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1 Early Childhood Education Curriculum Models

Unit 1: Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood

“Show me and I forget; Teach me and I remember; Involve me and I learn.”

Benjamin Franklin

1.0 Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
a. Explain the principles and planning of developmentally appropriate practice
curriculum and its implications for learning.
b. Compare and contrast current curriculum models.
c. Describe the different curriculum frameworks.

1.1 Introduction:
This unit is the first topic for the Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early
Childhood. Our course focuses on the principles and planning of developmentally
appropriate practice curriculum and its implications for learning, different curriculum
models and frameworks. NAEYC defines “developmentally appropriate practice” as
methods that promote each child’s optimal development and learning through a strengths-
based, play-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. Educators implement
developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the multiple assets all young children
bring to the early learning program as unique individuals and as members of families and
communities. Building on each child’s strengths—and taking care to not harm any aspect of
each child’s physical, cognitive, social, or emotional well-being—educators design and
implement learning environments to help all children achieve their full potential across all
domains of development and across all content areas.
Activities are also included in this unit designed to help you discover and gain more
understanding about different information needed to prepare every individual to be early
childhood educator. I want you also to keep in mind always that there will be no wrong
answers for this activity and some of the assessment portion of this unit. Enjoy learning for
this will be your stepping stone to be one of the teachers in the early childhood education!

1.2 Topics

Let’s talk about it

1.2.1 Developmentally Appropriate Practice:
It’s Principles and Curriculum

Developmentally Appropriate Practice a

framework for teaching that is grounded on
research on child development and learning
which seeks to promote optimal learning and
development.

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What is Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)?

1. Educators must meet children where they are developmentally and also enable them to
reach goals that are both challenging and attainable.
2. All teaching practices are appropriate to the ages and developmental levels of the
children, in tune with the children's individuality as well as appropriate to the children's
social and cultural contexts.
3. Best practice is based on researched knowledge of how children learn and develop, not
on assumptions about children.
4. Developmentally appropriate practice is NOT about making things easier for children.
Rather, it is about making sure that goals and experiences are suited to their learning and
development.

-Adapted from National Association of Young Children position statement on DAP

Three important aspects of Developmentally Appropriateness

1. Age Appropriateness

 This refers to the fact that there are recognizable predictable sequences of growth
and change in human development from infancy up to adulthood. These predictable
changes take place in terms of all aspects of human development – physical,
emotional, psychosocial, cognitive.

"Teachers must be knowledgeable about what is known about child development and learning
-- knowledge of age-related human characteristics that permits general predictions within an
age range about what activities, materials, interactions, or experiences will be safe,healthy,
interesting, achievable, and also challenging to children."

2. Individual Appropriateness

 This is based on the recognition of the child as a unique person with an individual
pattern and pace of growth. The child is an individual with his or her own
personality, learning style and family and cultural background.

“Teachers need to know about the strengths, interests, and needs of each child in her class
to be able to adapt and be responsive to variations in rate of development."

3. Cultural Appropriateness

 This is based on the recognition that children live within a social and cultural context
and that their needs need to be addressed in relation to this.

“Teachers need to provide learning experiences are meaningful, relevant, and respectful of
her students and their families."

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What wouldn’t you see in a What would you see in a D.A.P. Classroom?
D.A.P. Classroom?

Dittos as art activities Open-ended art

“Rote” learning & Hands-on experiences with

memorization real objects

Waiting, lining up Self-help skills/autonomy

Most activities teacher - Small group activities,

directed & large group based on interest

Forced participation Children offered choices

Activities with “right” & Successful participation

“wrong” outcomes at any skill level

All adult-oriented décor “Ownership” of the room

by the children reflected

Rigidity Flexibility

Compliance with adult Problem-solving

the only choice

Teacher frustrated with Small, quiet “naptime

non-napping child boxes”

Art, music, science are all Media tables, easels open,

at designated times only art/music/science accessible

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Developmentally Appropriate Activities and Practices are:

