Miss 2 cool for school

For one of my classes in school I am creating a DAP portfolio. DAP stands for developmentally appropriate practice. In this I talk about the program philosophy that I would have for this great preschool:)

-WHOLE CHILD- DAP-PLAY-ENVIRONMENT-FAMILIES-

****haha yes I made the name up but it's cute don't you think?

So I wanted to share with you this philosophy along with the other sections of my portfolio which includes how to adapt to individual learners, how I feel about parent involvement and how the 12 principles of DAP are included in my preschool.

Program Philosophy

Busy Bees is devoted to developing the whole child by focusing on developmentally appropriate practices, learning through play, creating a safe and DAP environment and involving families to enhance the learning experiences of the children. We focus on these principles because we believe that this will benefit our children the most and will help them develop the foundation that they will need for their futures. By using developmentally appropriate practices we insure that our children our learning what is appropriate for their age, experience, abilities and interests that will help them continue to grow. The most important part of this is to make sure that what we are teaching is for the children. We do this by basing our curriculum on what the children already know and by helping them reach achievable goals. Learning through play is another aspect of our philosophy that is really emphasized. We believe that children learn best through play. This is because children are motivated to play on their own and by creating an environment that incorporates what we want the children to learn they will learn more then what we could teach them any other way. Play also helps the children learn social skills, self-regulation, creativity, problem solving skills, develops their language and helps prepare them for school. As educators we enhance play by creating an environment that is safe and DAP appropriate for them to learn in. We also can take part in play by being a partner in learning with the children. Lastly we focus on involving families in the learning experience. We do this by creating a caring relationship with families and by keeping them informed in what we are doing at preschool. We also create opportunities for families to come to the learning center and interact with their children while they are learning. We believe that this will help our families understand the purposes for what we are doing and to take that knowledge into their homes to further enhance the child’s development.

Our philosophy is based around philosophers such as John Dewey, Piaget, vygotsky and Lucy Sprague Mitchell. As John Dewey states “education is the process of living and not preparation for future living.” We love this because we want to educate the children to live now. That is why we focus on DAP and strive to teach to the whole child. The child-centered curriculum, which is curriculum that reflects the concepts and topics that a child is interested in, that Dewey and Lucy Sprague Mitchell focuses on is also what we strive to imitate in our preschool. As part of this curriculum we focus on building the whole-child in all areas of development. One way that this is done is by using vygotskys zone of proximal development to help us remember the developmental level that the children are at, what they can achieve and how we can scaffold their learning. This process helps us learn what is DAP for the children. As Piaget explains, we also believe that children construct their own knowledge through being engaged in their learning, having a DAP environment and through the materials that we provide them with. Over all our philosophy encompasses much of the Reggio Emila approach. This approach focuses on developing the image of the child, building relationships, creating an environment for the children, having teachers as partners in learning and on using curriculum to invite continued learning. This combination of points from philosophers is what helps us the background to create the best philosophy for our preschool.

Our purpose at Busy Bees is to focus on the children. We want to help them continue growing in the way that is best for them. If you have any questions regarding our program philosophy please feel free to ask. We are for you and your child as we go through this process together.

*Main points of our philosophy*

-Whole child

-Developmentally appropriate practices

-Play

-Safe-DAP environment

-Family involvement

*I would send this information home to the parents in a new letter and place it on a blog for the families so that they can see how we are implementing the philosophy in the preschool.

Adapting for Individual Differences

The first thing that I am going to do to adapt to individual differences is to focus on my own thinking. I need to remember that everyone is unique and that everyone learns things differently. After this then I can discover ways that I can help individual learners. Ever learner is going to have different needs that they need met, whether it’s an environment, how the content is taught, the content it’s self or just the basic needs of life. These aspects will bring about differences in learners that we will need to adapt to. One way that we can take notice of the differences in learners is to first pay close attention to the individual children. Then take note of the things that they are interested. A great way to organize this information would be to place it into a child web where you focus on the things that the child is interested in and what areas you can help them improve in through those interests. It’s important to keep evaluating this each day by continually adding to and changing the information on it.

One thing that we can do to adapt to individual differences is by how we plan the environment. We can change the look and feel of the classroom so that it makes the learners feel comfortable. This may be as simple as adding something new to the classroom. You may notice that some children seem particularly drawn to reading so to adapt to this you could create a nice and comfy reading area for the children including blankets, chairs, stuffed animals and lots of great DAP books. Another aspect this could include is to readjust the positioning of items in your classroom. You may notice that a child has the constant need to wash their hands after being at the sensory table; to adapt to this you could move the sensory table closer to the sink for easier access. As teachers we have to be willing to change. We may need to change the whole environment that we have set up year to year so that it adapts to the group of children that we are teaching. We just need to remember that it is all for the children.

