Self-Esteem – the Ability to Feel Good About Yourself

• Create an atmosphere of respect for each child in respect to physical appearance, name, age, gender, ability, ethnicity, race, culture, faith, and above all behavior; assure each child that his family deserves the same respect.
• Greet each child (and parent) in a warm welcoming way every day and pronounce, spell, and write each child’s name and family name correctly at all times. I know I said this already, but it gets on my very last nerve when I see little sad sack threes come off the bus or out of dad’s car with that look that says, “I hate school. I can’t do the monkey bars. I’m hungry. Mama spanked me this morning. I wanted to wear my Ariel shoes. Yesterday I spilled the paint and pinched that big poopy-head Thomas”, and his teacher doesn’t smile at him, look him in the eyes, and say “Good Morning, My Friend! I am so glad you’re here!”
• Display children’s words and children’s work on classroom and campus. I have probably said this before too, but it is definitely a pet peeve of mine that Walt Disney gets more props in our classrooms than the children. He was a great guy, but his self-esteem does not need your attention. Classrooms should be decorated with the art of the children (and the art of famous artists you think the children might learn from).
• Reduce stress and pressure to perform IT IS PROCESS, NOT PRODUCT!
• Be INTIMATELY and THOROUGHLY familiar with the ages and stages of development.
• Have developmentally appropriate expectations for skill attainment and behavior
  Liberate yourself from the notion that a child’s meeting a specific set of academic standards determines “success” for either the child or the teacher.

Self-Regulation – the Ability to Control Your Behavior

Use a system of discipline that is:

• Based on the philosophy that every child is good because he/she exists
• Calls for values of wellness and nonviolence, modeling of appropriate behavior, and the noticing and praising with attention of appropriate behavior
• Reserves its strongest negative consequences for unsafe behaviors. I call this the VMAN system (Values, Modeling, Appropriateness, and Noticing).

Understand that the purpose of discipline is not to control, but to engender self-discipline

Create a mood of warmth, humor, and respect while actively modeling and encouraging techniques of relaxation

Provide experiences that encourage curiosity and build success so learning is enjoyable

Offer many opportunities for each child to gain independence by:

• Doing things for and by himself and for others
• Having a classroom job every day
• Making decisions about his learning and his behaviors

Accept the strong and often-changing emotions of young children and how those emotions rule their behaviors. Recognize the reasons for the emotions and the behaviors, not as excuses, but explanations and assist each child in self-regulation and redirection of those emotions into harmless and appropriate expressive channels

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel”.   -Anon.

Next Blog: DAP for the Spirit – Self-Awareness: A Sense of Humor

All research (and I’m not going to quote any of it – it all says the same thing) agrees that there is a correlation between self-esteem and success in learning.  In terms of the importance of emotional safety. it is not ‘success of the fittest, but ‘success of the safest’.

Children who feel good about themselves learn with more quality than children with poor self-images.  A good early childhood program is a place where children are treated with warmth, humor, acceptance, and respect; where there are firm, fair, and developmentally appropriate limits on harmful behavior; and where there are strong connections with the families of each child. 

The skills of self-awareness are separation, self-concept, self-esteem, and self-regulation, and one I like to add, the development of a sense of humor. Here are some more specific examples of using DAP to build these skills.    

Separation – The Ability to Leave the Nest

• Create and maintain a system for parent-child separation that is warm, relaxed, and positive and ask parents to pick children up in a timely way every day.
• Let the parent be the guide unless the separation process disrupts the learning process.

 

Self-Concept – the Ability to Know Yourself

• Say and spell each child’s name correctly
• Offer experiences that give each child opportunities to use his body in positive ways that promote health, strength, and stamina
• Allow each child to role play in costumes and clothing of his choice without making stereotypical judgements on gender. They will figure it all out.
• Display positive non-stereotypical photos and pictures of persons of all gender, ethnicity, ability, and age
• Give daily opportunities for children to see themselves in mirrors
• Talk about gender, ethnicity, ability, age, and family composition in terms of fact
• Help your children understand the realities of their limits ONLY in terms of SAFETY

 

Next Blog: DAP for the Spirit – Self-Awareness #2: Self-Esteem and Self-Regulation

 

On Social Studies & Scientific Theories of Evolution/Creation

Children always enjoy learning about ancient history – dinosaurs and the like – but more modern facets of history (and science) are a little tricky for teachers of young children. With there being differences in beliefs about how humans came to exist, explaining these facts to children with parents of varying beliefs may be difficult.

