Children are natural learners, but they need to have their internal, intrinsic motivation to be lifelong learners reinforced. In today's media-driven, pressure cooker world, children don't always know how to engage in the complex play that leads to deeper learning. They often need adult intervention to help them move from simplistic, repetitive…

Early childhood programs strive to provide good-quality care and education as young children develop their physical, emotional, social, and intellectual skills. In order to provide children with positive, developmentally appropriate learning opportunities, educators ensure the safety and security of children, indoors and outdoors. The outdoor…

Well-informed teachers of young children recognize the importance of children's social development. The development of social skills lays a critical foundation for later academic achievement as well as work-related skills. Social development is such a key issue with young children that a number of methods to address social skills have been…

The purpose of this position statement is to promote excellence in early childhood education by providing a framework for best practice. Grounded both in the research on child development and learning and in the knowledge base regarding educational effectiveness, the framework outlines practice that promotes young children's optimal learning and…

The AIDS epidemic presents a complex of issues that require global answers, involving entire societies. The only sustainable solution is to include all sectors of society in a multidisciplinary collaboration, within which the formal education system plays a key role in delivering a comprehensive response to the disease at the national level.…

A tool for early childhood professionals, this book describes developmentally appropriate practices for adults providing care and education services to young children. Part 1 of the guide presents the position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) on developmentally appropriate practice in early…

This position statement for administrators, teachers, providers, and caregivers for young children discusses developmentally appropriate guidance techniques for children from birth to 8 years of age. The seven principles discussed are: (1) Children are in the process of learning acceptable behavior; (2) An effective guidance approach is preventive…

The preschool and kindergarten years are the best time to help children establish a positive cycle in their social relations. Teachers and caregivers can provide models of interactive skills, set patterns for class interaction, and provide help to children who are in the process of acquiring and strengthening social understanding and skills. The…

A tool for early childhood professionals, this book describes developmentally appropriate practices for adults providing services to young children. Part 1 gives the position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) on developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from…

Discusses some of the ethical concerns that early childhood professionals should consider when identifying or adapting assistive technologies for young children with such disabilities as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, visual impairments, and hearing impairments. (BB)

Based in the belief that many preschool programs have an orientation toward a developmental philosophy yet are not developmentally appropriate in program practices, this discussion contrasts developmentally and psychometrically oriented approaches, reviews literature on program design and children's needs, and provides guidelines in the areas of…

As a practicum project, a developmentally appropriate training model was designed and implemented in a day care facility with 6 staff members, serving 40 children. Following documentation of the problem areas that inhibited application of developmentally appropriate practices in the particular day care setting, appropriate actions were…