Early Childhood Educator one has to be able to keep up with everything. There is no single purpose to educate, but if I had to choose a soul representative it would be to shape our world. Children’s needs must be met in order to do that. To be am Early Childhood Educator one has to be patient, patient, and patient. Putting all of these things together gives one the end product of a successful

     Preschool teachers usually instruct children usually until they reach the age of five. They conduct activities designed to develop social, physical, and intellectual skills needed for primary school. During an interview I was told many things on the subject. “You need a lot of patience” said Esther Rodriguez a preschool teacher. There

Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) is a method of teaching that is based on the research about how young children grow and learn and includes standards for high quality care and education for young children. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) established these guidelines more than 20 years ago. Authors Gordon and Browne state, “The DAP approach stresses the need for activity-based learning environments and is based on what we know about children through years of child development research and what we observe of their interests, abilities, and needs” (40). The three core components of DAP are: 1) what is known about child development and learning, 2) what is known about each child, and 3) what is known about social and cultural contexts in which children learn. A DAP classroom is a busy classroom where students are engaged and interacting physically with objects and persons. This classroom is full of materials, activities, and direct interactions that lead the student into active learning. The observations for this report were conducted at the Laredo Community College Camilo Prada Early Child Development Center in the blue classroom.

According to our textbook Student teaching, “A quality program is one that exceeds rather than meets minimum standards for licensure.” To help us determine if a preschool classroom/program provides quality and to help us understand what quality means we were asked to evaluate and compare two preschool classrooms using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. The classrooms I chose to evaluate and compare using the ECERS evaluation tool were the 4year old classroom at Naples Christian Academy and the 4 year old classroom at The Learning Center. Below is my comparison of both classrooms using the ECERS evaluation tool.

In order to respond this question, we must first review the history of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and Early Childhood Education (ECE). Although ECE has been around since the creation of kindergarten in the 1800’s, the decade of the 1980’s was an important period for ECE. “By the 1980’s, meta-analysis of the well-designed US projects offered compelling evidence on the positive outcomes of [early childhood education and intervention]” (Woodhead, 2007). Therefore, there was much pressure to improve the state of education, including ECE. “The decade of the 1980’s saw numerous calls for widespread school reform, with changes recommended in teacher education, graduation requirements, school structure, and accountability measures” (S. Bredekamp, R.A. Knuth, L.G. Kunesh, and D.D. Shulman, 1992). At this time, there was an increasing concern about the quality of early childhood education for the influx number of families that needed it. This led the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to “begin planning a national voluntary accreditation system for early childhood programs”(NAEYC, 2014). With this planning came a need for a more specific description with regards to accreditation guidelines. Therefore, NAEYC issued a formal statement defining DAP.

To provide a developmentally appropriate learning environment that is safe, healthy, respectful and supportive of children and families. For the learning environment to be safe, I ensure that I always check identification, and have parents notify me whenever someone new to the list will be picking up. I always bring my roster with me to ensure I have all my children with me. I do a roll call every time we get to a new area after traveling anywhere away from our room, and before leaving the room. Another way that I make the learning environment safe is by covering all the outlets in the room, and making sure sharp or dangerous objects are put away, and out of the children’s reach. I put cleaning supplies and other chemicals in high locked cabinets.

outside going to play yard but it can not count as ventilation since there was no locking screen or safety half gate/door to keep the children from leaving the door unattended.

The NAEYC statement on developmental practice indicates change and continuity and change in the early childhood education field is vital due to the fact that their main commitment is excellence and equity. Nevertheless, all new knowledge gained over time has been advanced and increased. This means that with understanding, it has allowed us to revise and refine ideas for promoting children's development and learning. With developmentally appropriate practice, meeting and enabling the children are required. This means that teachers should get to know them well and push them to reach goals that may be a challenge but are achievable for them.

In today's society, early childhood education programs have become an almost expected first step in every child's life. Studies have shown that when children attend they children who attend a preschool program are exposed to numbers, letter, and shapes on a daily basis. They also begin to learn many life skills, like how to socialize, share and separate from their parents. These first steps of learning are so important that now forty states in the U.S. now offer state funded pre-k programs (Kanter, 2016). With some many different preschools and early childhood programs, how do parents know if the programs are being held to a certain standard? The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) is one comprehensive assessment tool available. Using this tool while quietly observing a preschool classroom, will help to define areas of strength as well as areas needing to be strengthened. The scale has thirty five different areas that are divided into six subscales, that will be observed. Each question is yes or no answer to a specific question and example.

After completing the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, I see that there is much need for improvement in certain sections. On the other hand, many areas need no improvement at all. For example, the section on toileting and diapering needs no improvement along with staff use of books with children and encouraging children’s use of books. All three of these areas scored a rating of seven, meaning that all standards were met during my observation and there is no need for any type of improvement. Although there are many areas that scored a seven, there are also many areas that scored a one or a two, meaning there is much room for improvement. For example, encouraging children to use language scored a one, which shows us it needs much enhancement. Along with this, nature and science scored a two and discipline scored a one. Both of these areas also need much development and improvement.

In this paper is focus on the early childhood education environment design of a preschool classroom. The materials that will be in the classroom and the purpose of why the material are chosen. The location of the preschool and the climate, geographic features, landscaping, the environment impact and more. The reason for designing this preschool and the different materials that are used to create this imaginary preschool. And the inspiration of what it takes to create an environment suitable for the preschool.

This document is designed for a Childcare and Education Student to explain how Oak Tree Nursery Class provides a positive environment for its children.

The Early Childhood Education program at Carlow University focuses on educating children from birth to grade four in any context—school, family, or community. As a signature mark of the program, students learn how to honor diversity and form strong inclusive relationships between child and caregiver/teacher. They learn that a child’s environment needs to be rooted in trust; physically and psychologically safe. They learn that the caregiver/teacher relationship needs