Follow the tenets of your program and communicate with parents on these issues. Some theories of human existence do not to be covered at all until children are at an age to understand deeper concepts.

It is not a teacher’s place to share a faith-based idea unless the program itself is faith-based and parents are aware that teachers will present a particular faith-based belief as truth. Likewise, it is not ethical to ‘force feed’ evolution to a child whose faith does not accept it, so tread lightly, keep your experiences open-ended, and answer questions carefully and respectfully.

Be Honest, Like Abe

American history is another gray area, but not for religious reasons. When you want to cover the Founding Fathers and Mothers and offer facts about the history of our country, keep in mind the developmental levels of your children. It is important that young children are introduced to historical persons and facts about history through active, enjoyable celebrations, music, or art projects that build skills other than mere memorization of facts.

Rochelle Washington, a really good teacher I know, had her two year olds paste brown paper strips to a big white poster board with Lincoln’s face on it and all together they built Abe’s cabin. The children counted, used fine motor skills, talked about “brown” and “logs” and trees. They laughed at his funny hat and talked about “big” and “beards”. Mrs. Washington said he was a president, one child said “Pres Bama”, but Rochelle never mentioned Slavery, the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, his assassination in Ford’s Theater, or anything else that was not relevant, child-centered, or developmentally inappropriate for her kids. Was American History learned? YES!

Keep it A Hundred 

To develop the skills of Social Studies, it is a MUST to show respect and appreciation of each child and his family and to assure that the classroom looks the way the real world looks.  Begin with development of self-awareness, assuring each child that his gender, abilities, appearance, culture, ethnicity, family, and faith are good.  Then he can look outward to a respectful vision of the world around him. 

Invite parents to share family traditions as a normal part of the curriculum.  A “Chinese New Year” unit with stereotypical (and often incorrect) props does not teach about Asian cultures in the real world.  “Where My Great Grandma Grew Up” in which ALL children participate equally and normally is a better idea.

Tolerance is not enough. Respect is the watchword.

“America is a tune.  It must be sung together.”   ~Gerald Stanley Lee, Crowds

Social Studies is an all-encompassing topic that includes a child’s learning about himself (his gender, race, ethnicity, and history), his family, his friends, his community, and also factual knowledge about sociology, geography, history, and ecology.

It sounds like a lot of information, but when teachers realize the way children learn in this area – like a pattern of concentric circles from the self to the family to the community and to the world – and they understand the developmental limits of each child and throw in some common sense, learning about Social Studies is not that hard – but it is very important.

To DAP in Social Studies:

Self

• Create an environment of warmth and respect for each child, as he is (with all his runny nose, wet pants, loud voice and inability to listen or follow directions foibles)
• Offer opportunities and learning experiences that help each child learn to identify himself by name*, gender, ethnicity, family relationship (son, daughter, cousin, grandchild), and family history
• Have mirrors in your room so children may physically see and recognize themselves from the earliest ages

*Say My Name, Say My Name – I cannot stress strongly enough how I feel about teachers knowing, pronouncing, and spelling each child’s name correctly!! A child’s name is WHO HE IS. Respect it from the start. Last names, too.

Sociology (Family, & Community)

• Equip the classroom and campus with developmentally appropriate materials and equipment intended for the building of the strengths of social studies including books, posters, and other written material with both realistic pictures, photos, and drawings that tell facts and give accurate information about families and people of all races, ethnicities, genders, abilities, ages, and cultures and with illustrated fictional stories about the relationships between and among all kinds of people, their homes, families, jobs, celebrations, and customs, and materials and toys like dolls, dramatic play clothes, puppets, human figures, animal figures, home furnishings, cooking utensils, tools, and games that are representative of families and people of all races,  ethnicities, genders, abilities, ages, and cultures.
• Create an environment of respect for each child and every family and display photos of children’s family members. 
• Offer opportunities for family involvement in all program facets.
• Engage in frequent face-to-face verbal interactions with children and parents in both English and, if possible, any child’s non-English home language and encourage the sharing of home language.
• Create and maintain an atmosphere of complete respect for the differences in people’s culture, beliefs, customs, and celebrations.

