Synopses & Reviews
Thoughtful and comprehensive, DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICE: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY EDUCATION, 5th Edition, is designed to meet the needs of new early childhood students as well as experienced teachers, professionals, and parents. It provides an overview of the concepts and theoretical foundations of developmental practices and discusses the practical implications for teachers and caregivers. Reflecting the NAEYC position statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice, the book includes content on aligning early childhood teaching practices with national education standards. Section I explores developmentally appropriate practice, including an in-depth section on the theory and research of play as well as discussion of early learning standards in curriculum development. Readers also learn how well known curriculum approaches fit into the principles of developmentally appropriate practice. Subsequent sections, which discuss the physical, social/emotional, and cognitive/language domains, individually address appropriate practice for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and primary-aged children. Section V, available on the book's website, discusses how teachers can make changes that result in more developmentally appropriate practices and how to gain support for those changes with families and communities. Available with InfoTrac Student Collections http://gocengage.com/infotrac.
Review
"This is a good, hands-on text that covers DAP from birth through kindergarten. It concentrates its focus on environments and the power of language. The best parts of the book are the linkages back to real-life teaching and the way it allows undergraduates to journal throughout their readings."
Review
"Very practical and very comprehensive for this level student. It also provides a rich depth of DAP throughout the text that students of all age groups need to know. I've taught this course many times and with other texts and this is indeed the best one I've used."
About the Author
Carol Gestwicki was an instructor in the early childhood education program at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina, for over 30 years. Her teaching responsibilities have included supervising students in classroom situations as they work with families. Earlier in her career, she worked with children and families in a variety of community agencies and schools in Toronto, New York, New Jersey, and Namibia (South West Africa). She received her MA from Drew University. She has been an active member of the NAEYC for many years, including making numerous presentations at state and national conferences. She has been a Fellow in the Early Childhood Leadership Development Project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and she has been associated with the T.E.A.C.H. Model/Mentor program. Her other publications include more than two dozen articles about child development and family issues and scripts and design for 14 audiovisual instructional programs. She has three other books on topics in early education published by Delmar Learning: Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Curriculum and Development in Early Education, Fifth edition (2013); Essentials of Early Education (1997); and Authentic Childhood: Exploring Reggio Emilia in the Classroom (2002). Currently, she writes a regular column titled "Grandma Says" for Growing Child.
Table of Contents
Section I: DEFINING DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICE. 1. Defining Developmentally Appropriate Practice. 2. Understanding Play: Its Importance in Developmentally Appropriate Practice. 3. Planning for Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum. 4. A Consideration of Various Curriculum Models. Section II: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS. 5. Developmentally Appropriate Physical Environments: For Infants. 6. Developmentally Appropriate Physical Environments: For Toddlers. 7. Developmentally Appropriate Physical Environments: For Preschoolers. 8. Developmentally Appropriate Physical Environments: For Primary-Age Children. Section III: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL ENVIRONMENTS. 9. Developmentally Appropriate Social/Emotional Environments: For Infants. 10. Developmentally Appropriate Social/Emotional Environments: For Toddlers. 11. Developmentally Appropriate Social/Emotional Environments: For Preschoolers. 12. Developmentally Appropriate Social/Emotional Environments: For Primary-Age Children. Section IV: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE COGNITIVE/LANGUAGE/LITERACY ENVIRONMENTS. 13. Developmentally Appropriate Cognitive/Language/Literacy Environments: For Infants. 14. Developmentally Appropriate Cognitive/Language/Literacy Environments: For Toddlers. 15. Developmentally Appropriate Cognitive/Language/Literacy Environments: For Preschoolers. 16. Developmentally Appropriate Cognitive/Language/Literacy Environments: For Primary-Age Children. Glossary. References. Index.