Another aspect of teaching that we are going to have to adapt for individual learners is the content that we are teaching. It is really important to adapt what we are teaching to meet the children where they are. We want to build on what the children know. We can learn what things the children are interested in while they play throughout the classroom. If they seem extremely interested in something, such as cars, house or dinosaurs we can develop content that revolves around their interests. After we develop the content that will apply to the children we are working with we can then focus on how we can help the children learn more. I think that by adapting the content we are using to the individual children’s interests they will be much more interested in what they are learning, helping them be engaged to learn even more.

How we actually teach the content that we have to the children is another area that needs to be adapted to each child. We need to remember that every child learns differently. Some children may be able to learn more from physical activities that get their whole body moving and active in learning. Others may learn more from sensory activities or from dramatic play. Some may even learn better with one-on-one instruction, small group or even large group instruction. When you look at all the ways you can teach something you may think how on earth can anyone teach in a way that will apply to all the different types of learners. The trick to this is to use a variety of teaching strategies that will apply to all of the children. We can learn this once again through simply taking the time to observe the children. Think about the ways that they learn best and adapt to them. We also need to remember that it’s important that we try teaching things in a new way, whether it’s by providing a different activity or changing an area of the room so that it applies to a certain child.

An important part of adapting to individual differences is to discover if the adjustments that we are making are affective or not. We can discover this by observing the children to see what they are learning. We may decide to implement something such as a new area in the room and discover that the children really are not interested in this at all; as affective teachers we can then try something new. We can observe the children themselves and see if they are trying and learning new things. Depending on the answer we can continue to do things as they are or we can try something new. Like stated before, it is extremely important that we are open to change. Sometimes the things that we think will work best for the children may not work at all. We just need to keep adapting and remember that we are focused on what is best for the children.

Parent Involvement

I am a huge believer in parent involvement in school. I think that families are where the children learn the most and we can build on those family experiences. Parents should be allowed to come into the classroom and be a part of the learning community. To let them know that they are welcomed I can focus on building a strong relationship with the children’s families and tell the parents through not only a note but from face-to-face conversation that they are always welcome to come into my classroom. I think that I will also explain to them that even if they are not able to come into the classroom they can be involved by helping prepare materials, or even setting up a dramatic play area.

To help parents feel comfortable I need to make sure that I welcome all families. Families are so diverse in culture, beliefs, education and all areas of life; it’s important that I make sure to avoid make assumptions about a child’s family. I also need to remember that all families are facing different challenges in their lives. This may affect how involved parents are in my class and it may affect our relationship with them. I think that one of the most important things I can do to involve parents is to let them know that we are here to not only support the children but to support the family. If we are willing to go the extra mile to help families than we will have created an amazing caring community of learners that includes the children, families and teachers. Another important aspect of parent involvement is to simply communicate with them. We can do this from phone calls, notes home or a blog; however I think that the best way to communicate with parents is face-to-face. There is something about taking the time to actually get to know parents and to talk to them about their child that helps parents feel involved unlike anything else.

My dream perfect classroom would look like one big happy family. It would include children playing and learning all that they can through the DAP environment that we have set up. There would be parents who not only come to watch the children but who are actually interacting with the children. My classroom would be full of energy because the children are learning so much and the parents are learning how they can implement what the children are learning into their homes. An important aspect that I would also incorporate into my classroom is information available for parents on the tactics that we are using in our class. I think that I would have this information on a blog and also in paper form (multiple languages) for the parents to have. Some of this would include information on DAP, learning through play and on why parents are an important part of the learning process. I think that these are some areas that parents struggle in understanding whether it’s because of lack of knowledge or from misconceptions. I would also like to have a “parent class” where the parents would come to the classroom at the beginning of the year and learn how a day is run at preschool and the purposes of everything that we are doing. This would help them when they come into the classroom and so that they can prepare their children. It would also be the start to forming a relationship with the parents so that they understand that we are partners in their children’s learning process and that they are welcome in our classroom anytime they want and I am available to help them anyway I can.

Make it Real

How have I incorporated the 12 core considerations in developmentally appropriate practice? To answer this question I am going to list the 12 points and then describe how they are incorporated.

1- All areas of development and learning are important.

In the Busy bee preschool we are teaching to the child. This means that we focus on what the children need and teach it when they need it. By adapting to the child and using DAP practices we will be covering all areas of development. We also will have set up the room so that it gives the children many options to use all of the areas of development through playing outside, interacting with others and working in areas such as the sensory, art table and dramatic play.

