How do you focus on each individual child in a full classroom? Learn to integrate individualized curriculum into daily practice with this step-­by-­step guide. Even good observers and documenters do not always use these insights to inform their curriculum planning. Using Developmental Studies, a new tool created and successfully field­-tested by…

Children, especially in the preschool years, learn a tremendous amount through play. Research on guided play demonstrates how schools can couple a curriculum-centered preschool program with a developmentally appropriate pedagogical approach to classroom teaching. However, to fully test this claim, we need a clear definition of the term…

Kindergarten has become increasingly academic in nature. One of the primary dilemmas arising from this shift is the tension between the use of developmentally appropriate practices and the obligation to teach academic standards. To gain a deeper understanding of how kindergarten is enacted in the evolving curricular landscape, we look beyond these…

Reconceptualists and poststructuralists increasingly criticize child-centered pedagogy as being overly reliant on outmoded notions of (developmentally appropriate) practices. Reconceptualists believe that developmental theories should be critically examined cross culturally, whereas poststructuralists work from a social perspective to reconstruct…

This article explores the relationship between attachment theory and the early childhood curriculum. During the first years of life children develop early attachment relationships with their primary caregivers. These attachment relationships, either secure or insecure, will shape children's socio-emotional development. In the USA, the predominant…

This article will describe an approach to planning and assessment that is designed to support an emergent, play-based curriculum while helping teachers make informed instructional decisions. Using assessment that supports curriculum allows early childhood professionals to infuse early learning content standards into meaningful, relevant and…

The aim of this study was to examine how teachers in the Step by Step and traditional kindergartens assess their child-centred activities. 308 teachers participated in the study and a questionnaire was used. The results of the study showed that teachers in the Step by Step programme used a child-centred approach more in their work than teachers in…

This paper discusses the cultural conflicts around the Western notion of child-centeredness in Taiwanese preschools. The implementation and translation of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) in Taiwan is highlighted as an example to understand productions of differences, norms and cultural conflicts in Taiwanese early childhood education.…