Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children: Recommendations for Teaching Practices

Elementary teacher conducting a lesson in front of students seated on the carpet

Get an overview of developmentally appropriate teaching practices recommended by the International Literacy Association (ILA) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

During the infant and toddler years

Children need relationships with caring adults who engage in many one-on-one, face-to-face interactions with them to support their oral language development and lay the foundation for later literacy learning. Important experiences and teaching behaviors include but are not limited to:

  • Talking to babies and toddlers with simple language, frequent eye contact, and responsiveness to children's cues and language attempts
  • Frequently playing with, talking to, singing to, and doing fingerplays with very young children
  • Sharing cardboard books with babies and frequently reading to toddlers on the adult's lap or together with one or two other children
  • Providing simple art materials such as crayons, markers, and large paper for toddlers to explore and manipulate

During the preschool years

Young children need developmentally appropriate experiences and teaching to support literacy learning. These include but are not limited to:

  • Positive, nurturing relationships with adults who engage in responsive conversations with individual children, model reading and writing behavior, and foster children's interest in and enjoyment of reading and writing
  • Print-rich environments that provide opportunities and tools for children to see and use written language for a variety of purposes, with teachers drawing children's attention to specific letters and words
  • Adults' daily reading of high-quality books to individual children or small groups, including books that positively reflect children's identity, home language, and culture
  • Opportunities for children to talk about what is read and to focus on the sounds and parts of language as well as the meaning
  • Teaching strategies and experiences that develop phonemic awareness, such as songs, fingerplays, games, poems, and stories in which phonemic patterns such as rhyme and alliteration are salient
  • Opportunities to engage in play that incorporates literacy tools, such as writing grocery lists in dramatic play, making signs in block building, and using icons and words in exploring a computer game
  • Firsthand experiences that expand children's vocabulary, such as trips in the community and exposure to various tools, objects, and materials

In kindergarten and primary grades

Teachers should continue many of these same good practices with the goal of continually advancing children's learning and development. In addition every child is entitled to excellent instruction in reading and writing that includes but is not limited to:

  • Daily experiences of being read to and independently reading meaningful and engaging stories and informational texts
  • A balanced instructional program that includes systematic code instruction along with meaningful reading and writing activities
  • Daily opportunities and teacher support to write many kinds of texts for different purposes, including stories, lists, messages to others, poems, reports, and responses to literature
  • Writing experiences that allow the flexibility to use nonconventional forms of writing at first (invented or phonic spelling) and over time move to conventional forms
  • Opportunities to work in small groups for focused instruction and collaboration with other children
  • An intellectually engaging and challenging curriculum that expands knowledge of the world and vocabulary
  • Adaptation of instructional strategies or more individualized instruction if the child fails to make expected progress in reading or when literacy skills are advanced

Although experiences during the earliest years of life can have powerful long-term consequences, human beings are amazingly resilient and incredibly capable of learning throughout life. We should strengthen our resolve to ensure that every child has the benefit of positive early childhood experiences that support literacy development. At the same time, regardless of children's prior learning, schools have the responsibility to educate every child and to never give up even if later interventions must be more intensive and costly.

References

Click the "References" link above to hide these references.

Adams, M. 1990. Beginning to read. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Anbar, A. 1986. Reading acquisition of preschool children without systematic instruction. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 1: 6983.

Anderson, R.C. 1995. Research foundations for wide reading. Paper presented at invitational conference on "The Impact of Wide Reading" at Center for the Study of Reading, Urbana, IL.

Applebee, A.N. 1977. Writing and reading. Language Arts 20: 53437.

Barnett, W.S. 1995. Long-term effects of early childhood programs on cognitive and school outcomes. The Future of Children 5: 2550.

Barron, R.W. 1980. Visual and phonological strategies in reading and spelling. In Cognitive processes in spelling, ed. U. Frith, 33953. New York: Academic.

Berk, L. 1996. Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood. 2d ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Bissex, G. 1980. GYNS AT WRK: A child learns to write and read. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bond, G., & R. Dykstra. 1967. The cooperative research program in first-grade reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly 2: 5142.