Geography

• Use your knowledge of development to decide when your learners are ready to learn facts about their personal locations – addresses, names of city or town, state, country, continent.
• Use maps, globes, and exposure to objects, clothes, food, and non-stereotypical celebration experiences from around the world to help children gain an understanding of world geography.

History

• Talk about and celebrate historical events – developmentally
• Use historical books and icons – developmentally
• Use history to “teach” the concepts of past and present – developmentally

Next Blog: DAP for Mind – Social Studies #2

Science – Children are natural scientists.  Let them MESS with things in a classroom filled with tools and bugs and plants and machines. 

Science for Infants and Babies is touching leaves and feeling the sun on their faces; for Toddlers it is squeezing water out of sponges; for Threes, Fours, and Fives it is figuring out what happens if and what happens next. 

Meal and snack times are PURE science.  Fill water and sand tables with mud, dirt, sand, rice, beans, seeds, cornstarch, clays, packing peanuts, cloth, cardboard, paper, shaving cream, gelatin.  Encourage research and experimentation rather than answering questions.  Ask them questions that encourage guessing, estimating, and predicting.  Science skills include using the scientific process using the tools of science, and grasping basic facts about biology, zoology, botany, geology, meteorology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and space.

To DAP Science:

• Equip the classroom and campus with developmentally appropriate materials and equipment intended for the building of the strengths of the scientific process (curiosity, exploration, observation, discovery, experimentation, and  invention), such as collections of natural objects (leaves, shells, rocks, wood); living things (plants or a garden area, insects, ant farms, butterfly habitats);tools and props (magnets, magnifiers, sensory games, thermometers, tweezers, microscopes, rain gauges); and books, games and other written material with realistic pictures, photos, and drawings that tell facts and give accurate information about nature and manmade objects.
• Offer daily experiences with enough time and freedom allowed for children to physically (and often messily) work with natural and manmade objects and experiences with the sand/water table with a variety of media for pouring, measuring, and manipulating with the senses.
• Offer language to describe objects, pictures, situations, and events dealing with biology, zoology, botany, meteorology, geology, physics, engineering (buildings, machines) and space.
• Incorporate science into every facet of the daily activities including the routine elements of the day such as transitions, meal and snack times, playground time, art, and music and movement classes.
• Create an environment which values children’s attempts to figure things out through active exploration, observation, discovery, experimentation, and invention through trial and error and creative ‘out of the box’ thinking.  Encourage, accept, respect children’s ideas and reward them with attention.
• Create an environment which values science and encourages the desire to use a scientific approach to learning without pressure or developmentally inappropriate measures and devices such as  and worksheets, and reinforces the openness of the need for young children to actively and messily manipulate objects in order to learn from them.

“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science”- Edwin Powell Hubble, The Nature of Science

Next Blog: DAP for the Mind – Social Studies

Sometimes it’s hard for parents (and some teachers) to wrap their minds around math and science for very young children. They tend to equate math with rote counting and often discount the sciences (biology, zoology, botany, geology, meteorology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and space – and some include technology) all together. Both math and science are important to the development of a whole child and the math and science skills begin very early in life.

Math – Math for young children means playing with fingers and toes while the teacher recites “This Little Piggy”, manipulating toys of varying shapes, stacking blocks in order by size, counting from ten to one while blasting off a paper cup rocket, being the snack helper who has to figure out how many napkins to put on the table or how many pretzel sticks to give out. Skills include the use of math media, emergent math skills, and developmentally appropriate concepts of time and money.

