Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Curriculum and Development in Early Education

Thoughtful and comprehensive, DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICE: CURRICULUM AND DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY EDUCATION, 6th Edition, is designed to meet the needs of new early childhood students as well as experienced teachers, professionals, and parents. It provides you with an overview of the concepts and theoretical foundations of appropriate practices in every developmental domain and discusses the practical implications for teachers and caregivers. The text reflects the NAEYC position statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice and includes content on aligning early childhood teaching practices with national education standards, in addition to many interesting anecdotes, vignettes, interactive features, and applications to help you understand and apply the material. The text also shows you how to be effective no matter what curriculum model is used in your center, whether Reggio Emilia, Montessori, High Scope, Creative Curriculum, Bank Street, Waldorf, or any other.

Table of Contents:
Part 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. Part 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. Part 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. Part IV: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. 13. Developmentally Appropriate Learning Environments: For Infants. 14. Developmentally Appropriate Learning Environments: For Toddlers. 15. Developmentally Appropriate Learning Environments: For Preschoolers. 16. Developmentally Appropriate Learning Environments: For Primary-Age Children. Glossary. List of Useful Figures and Boxes. References. Index.

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.