Bradley, L., & P.E. Bryant. 1983. Categorizing sounds and learning to read: A causal connection. Nature 301: 41921.

Bredekamp, S., & C. Copple, eds. 1997. Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs. Rev. ed. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Brown, A.L., & J.S. DeLoache. 1978. Skills, plans and self-regulation. In Children's thinking: What develops? ed. R. Siegler, 336. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bryant, P.E., M. MacLean, L. Bradley, & J. Crossland. 1990. Rhyme and alliteration, phoneme detection, and learning to read. Developmental Psychology 26: 42938.

Bryne, B., & R. Fielding-Barnsley. 1991. Evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children. Journal of Educational Psychology 83: 45155.

Bryne, B., & R. Fielding-Barnsley. 1993. Evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children: A 1-year follow-up. Journal of Educational Psychology 85: 10411.

Bryne, B., & R. Fielding-Barnsley. 1995. Evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children: A 2- and 3-year follow-up and a new preschool trial. Journal of Educational Psychology 87: 488503.

Bus, A., J. Belsky, M.H. van IJzendoorn, & K. Crnic. 1997. Attachment and book-reading patterns: A study of mothers, fathers, and their toddlers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 12: 8198.

Bus, A., & M. Van IJzendoorn. 1995. Mothers reading to their 3-year-olds: The role of mother-child attachment security in becoming literate. Reading Research Quarterly 30: 9981015.

Bus, A., M. Van IJzendoorn, & A. Pellegrini. 1995. Joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: A meta-analysis on intergenerational transmission of literacy. Review of Educational Research 65: 121.

Chomsky, C. 1979. Approaching reading through invented spelling. In Theory and practice of early reading, vol. 2, eds. L.B. Resnick & P.A. Weaver, 4365. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Clarke, L. 1988. Invented versus traditional spelling in first graders' writings: Effects on learning to spell and read. Research in the Teaching of English 22: 281309.

Clay, M. 1975. What did I write? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Clay, M. 1979. The early detection of reading difficulties. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Clay, M. 1991. Becoming literate. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes Study Team. 1995. Cost, quality, and child outcomes in child care centers, public report. 2d ed. Denver: Economics Department, University of Colorado, Denver.

Cummins, J. 1979. Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research 49: 22251.

Cunningham, A. 1990. Explicit versus implicit instruction in phonemic awareness. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 50: 42944.

Darling-Hammond, L. 1997. Doing what matters most: Investing in quality teaching. New York: National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.

DEC/CEC (Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children). 1994. Position on inclusion. Young Children 49 (5): 78.

DEC (Division for Early Childhood) Task Force on Recommended Practices. 1993. DEC recommended practices: Indicators of quality in programs for infants and young children with special needs and their families. Reston, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.

Dickinson, D., & M. Smith. 1994. Long-term effects of preschool teachers' book readings on low-income children's vocabulary and story comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly 29: 10422.

Domico, M.A. 1993. Patterns of development in narrative stories of emergent writers. In Examining central issues in literacy research, theory, and practice, eds. C. Kinzer & D. Leu, 391404. Chicago: National Reading Conference.

Durkin, D. 1966. Children who read early. New York: Teachers College Press.

Durrell, D.D., & J.H. Catterson. 1980. Durrell analysis of reading difficulty. Rev. ed. New York: Psychological Corp.

Dyson, A.H. 1988. Appreciate the drawing and dictating of young children. Young Children 43 (3): 2532.Education Department of Western Australia. 1994a. First Steps reading developmental continuum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Education Department of Western Australia. 1994b. First Steps writing developmental continuum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Education Department of Western Australia. 1994c. First Steps spelling developmental continuum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Education Department of Western Australia. 1994d. First Steps oral language developmental continuum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Ehri, L. 1994. Development of the ability to read words: Update. In Theoretical models and processes of reading, eds. R. Ruddell, M.R. Ruddell, & H. Singer, 32358. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Ehri, L.C., & C. Robbins. 1992. Beginners need some decoding skill to read words by analogy. Reading Research Quarterly 27: 1326.