Here are some DAP ideas for Math:

• Equip the classroom and campus environment with developmentally appropriate HANDS-ON materials such as puzzles, blocks, stacking toys, nesting toys, counters, pegboards, beads, parquetry boards, games where quantities are matched to numerals, scales, measuring cups and spoons, thermometers, ‘more’ and ‘less’ games, dominos, playing cards, pattern cards, shape games and shape toys, cash registers, play money, clocks, calendars, and number books and posters.
• Offer a variety of experiences for children to strengthen and practice math skills through whole group, small group, and individual experiences, meal time and center time work involving counting, comparing, contrasting, sorting, matching, patterning, and the creation of sets.
• Offer daily experiences with the sand/water table with a variety of media for pouring and measuring. Cooking is one of the best math experiences of all, and the playground is a great source of math experiences.                                                                                                           
• Incorporate math into every facet of the daily activities including the routine portions of the day such as transitioning from one activity to another, lining up, moving to various locations on campus, meal and snack time, playground time, art, and music and movement classes.
• Devise and use developmentally appropriate schedules and call attention to the concepts of time, use of the clock to measure time, and how time relates to the children’s activities and movements. Post and call attention to the calendar as a way of measuring time, but do not overuse an outdated method of presenting/learning months of the year and days of the week.
• Use song, chant, rhythm and repetition to increase memory rather than rote memorization techniques.
• Create an environment which values the use of math and encourages the desire to use math without pressure or developmentally inappropriate measures and devices such as dittos and worksheets                                                                                                                                             
   “Go down deep enough into anything and you will find  mathematics.”   

                                                                                                                   ~Dean Schlicter

Next Blog: DAP for the Mind – Science

Language-Literacy – These are the skills of listening, comprehension, vocabulary, recalling and retelling, and emergent reading. To use DAP to help children gain these skills:

• Practice and model active listening techniques.
• Read to the children at a minimum of twice daily.
• Encourage, accept, and respect all forms of child communication and expression.
• Engage in frequent face-to-face verbal conversations with children in English, child’s home language, or American Sign Language and encourage the sharing of home language, if not English.
• Offer language to describe objects, pictures, situations, and events when needed.
• Listen actively to children’s language and speak about personal feelings using clear, simple language. 
• Encourage, repeat, reinforce, write down and display children’s words about objects, facts, situations, and events.
• Model appropriate grammatically correct language without over correcting or calling attention to normal, developmental language errors that will correct themselves with time.
• Offer a variety of experiences for children to strengthen and practice language skills through whole group, small group, and individual discussions, story times, sharing times, snack and meal times and center time conversations.
• Create a literacy rich environment which includes a minimum of two story times daily, a specific learning center for theme-related PLUS books and written materials placed in every other learning center, word walls or other devices on which children’s words are displayed, and formal and informal opportunities for children to interact with written words.
• Use song, chant, rhythm, rhyme, and repetition to help children gain concepts rather than rote memorization techniques.
• Create an environment which values literacy and encourages the desire to read without pressure or developmentally inappropriate measures and devices such as dittos and worksheets
• Offer opportunities for formal reading and phonics experiences for individual children who have shown an interest in and a readiness for these activities

“Readiness to Read”, not “Rush to Read” – This MUST be the motto of a good early childhood education literacy program.

• Forcing literacy skills before readiness is attained is futile, frustrating, and exhausting – just like potty training.
• Put books and written material in ALL Learning Centers and decorate the room with words – especially the children’s words, dictated, scribbled, or printed.  Books must be always available as a child-chosen activity.
• Dump the dittos and worksheets, except for use as ‘busy’ work or relaxed, child-chosen pencil-practice distractions – never as graded tests substituted for real learning. 

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” – Dr. Seuss

Next Blog: DAP for the Mind – Math

From an article in Daily Montessori, I read that “We now know through research conducted with rats’ brains that an enriched environment actually increases brain size. There is a new growing interest in developmental neuropsychology, or research in brain development.” And, “It has been discovered that the first six years of one’s life is significant for the brain to develop fully.” And, “There is new research that coincides with the discovery that the foundation of neural structures in the frontal lobes of the human brain isn’t fully developed until approximately the age of twenty-four.” (Diamond and Hopson, 1998).

