The early childhood practicum course is the venue through which college students synthesize prior learning about developmentally appropriate teaching practices and apply it in supervised fieldwork settings. Prior research identifies that while this course has a central place in the preparation of teachers, there are acknowledged gaps of…

One of the biggest present challenges for teachers, especially in primary classrooms, is the need to address the content standards in all subject areas with the same amount of instructional time. While curriculum integration continues to be a powerful strategy to meet this challenge, teachers often find it difficult to bridge the gap between…

This paper analyzed 10 commercially available functional curriculum models designed for secondary students with mild-to-moderate mental impairment. The models were examined with respect to the inclusion of functional curriculum components, the domains and subdomains of adulthood, the materials identified by the model to be used to deliver the…

For the last 40 years, the author has had the privilege of being a participant/observer/reporter in middle grades education in a wide variety of circumstances, both in the United States and abroad. During this lengthy period, the author has observed and reported on what he considers to be a continuing series of accomplishments in middle grades…

Understanding one's sexuality is a lifelong process. This pamphlet outlines developmental markers for what children need to know about sexuality, from infancy through adolescence. These guideposts can help parents, caregivers, and educators decide when a discussion of a given subject is age-appropriate. They may be particularly helpful for those…

This article explains the creation of the "Growing and Learning with Young Native Children" curriculum toolkit. The curriculum toolkit was designed to give American Indian and Alaska Native early childhood educators who work in a variety of settings the framework for developing a research-based, developmentally appropriate, tribally…

The goal of the present study is to explore the use of developmentally appropriate practices in Asian Indian early childhood classrooms. This information is critical for all early childhood educators and teacher educators because the society we live in is fast becoming extremely diverse and our classrooms are becoming a cauldron of various…

One of the most important tasks in working with teachers is helping them develop their own abilities to create developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children. This paper reflects on, from two perspectives, the ongoing process of teachers developing an understanding of how children learn and how that process affects curriculum…

Inspired by Lilian Katz's lectures and books, the staff of Hollywood Elementary School in southern Maryland embraced Katz's philosophy of developmentally appropriate programs, project learning, and multiage grouping. This paper describes Hollywood's journey as a school community to implement these strategies, discussing the multiage organization…

Discusses the need for developmentally responsive middle level competitive sports programs that include awareness of sports injuries, psychological considerations, attrition in sports, and family pressures for students to become college and professional athletes. (JPB)

Many teachers of students with mild disabilities experience difficulty writing IEPs, and they lack a foundation in the regular education curriculum of academic skills and sequences associated with each grade level. This book was designed to provide this foundation. Presented in the form of scope and sequence charts that can be used as objectives…

Suggests ways for early childhood programs to analyze the degree to which their parties, festivals, and celebrations are consistent with early childhood theory and research, and with good practice. Provides suggestions for increased integration of multicultural activities into the overall curriculum. (DR)

Discusses process- and product-oriented early childhood curricula. Describes ways in which process learning can be incorporated into all aspects of the curriculum to support young children's growth. (RJC)

Reviews five books on developmentally appropriate teaching, and two volumes from a series on an interpersonal cognitive problem-solving program. (HTH)

Differences between developmentally appropriate and traditional classroom practice include the following: integrated vs. separate curriculum, meaning-driven vs. skill-driven, incidental vs. explicit learning, heterogeneous vs. homogeneous grouping, ready now vs. getting ready, child-centered vs. teacher-directed, autonomy vs. heteronomy, previous…