Based on what we know about how young children learn
Relevant to children’s life experiences
Based on the children’s current knowledge and abilities
Respectful of cultural and individual differences and learning styles
Responsive to the interests and needs of the children
Focused on the learning process, not the end product
Thought provoking - stimulating and challenging the minds of young children
Based on the philosophy that children are competent and trustworthy, and can
make good decisions if given the opportunity and practice

Principles of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

The 12 principles of developmentally appropriate practice, based on research in child

development and early learning, highlight the characteristics of children’s early
development and learning. NAEYC, 2009

Principles Implications for Learning

1. Overlapping domains:  Promoting how young children
All developmental domains i.e., physical, think, feel, move, and interact
social/emotional,communication, cognitive involves considering and fostering
and adaptive, are important and closely their development and learning
interrelated, continually influencing one across all developmental domains.
another
2. Sequenced knowledge and abilities:  Knowledge of how young children
Many aspects of children’s learning and typically develop and learn guides
development follow well documented team members in designing learning
sequences, with later abilities, skills, and experiences and interacting with
knowledge building on previous ones. children in a supportive
environment.
3. Development varies: Each child’s  Decisions about selecting
development varies across different areas curriculum, teaching strategies and

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of his/her individual functioning, as well materials, specialized intervention

as between individual children. and interactions with children
should be as individualized as
possible.
4. Continuous interaction between  Systematic, individualized
biological maturation and experience: intervention can minimize the
Development is the result of the interplay impact of a delay or disability on a
between a growing, changing child, and young child’s learning and
how he or she experiences the social and development.
physical worlds.
5. Early experiences: Optimal periods exist  Intervention and support are more
for certain types of development and successful the earlier a problem is
learning. addressed. Some aspects of
development occur most efficiently
at certain points in the life span e.g.,
the first three years appear to be an
optimal period for oral language
development. Kuhl, 1994
6. Increasing complexity: Children’s  Preschool children communicate
development builds toward greater their thoughts and meaning through
complexity, self-regulation, and symbolic many paths, including oral
or representational capacities. language, gestures and body
movement, visual arts (e.g.,
drawing, painting, sculpting),
construction, dramatic play, and
writing.
7. Relationship dependent: Children need  Positive adult-child and child-child
secure consistent relationships with relationships promote children’s
responsive adults and opportunities to learning and achievement, as well as
initiate and nurture positive interactions their social competence and
with peers. emotional development.

8. Context-bound. Development and  Team members need to understand

learning occur within, and are influenced the influence of sociocultural
by, multiple social and cultural contexts. contexts and family circumstances
on a child’s learning as well as on
their own perspectives and
interactions.
9. Active engagement: Children learn in a  Parents and early childhood
variety of ways as they actively seek to providers must select the best
understand the world around them. strategy(s) for each learning
situation, considering the learning
goal, specific context, and needs of
individual children in the moment,
including those who may need more
support than others.

10. Play is learning: Play is an important  Play is linked to foundational

vehicle for developing self-regulation and capacities such as memory, self-

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promotes language, cognition, and social regulation, oral language abilities,

competence. social skills, and success in school.
Hirsch-Pasek et al, 2009

11. Just right challenge: Learning  Team members use their knowledge
progresses when children are prompted of early development to select
and challenged to achieve at a level just strategies and provide a rich
beyond their current mastery, and have learning environment that motivates
many opportunities to practice emerging children to practice and master new
and newly acquired skills. and progressively more advanced
challenges.

12. Personal attributes: Children are  How children learn is as important

shaped by the impact of their experiences as what they learn. Children’s
on their motivation and approaches to approach to learning involves their
learning (i.e., persistence, initiative, and feelings about learning (e.g., interest,
flexibility). These dispositions and pleasure, and motivation to learn)
behaviors, in turn, affect their learning and and their behavior when learning
development. (e.g., attention, persistence,
flexibility, and self-regulation).