So – What this extremely reliable and well-researched publication says to me is that we need to  keep studying brain growth and learning, we need to get these little rats’ brains growing, using DAP, and, that we need to use DAP not just for the birth to 6 brains, but the birth to 25-year-old brains, too.

Here are some ways to use DAP for building the skills of the Mind which include Intelligence, Language-Literacy, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

Intelligence – The skills of intelligence include things like an Infant or Baby looking up when he hears his name, a Two deciding to play with blocks rather than paint, a Three figuring out that a strainer doesn’t hold water, a Four making the connection between mouse action and computer screen action or a Five realizing that letters make words that translate ideas.

Learning to think, not just recall and parrot answers is the real goal of education. The Intelligence skills are usually attention span, recognition, identification and grasp of facts, memory, direction-following, and problem-solving, decision-making, taking action, reflecting, application, and technology. Please add humor to this list.

To develop these skills using DAP:

• Offer active, cooperative projects that call for thinking and problem-solving rather than one word answers to closed questions
• Encourage discovery and fact-finding and research rather than answering questions for children
• Allow experimentation that calls for trial-and-error, cause-and-effect, and learn-from-mistake experiences; use “what if’s”
• Ask for alternative endings to stories or alternative actions to behaviors; and ask questions and have conversations throughout the day
• Create schedules that are developmentally appropriate for the attention spans of the children, using a general ratio of one minute of focused attention to each year of age as a guideline. 
• Pay attention to signs of fatigue, boredom, or overstimulation; modify experiences when they are not effective; and developmentally lengthen time frames of experiences to increase attention span.
• Offer experiences in which children are given opportunities to recognize and identify common objects (actual, then pictorial, then by description) in both verbal and nonverbal indication. 

Offer DAILY opportunities for children to:                                                                                                                               

• make developmentally appropriate decisions and choices about play, materials, equipment, nutrition and behavior                                                                                                                      
• express developmentally appropriate recall of experiences through the use of words, gestures, artistic  expression                                                                     
• solve problems in individual, small or large group settings                                 
• use reason and logic; use facts to make inferences, conclusions, and predictions; experience cause and effect; answer open and closed questions; grasp new ideas and build new knowledge on learned facts
• engage in humor and to appreciate, understand, and create jokes

“Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.”   

                                                                                                                                   -Roger Lewin 

Next Blog: DAP for the Mind – Language & Literacy    

 

In Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, by Sue Bredekamp, Carol Copple, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the authors tell us that “Practitioners of DAP promote the health and development of the whole child, not just the aspects measured on the standardized tests.” 

The Way I See It – To promote the development of a “whole child” we look at using DAP in the three basic areas of learning and development. I call them Body, Mind, and Spirit. Body encompasses the skill and concept areas of Health, Gross Motor, and Fine Motor. 

Here are some ways to assure DAP for the Body:

Health & Hygiene

• Use food, nutrition education, and cooking as planned curricular experiences, but NEVER use food as a reward or punishment.
• Offer opportunities, materials, and time for children to practice dressing and toileting by themselves. Be Patient!
• Assure that health standards are met and that children and adults wash hands frequently during the school day (at arrival, before and after eating, after returning from outdoors, after messy activities, after use of the bathroom, or diaper change and after a hand-involved cough or sneeze).  
• NEVER force toilet training!

“One day you’re a superstar because you pooped in the toilet like a big boy, and the next day you’re sitting in the principal’s office because you said the word “poopy” in American History class (which, if you ask me, is the perfect place to say that word).”                                                                                                                         -Dav Pilkey (“Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People”)

Gross Motor

• Offer planned daily experiences for the development of gross motor strengths including opportunities for children to move their bodies in a variety of safe ways generally and specifically. 
• Create an environment with spaces in which gross motor movement can be safely performed and continually and firmly stress the need for safe gross motor movement.
• Mandate strict regulations and procedures for keeping children healthy, well fed, and safe, and be firm with all staff and all parents in maintaining them.
• All adults must follow regulations concerning fire and weather evacuation drills, first aid and emergency procedures, take First Aid and CPR courses and be certified to carry out these procedures.
• All teachers should be “gross motoring” with children, not sitting on the playground benches to watch.   

