If we’re having a discussion about DAP, let’s start at the beginning. [Read more…]
Whole Child Development
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Uncategorized 8 Comments
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Uncategorized 2 Comments
The latest Hot Topic post, DAP and Why We Don’t Push Kids Down the Stairs, definitely hit a nerve! The comments have been fascinating! Many shared examples of “too much too soon”, but some also wondered if it was OK to be supporting their precocious children in their advanced interests, while others wondered what the whole analogy even meant.
by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Child Development & DAP, Learning through Play and Experience 71 Comments
Toddlers can’t walk down the stairs with alternating steps. They just can’t. While your kindergartener bounds down the stairs taking each step in stride (or several in one super-hero bound, as mine is prone to do), your toddler will cling to the wall or rail as she takes a careful step down with one foot, then brings the other foot to that same step to stand firmly before venturing down in that same slow, tentative manner for another (step together), then another (step together), then another (step together).
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Learning through Play and Experience, Uncategorized 5 Comments
I’m sharing some favorites from the archives as I spend some extra time with my family and our new addition!
Flashcards are a common catch-phrase for developmentally inappropriate teaching methods. Even I use the term that way. But like many teaching approaches, it is important to separate the objective, the content, and the method. You might be surprised to find that flashcards may not always be as evil as you thought. [Read more…]
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Learning through Play and Experience 9 Comments
Enjoy this popular post from last year!
I am a nerd. (It’s OK. While the term might have made me cringe in high school, I have since learned to embrace my nerdiness.) I recently found myself on a short trip with some down time for a little reading, and as any good nerd would, I packed along one of my favorite textbooks from grad school. (I know, I just confessed to having a favorite textbook.)
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Positive Guidance and Social Skills 9 Comments
As we get ready to welcome a new little one to our family, I’ll be sharing some favorite posts from the past.
My grandmother had a lot of sayings. “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” “Do not throw upon the floor the food you cannot eat, for many a starving children would think it quite a treat.”
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Learning through Play and Experience, Positive Guidance and Social Skills, Uncategorized 37 Comments
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Learning through Play and Experience 14 Comments
A friend recently commented on this post (originally written in January of this year). Because so many of you have joined me since then, I thought this might be a good time to share it again.
An argument is brewing in the preschool scene. In one corner, you have those arguing for more academics to give children that head start that might correct the troubles of high-school drop-outs and low test scores. They claim that children rise to the occasion and show that they are capable of more than we’ve been asking.
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Uncategorized 17 Comments
I hear it a lot. “They’ll do X later, so we might as we’ll have them start now.”
Standardized testing starts in third grade, so we’ll start “practicing” in kindergarten.
Children rotate through teachers in junior high, so we don’t need to worry about issues like continuity of care in the early years. They’re just getting ready.
We need proficient readers by the end of second grade, so let’s start using flashcards with babies.
I was sitting in a meeting recently where early childhood professionals were discussing this trend to push down curriculum, expectations, and standards and these were the types of answers they would get when they questioned practices that weren’t developmentally appropriate.
They’ll need to do it later, so let’s start now.
The backwards logic was striking to me. They’ll do it later because that’s when it’s appropriate. So I made this suggestion,“How about this. The next time someone offers that as their reasoning, ask them if they want one of their preschoolers to give them a ride home. They’ll probably need to drive later anyway, so we might as well start now.” [Read more…]
by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Positive Guidance and Social Skills 4 Comments
Two great questions this month: How to use positive guidance without being permissive, and how to talk with administrators about standardized testing in KINDERGARTEN. (You can also view this video here.)
In early education, there is too much distance between what we know and what we do. I bridge the gaps that exist between academia, decision-makers, educators, and parents so that together, we can improve the quality of early education while also respecting and protecting the childhood experience.
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