Curriculum

 The curriculum provides for all areas of a child’s development including physical,
social, emotional and cognitive. Curriculum planning is based on teacher’s
observations and recordings of each child’s special needs, interests and
developmental abilities. Classroom environments are designed for the children to
learn through active exploration and interaction with adults, peers and materials.
Learning activities and materials are concrete, real and relevant to the lives of
children. Each program provides for a wide range of developmental abilities and
interests which are increased in difficulty and challenge as the children develop
understanding and appropriate skills.

Specifically, a DAP curriculum provides:

1. Active learning experiences.

 Children interact with real materials. For example, when learning about apples
children experience cutting an apple open, touching, smelling and tasting the apple.
They will make comparisons of different kinds of apples and grow apple seeds.
Cutting apples out of construction paper and gluing them is NOT active learning
and does not promote actual learning about apples.

2. Balance between individual activities and group play.

Balance between teacher-directed and child-directed activities.
 The daily routine includes activities that the teacher introduces as well as ample time
for child-directed activities (often called free play or work time.

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3. Integrated curriculum.
 This principle reflects an understanding that learning happens by connecting diverse
areas of study. Using the apple example above, children are learning math by
counting the apples and apple seeds. Children are using science by exploring about
how apple seeds grow. Children are using literacy concepts when they read books
about an apple orchard or make a chart about who likes red apples or green apples.

4. Learning centers.
 Learning centers are stations set up throughout the room where children can make
choices about which station they want to play in and engage in a learning activity.
Common learning centers in a preschool are:
-pretend area
-reading/quiet area
-art area
-block area
 Some preschool classrooms also have math/science areas. But, again, learning
should be integrated and children should be able to find math and science
opportunities in every area of the classroom.

Let’s talk about it

1.2.2 Different Curriculum Models and Frameworks

Curriculum, the methods and plans teachers use to determine how they will educate
students, are designed after different models. Identify their components and the differences
in product and process models, examine specific model frameworks, and see examples of
popular models.

What Are Curriculum Models?

To understand curriculum models we need to take a step back and talk about
curriculum itself. Curriculum can be defined as a plan used in education that directs
teacher instruction. Many districts and schools use a tool designed to help teachers pace
their lessons, called a curriculum guide. But a curriculum and a curriculum guide don't
just come out of thin air. Time and energy goes into the creation of these documents.
This process is known as curriculum development.

All of these things are based on a curriculum model. A model is really the first step in
curriculum development. A curriculum model determines the type of curriculum used; it
encompasses educational philosophy, approach to teaching, and methodology. The good
news is, unless you've been hired to design curriculum, you won't come across many
curriculum models. However, it's good for educators to be familiar with the models used in
their schools.

Key Curriculum Components

Curriculum models have five areas they define, each looking at education from a
different slant.

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The focus concept looks at a subject or a student and centers instruction on them.

The approach component is a traditional or modern method and looks at the type of
instruction that will be used.

In the content component, a slant towards a topic-based or content-based is used, asking

how units or strands will be written.

The process structure looks at assessment: formative or accumulative.

Finally, structure components focus on the system of review, determining how the
curriculum will come up for revision.

Product and Process Models

Curriculum models can be broken down into two very broad models, the product model
and the process model. Luckily, these two models are just as they sound.

 The Product Model - You may see this in portions of your curriculum. This model is
focused on results, like grades or reaching an objective. The majority of the weight is
focused more on the finished product than what is happening in the learning
process.
 The Process Model - Conversely, this process model focuses on how things happen
in the learning and is more open-ended. Curriculum focusing on the process model
emphasizes how students are learning, what their thinking is, and how it will impact
future learning.

Curriculum Model Frameworks

To dive in a bit further before we look at specific models, let's talk about how some
curriculum models are framed.

