According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (2020) position statement in Developmentally Appropriate PracticeLinks to an external site., “one of the chief responsibilities of early childhood educators is the responsibility to plan and implement intentional, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that promote the social and emotional development, physical development and health, cognitive development, and general learning competencies of each child served”(p. 3). Your ability to make these important decisions is highly dependent on your understanding of what is considered developmentally appropriate for the children in your care. The discussion this week will get you started on applying your knowledge of how children grow and develop, and get you ready to create learning environments that allow children to thrive.

To prepare for this discussion,

• Please refer to the Week 1 Guidance for further tips and examples that will support your success on this discussion.
• Read Chapter 1: Understanding the Importance of the Environment.
• Read Chapter 4: Planning a Play-Based Curriculum.
• Read the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (2020) position statement, Developmentally Appropriate PracticeLinks to an external site..

For this discussion, you will choose one of the three classrooms below to apply the concepts learned from the week. Whichever classroom you choose this week, you will continue to use for your discussions throughout the course.

Chosen Classroom

First-Grade Classroom

A first-grade classroom of 20 students. In this classroom, there is one English Language Learner (ELL) Mai. Mai’s family just moved here from Vietnam, and both parents work long hours at the nail salon in town. She spends evenings after school playing with her toys in the backroom of their salon and often gets home and to bed quite late. She shows up very tired to school. There is also one student Cam who recently had surgery to correct his hip alignment. He will be in a wheelchair for the first several months of school and then later need to use a walker and then crutches as he learns to walk again. Abby is a child undergoing evaluation for having autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Abby is not very social nor does she do well with changes or noise.

Initial Post

• Explain, for your chosen classroom, the importance of creating an environment that supports play-based learning.
• Discuss, for your chosen classroom, one learning theory from Chapter 1 that influences your thoughts on how to promote an environment where children are actively engaged in learning.
• Describe, for your chosen classroom, three characteristics in an environment that you can use to reinforce individuality and inclusivity for diverse children in your learning environment