What Is Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Developmentally appropriate practice begins with early childhood educators' knowledge of how children learn and develop (Bredekamp, (2017) p. 71). Its ultimate goal is to promote the development and enhance the learning of each individual child served (Bredekamp, (2017) p. 71). According to the information that I read in chapter three of the textbook, to my understanding is that in order for teachers to be able to make informed decisions about developmentally appropriate practices for both the individual child and the whole group, they first need to understand the importance of getting to know the children and have a strong knowledge of how each child develops and learns. Knowing how children learn and develop is essential for teachers of young children (Bredekamp, (2017) p. 71).
Intentional teaching and developmentally appropriate practice go hand in hand (Bredekamp, (2017) p. 73). An intentional teacher will dig deep to gain as much information needed to get to know the children individually and their developmental learning. Teachers will be able to make informed decisions about developmentally appropriate practices for both the individual child and the whole group once they gather all the facts about each child and know the child's likes, dislikes, interests, strenghts, and needs of each child. There are three fundamental considerations that guide teachers in their information gathering and developmentally appropriate decision-making for