 “If a child comes into your program alive in the morning, send him home the same way.”                                                                                                                     -Anne Bensinger

Fine Motor

• Equip the classroom with soft, hard, and stackable blocks, interlocking toys, building sets with a variety of textures, beads, laces, pegs and boards, snap blocks, links, nuts, bolts, hardware tools, keys and locks, puzzles of kinds, woodworking equipment when age appropriate, sand/water table materials, and tools for all types of expression (art, writing, musical instruments, cooking utensils, role play props). Use lots of what the Reggio Emilia curriculum calls “loose parts”.
• Create an environment which values the use of writing and encourages the desire to write without pressure or developmentally inappropriate measures and devices such as dittos and worksheets.
• Create and maintain an atmosphere of respect for every effort to write Offer formal opportunities for writing for individual children who have shown an interest in and a readiness for these activities.
• NEVER force right or left-handedness on any child.                                                          
• Do not shy away from giving the children practice in using REAL adult-size tools and objects.  Keep safety and developmental stages in mind.

“Don’t rule out working with your hands. It doesn’t preclude using your head.”      

                                                                                                                                      –Andy Rooney

Next Blog: DAP for the Mind – Intelligence

• In a learning community in which DAP is used:  Teachers are completely familiar with the stages of child development                                                                    
• The environment is physically suited to the ages/stages of the children                                                                  
• There is laughter, chatter, and an obviously warm relationship between the teachers and children                                                                                               
• There is freedom of expression and pride of self and family                                                                            
• Experiences are child-centered and there are many opportunities for decision-making                                    
• There is no pressure to perform to a non-developmentally appropriate test                                              
• Experiences are relevant and enjoyable but purposeful 
• There are no labels or diagnoses given to children by teachers

With Respect and Apologies to comedian, Jeff Foxworthy, You Might be a DAPPER if:

• You can describe what happens in your classroom once the children arrive without using the pronoun, “I”.  If you want a starring role in the production, head for Hollywood or beat for Broadway.
• You never pass up good stopping places during Circle Time by not paying attention to hints from your children that they have had enough and you do not insist all children sit up, “cross-cross-applesauce”, paying strict attention to you without wiggling for looooong periods of time.
• You only do paperwork when the children (and Elvis) have left the building.
• You get down on the children’s level when you speak or listen to them and you interact with them on the playground for purposes other than to holler, “Up the ladder, down the slide!” or “Keep the sand in the sandbox!” – both unnecessary rules, by the way.
• You do not expect the children to remember rules, concepts and facts that have not been ACTIVELY learned.
• You are not the Diva of Dittos and the Wonder Woman of Worksheets!
• None of your children’s art projects look identical to each other (or your “demo”).  Your walls are covered with children’s work and words, not with identical coloring book pages or teacher corrected “art” with the googly eyes glued in just the right spots on the jack o’lantern faces.
• Your schedules do not include long, passive, waiting periods or idle transitions without action.
• Pencil and paper practice sessions are only offered as options (maybe in your Kindergarten Center) on an individual basis for those who are TRULY READY.
• There’s no attitude of “RIGHT ANSWERS ONLY!”, because children MUST be free to use mistakes and use them as learning tools.
• There is no learning by rote memorization that is not accompanied by action, music, rhyme, or chant. Even Einstein sang the ABC song when he filed his scientific paperwork.
• There is no teacher-diagnosis of Autism, ADD, ADHD, Developmental Delay, or Learning Disabled (as this is not your job) and there is NEVER labeling children by negative words like “shy, sneaky, manipulative, mean, selfish, slow, behind, gifted, or smarter than.”

If you are a DAPPER –

• There is smiling, laughing, singing, chanting, talking, and playing WITH the children – indoors and out
• There is dancing, music, large muscle active play, children making choices and teachers asking open-ended questions and having kind words for each and every child 
• There is time for individual, small-group, and whole-group work. 
• There are children doing things for themselves and for others.
• There is obvious and continuous and respectful parent involvement.

Next blog:  Execution – How the Learning is Delivered – Dappin’ for the Body