Five broad categories can be used to define the focus of curriculum models:

1. Subject- or discipline-centered - In this framework, the curriculum is organized

around subjects, like math or science.
2. Integrated - Just like it sounds, this framework pulls many subjects together. We see
this model used in problem-based learning and experiential learning.
3. Spiral - In this framework, the content is presented several times across the span of
the school year. Seen mostly in math, using this design allows students to be
introduced and then revisit material often.
4. Inquiry- or problem-based - Not to be confused with integrated models, this
curriculum focuses on a central problem or question. In this frame, all curriculum is
problem-based, while in integrated it may or may not be.
5. Experiential - Using this framework allows students to participate in real-life ways
with their work such as, experimenting with hypothesis, working through problems,
and finding solutions.

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You may recognize some of the above frames in your own lesson plans. Now, let's look at
three models we also see in our current curriculum.

The Creative Curriculum Framework

•How Children Develop and Learn: what children are like in terms of their
social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language development, and the
characteristics and experiences that make each child unique.
•The Learning Environment: the structure of the classroom that makes it possible
for teachers to teach and children to learn
•What Children Learn: the body of knowledge included in national and state
standards and research reports for six content areas-literacy, math, science, social
studies, the arts, and technology-and the process skills children use to learn that
content. We show how children learn content and skills through daily experiences.
•The Teacher’s Role: how careful observations of children lead to a variety of
instructional strategies to guide children’s learning. Teachers interact with children
in interest areas.

DepEd K to 12 BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM

K to 12 Kindergarten Curriculum Guide May 2016

The Kindergarten Curriculum Framework (KCF) draws from the goals of the K to 12
Philippine Basic Education Curriculum Framework and adopts the general principles of the
National Early Learning Framework (NELF). Kindergarten learners need to have a smooth
transition to the content-based curriculum of Grades 1 to 12. The items in rectangles in
Figure 1 show the theoretical bases for teaching-learning in the early years, which are
founded on constructivism, integrative, thematic, collaborative, inquiry–based, and
reflective teaching in play-based approaches with application of the Developmentally
Appropriate Practices (DAP); these support the principles of child growth and
development, and the learning program development and assessment.
The circles, on the other hand, signify the system of how Kindergarten Education is to be
employed. The interlocked ellipses represent the learning domains that have to be nurtured
and equally imparted to holistically develop children. It also forms a flower that portrays
the gradual unfolding but steady development, as is expected of every child. The child is
seen as being in the process of blossoming – like a flower bud whose development should
not be forced lest it lose its chance to fully mature. The domains are enclosed by the
Learning Areas children will meet in Grade One onward, for which they are being
prepared. The outermost layer indicates the Curricular Themes upon which the
Kindergarten Curriculum Guide (KCG) or the Teacher’s Guide is designed. It has been
crafted using the thematic or integrative approach to curriculum development in a
spiraling learning process. This approach employs integrative and interactive teaching-
learning strategies as well as child-centered learning experiences.

Figure 1
The Kindergarten Curriculum Framework

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Llego, M. A., & About The Author Mark Anthony Llego He is the brain of TeacherPH. Growing up being surrounded
by educators. (2019, April 20). 2019 DepEd Kindergarten Curriculum Guide. TeacherPH.
https://www.teacherph.com/kindergarten-curriculum-guide/.

DEVELOPMENTAL DOMAINS
“Developmental domains” refers to specific aspects of growth and changes in children.
These are represented by the ellipses to show interconnectedness in the holistic
development of children. The contents of each developmental domain are defined by
learning expectations, as follows:
1. Socio-Emotional Development (Pagpapaunlad ng Sosyo-Emosyunal at Kakayahang
Makipamuhay) - Children are expected to develop emotional skills, basic concepts
pertaining to her/himself, how to relate well with other people in his/her immediate
environment, demonstrate awareness of one's social identity, and appreciate cultural
diversity among the school, community, and other people.
2. Values Development (Kagandahang Asal) - Children are expected to show positive
attitudes, self-concept, respect, concern for self and others, behave appropriately in various
situations and places, manifest love of God, country, and fellowmen.
3. Physical Health & Motor Development (Kalusugang Pisikal at Pagpapaunlad sa
Kakayahang Motor) - Children are expected to develop both their fine and gross motor
skills to be efficient and effective movers when engaging in wholesome physical and health
activities. They are also expected to acquire an understanding of good health habits and
develop their awareness about the importance of safety and how they can prevent danger
at home, in school, and in public places.

