Describe what you believe to be the 3 most important practices associated with DAP and how these ...

Developmental appropriate practice (DAP) is a teaching approach grounded on how young children develop and learn. It involves teachers meeting children as individuals or a group and helping them meet challenging learning goals (Lin, C. H., & Sun, P. Y. (2005). The core of DAP lies in the intention of teachers helping children achieve their learning and developmental goals (Goldstein, L. S. (2008). This means teachers must consider several aspects or generally three important areas of knowledge.

First teachers must know about child development and learning. This involves understanding the typical development and learning at various ages (Quick, B. N. (1998). This helps to predict the experiences that will support learning and development for the children. One is also able to detect any unusual pattern from what is expected.

Secondly, the other important practice involves knowing what is individually appropriate.As educators or rather teachers, what we learn about particular children should help refine decisions about how to teach and take care of each and every specific child (Goldstein, L. S. (2008). The learning about individual children’s interest, abilities as wellas developmental progress is acquired through continuous observation of children as theyplay or interact with fellow children or with the physical environment.

Finally the third important practice with DAP is knowing what is culturally important. Asteachers or educators, we must make an effort of knowing the families of the children we teach and try and learn the values, expectations as well as factors that shape the lives of those families or community (Goldstein, L. S. (2008). This would go a long way in providing meaningful, relevant and respectful learning experience for not only the children but also their families.