2- Learning and Development follow sequences

By understanding the learning and development follow a sequence we are able to prepare our environment and curriculum in a way that will help the children continue to develop. We do this by observing the children and discovering what their interests are. Next we think of ways to build on what the children already know and how we can use that knowledge to help them continue learning. We also look at their physical abilities and think of ways that we can continue to help them develop in aspects such as large and fine motor skills. We are continually observing and adapting to what the children are interested in learning and develop ways to build on those interests.

3- Development and learning proceed at different rates

We understand that every child is a unique individual who is developing in their own unique way. We adapt our curriculum so that it relates to each child and builds off of their strengths, needs and interests. Children come from a variety of families and have been shaped by different cultures and experiences. Knowing this we do not have a set belief on what the children have experienced or should know. However, we do have high expectations for the children and believe that they can reach if we adapt for each individual learner.

4- Development and learning result from an interaction of maturation and experience.

We realize that development and learning depend on the child’s biological development and their experiences in the world. Focusing on involving the families and letting them know that we are here to help them in anyway helps us make sure that the children we are teaching are getting their needs met physically so that they can healthily grow. By realizing that all children come into our classroom with different experiences we can look at each child as an individual and discover ways that we can build on those experiences. Through this we can also create new experiences for the children which they may not have option to experience in their own homes.

5- Early experiences have profound effects on development and learning.

We realize that the experiences that the children are having early on in life have a great affect on their futures. By making sure that the practices we are using in our preschool are focused on developing the children in all aspects of learning we are making sure that the children are having these necessary experiences. We focus on learning through play which builds on what the children know to do and also helps them develop social skills and stimulates their brain for learning. We know that if we are adapting to each child, creating a DAP environment and also educating parents that the children in our school will have the experiences that they need to continue developing and learning.

6- Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation and symbolic or representational capacities.

We realize that development is very complex. One aspect of this development is the gradual transition from total dependence on others to the ability to control and regulate oneself. As teachers we help children develop these skills through giving the option of choice in play, creating dramatic play experiences where they can communicate their feelings with others and in helping them learn how to control and express their emotions. We encourage children to represent their ideas through the great variety of experiences that are created for them.

7- Children develop best when they have secure relationships

Nurturing relationships are necessary for children to develop healthily. We understand that the most important relationships for children are those formed with their parents. As caregivers it is also important that we create trusting relationships with not only the children but their families as well. We do this by making sure that we encourage family interaction in our preschool. These relationships will help the children develop a strong sense of self and will give them positive models to follow.

8- Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts.

We understand that children come from different cultures and families. It’s important that we first remember to check our own beliefs and make sure that we aren’t letting them affect how we view the children. Building on the children’s cultures by basing our content on what the children know and have experienced is an important part of this. It’s also important to that we help the children learn how to communicate with people that are from different cultures. This is done by bring parents into our classroom, adapting to individual children and by making sure that the things we have in our classroom our sensitive to different cultures.

9- Children learn in a variety of ways

We know that each child has their own unique way to go about learning. As teachers it is our job to make sure that we find out how the children learn best and adapt our classroom to fit the children. Children construct their own knowledge about the world and we believe that this is done through play. We make sure that we give the children opportunities to explore by creating a DAP environment. Another way this is done is by giving the children opportunities to learn through others and explore freely.

10- Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation and promoting language, cognition, and social competence.

We fully believe that play is important. It allows the children to learn through what they do best all kinds of skills that will help them in their futures. We make sure to provide a variety of activities varying from outdoors, to dramatic play. This helps the children learn more about their world, interact with others, control emotions and develop problem-solving skills. We also make sure that we set up and environment in which the children can play freely and learn all that they can. As adults we create experiences for the children and help promote play.

11- Development and learning advance when children are challenged.

Children need to be challenged to learn new things. In order to do this we make sure to teach within the children zone of proximinal development, and then scaffold our support as they learn new things. Once we have observed the children and noticed that they have met the goals we give them opportunities to experience new things and to reach new goals. It’s important that we keep giving children support to do new things. We can help children learn so much by building on what the children already know and challenging them to do new things with that knowledge.

12- Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning.

The experiences that children have shape how they view learning. We create a safe environment for the children so that they are encouraged to learn. We adapt to the individual learner so that we make sure the children are learning things that they are interested in. We make sure to incorporate strategies that will encourage children’s learning. This is done in part by incorporating families into the classroom. This is also done by making sure to never stifle children in their learning. We build on what the children want to learn and encourage all children to keep learning,