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4. Aesthetic/Creative Development (Sining) – Children are expected to develop their

aesthetic sense and creative expression through drawing, painting, and manipulative
activities. Aesthetic development involves the love and pursuit of beauty in art, music, and
movement, and creates opportunities for the creative expression of emotions, thoughts,
feelings, and ideas.
5. Mathematics - Children are expected to understand and demonstrate knowledge,
thinking skills, and insights into patterns of mathematics, concepts of numbers, length,
capacity, mass, and time through the use of concrete objects or materials, and to apply these
meaningfully in their daily experiences. Children are provided with varied manipulative
activities to help them see relationships and interconnections in math and enable them to
deal flexibly with mathematical ideas and concepts.
6. Understanding of the Physical and Natural Environment - Children are expected to
demonstrate a basic understanding of concepts pertaining to living and nonliving things,
including weather, and use these in categorizing things in his/her environment. They are
also expected to acquire the essential skills and sustain their natural curiosity in their
immediate environment through exploration, discovery, observation, and relate their
everyday experiences using their senses (touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing).
7. Language, Literacy, and Communication - This domain provides opportunities on early
literacy learning for self-expression through language using the mother tongue or the
child’s first language. Children are expected to develop communicative skills in their first
language. They are also expected to develop more positive attitudes toward reading,
writing, and to view themselves as effective users and learners of language.

CURRICULAR THEMES
The outer circle of the KCF corresponds to
the interrelatedness of the learning domains,
which dictates the way to approach
implementation. The daily activities prescribed
in the Kindergarten Curriculum Guide (KCG)
or the Teacher’s Guide is designed as learner
centered, inclusive, and developmentally
appropriate to employ an integrative and
interactive approach in developing the
competencies focusing on the themes shown in
Figure 2. The child and brain development
principles were the bases of the selection of
content, concepts, and skills, as well as the
learning activities. Developmentally
appropriate practices considered the
developmental tasks that five-year-olds, in
general, could tackle at a specific time, and in a
specific sequence.
Thus, these curricular themes adhere to Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological theory that
defines “layers of environment, each having an effect on a child’s holistic development.”
1. Myself - concepts and ideas that help the learners understand himself/ herself better so
that he/she will develop as an individual
2. My Family - concepts, ideas, practices that guide the child to be responsible and proud of
himself and his family

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3. My School - concepts, ideas, practices, and situations that help the child understand how
to be an individual and socialize with other learners, teachers, and other school personnel
4. My Community- concepts, ideas, practices, situations, and responsibilities that the
learner should acquire and understand so that he/she will a become functional and
responsive member of the community
5. More Things Around Me - all other concepts, ideas, practices, situations, and
responsibilities beyond themes 1 to 4, but which may be relevant to the community,
culture, and interest of the learner

1.3 References

Principles of developmentally appropriate practice. Principles of DAP : Preschool through

Kindergarten NE/LRE Team Decision Making Module. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2022,
from http://olms.cte.jhu.edu/olms2/3872

Beaty, J. J. (2014). Preschool appropriate practices: environment, curriculum and development.

Boston, MA : Wadsworth Cengage.

Gonzalez-Mena, J. and Eyer, D. W. (2018). Infants, Toddlers and Caregivers: A Curriculum of

respectful, responsive, relationship-based care and education.McGraw-Hill.

Kotnik, J., ed. (2017). Designing spaces for early childhood Development: sparking learning &
creativity. Australia: The Images Publishing Group.

Early childhood curriculum models - childcareexchange.com. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2022, from
https://www.childcareexchange.com/library/5015571.pdf

What is DAP? The Developmentally Appropriate Preschool. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2022, from
https://dapreschool.weebly.com/what-is-dap.html

1.4 Acknowledgment

The images, tables, figures and information contained in this module were taken from
the references cited above.

C. M. D. Hamo-ay