Early Childhood Education II

3.01 Vocabulary--DAP

Term Definition

Developmentally appropriate practice

developmentally The use of curriculum that is appropriate for the ages of children and their
appropriate individual rates of growth and learning styles; and relevant to their social and
practice cultural backgrounds

age-appropriaten Based on the normal development of children within the age span
ess

individual Responsive to each childs rate of growth and learning styles; with respect for
appropriateness each individual child

social and Taking into consideration the meaningfulness and relevance of learning
cultural activities to all children from multicultural backgrounds
appropriateness

Early childhood curriculum and components

curriculum The total set of experiences and activities, both planned and unplanned, that
support and guide childrens learning

content The subject matter that is taught; what children should learn

process How and when learning takes place, the choice of activities and how they
integrate with each other

context Why activities are chosen, based on philosophies, goals, backgrounds,

families and communities.

teacher A person who creates curriculum, plans, and provides for activities and
materials.

Approaches to curriculum planning

preplanned A curriculum that is already developed and made available to teachers for
curriculum implementation

content- and A popular approach to curriculum planning; learning is seen as a constant

process-centered process of exploring and questioning the environment
approach

Factors to consider when planning curriculum

measurable Able to be assessed and reported in specific terms

outcome A desired result for children to achieve after learning experiences

objective A statement of intended outcomes for students in learning activities

levels of thinking Rankings of cognitive processes according to nature of thinking and degree of
complexity; originated with Blooms Taxonomy; recently updated in Andersons
Revised Blooms Taxonomy

Term Definition

Factors to consider when planning curriculum, continued

balance of Activities that support all domains of development, structured and unstructured,
learning activities indoor and outdoor, and active and quiet

attention span The length of time a child can spend on the same activity

Learning styles

field-sensitive Children who like to work with others, assist and follow models

field-independent Children who are independent and like to be first and try new activities

visual learner One who depends a great deal on the sense of sight for learning
auditory learner One who learns best through hearing

Multiple Intelligences

multiple Many, more than one

intelligence A way of being smart, a category of talent or ability

bodily-kinesthetic The ability to use the body or body parts

interpersonal The ability to understand and relate with other people

naturalist The ability to see differences between living things

musical The ability to think in music, recognize and remember patterns

intrapersonal The ability to understand oneself, ones strengths and limitations

linguistic The ability to use language to express and understand messages

logical-mathematical The ability to understand systems and manipulate numbers

spatial The ability to comprehend the world of space