The Importance of Developmentally Appropriate Practices

In our reading this week the main theme that stuck out to me was how important it is to not only follow developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom, but specificallly while developing reading and writing skills in children. When teachers fail to seek out information on these appropriate practices or apply them to their classroom they are failing to give their students the education and support they deserve. Plenty of research has been done to determine what the is developmentally appropriate for various ages and this information is easily accessabile to all teachers. The website: http://www.naeyc.org/DAP  is full of information on these practices and where training can be found. Our article discussing the joint position tied in how important it is for teachers to remember to apply developmentally appropriate practices to growth in reading and writing. I completely agree with what the article mentioned about the need for this position due to the rising standards of literacy. When teachers hold tight to outdated view they often neglect to using appropriate practices and in turn fail to offer the appropriate scaffolding need for children to reach these high standards.
Although these high standards must be kept in mind, the article regarding letting go of "letter of the week" shares with us the risks there are in over focusing on the standardized testings and not the individual growth and capabilities. I was very impressed with the teacher's awareness of Pedro's abilities while she conducted the district assessment. Although Pedro struggled in naming the letters he demonstarated an understanding of letter-sound relationships using the names of his classmates. This tesacher used devolomentaly appropriate practices by expecting and embracing the diversity of her classroom and taking into account the intial range in abilities, experiences, interests, and personalities of individual children.

The articles also discuss teachers that still hold tight to a maturationist view of young children rather than embracing how important an early foundation in literature is to the overall development of the child. The chapter in our book really hit on the crucial understandings essential to building the foundation for success. These early experiences can teach children there is a purpose and joy to reading and writing.