Ehri, L., & J. Sweet. 1991. Finger-point reading of memorized text: What enables beginners to process the print? Reading Research Quarterly 26: 44261.

Elkonin, D.B. 1973. USSR. In Comparative Reading, ed. J. Downing, 55180. New York: Macmillan.

Eller, R., C. Pappas, & E. Brown. 1988. The lexical development of kindergartners: Learning from written context. Journal of Reading Behavior 20: 524.

Elley, W. 1989. Vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories. Reading Research Quarterly 24: 17487.

Feitelson, D., B. Kita, & Z. Goldstein. 1986. Effects of listening to series stories on first graders' comprehension and use of language. Research in the Teaching of English 20: 33955.

Foorman, B., D. Novy, D. Francis, & D. Liberman. 1991. How letter-sound instruction mediates progress in first-grade reading and spelling. Journal of Educational Psychology 83: 45669.

Galinsky, E., C. Howes, S. Kontos., & M. Shinn. 1994. The study of children in family child care and relative care: Highlights of findings. New York: Families and Work Institute.

Gibson, E., & E. Levin. 1975. The psychology of reading. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Graves, D. 1983. Writing: Teachers and children at work. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Hannon, P. 1995. Literacy, home and school. London: Falmer.

Hanson, R., & D. Farrell. 1995. The long-term effects on high school seniors of learning to read in kindergarten. Reading Research Quarterly 30: 90833.

Hart, B., & T. Risley. 1995. Meaningful differences. Baltimore: Paul Brookes.

Henderson, E.H., & J.W. Beers. 1980. Developmental and cognitive aspects of learning to spell. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Holdaway, D. 1979. The foundations of literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Howes, C., D.A. Phillips, & M. Whitebook. 1992. Thresholds of quality: Implications for the social development of children in center-based child care. Child Development 63: 44960.

IRA (International Reading Association). 1998. Phonics in the early reading program: A position statement. Newark, DE: Author.

Johnston, P. 1997. Knowing literacy: Constructive literacy assessment. York, ME: Stenhouse.

Juel, C. 1991. Beginning reading. In Handbook of reading research, vol. 2, eds. R. Barr, M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, & P.D. Pearson, 75988. New York: Longman.

Juel, C., P.L. Griffith, & P. Gough. 1986. Acquisition of literacy: A longitudinal study of children in first and second grade. Journal of Educational Psychology 78: 24355.

Kagan, S.L., & N. Cohen. 1997. Not by chance: Creating an early care and education system for America's children. New Haven, CT: Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy, Yale University.

Karweit, N., & B. Wasik. 1996. The effects of story reading programs on literacy and language development of disadvantaged pre-schoolers. Journal of Education for Students Placed At-Risk 4: 31948.

Katz, L., & C. Chard. 1989. Engaging children's minds. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Layzer, J., B. Goodson, & M. Moss. 1993. Life in preschool: Volume one of an observational study of early childhood programs for disadvantaged four-year-olds. Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates.

Leung, C.B., & J.J. Pikulski. 1990. Incidental learning of word meanings by kindergarten and first grade children thorough repeated read aloud events. In Literacy theory and research: Analyses from multiple paradigms, eds. J. Zutell & S. McCormick, 23140. Chicago: National Reading Conference.

Lundberg, I., J. Frost, & O.P. Petersen. 1988. Effects of an extensive program for stimulating phonological awareness in preschool children. Reading Research Quarterly 23: 26384.

Maclean, M., P. Bryant, & L. Bradley. 1987. Rhymes, nursery rhymes, and reading in early childhood. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 33: 25581.

Mason, J. 1980. When do children begin to read: An exploration of four-year-old children's word reading competencies. Reading Research Quarterly 15: 20327.

Mason, J., & S. Sinha. 1993. Emerging literacy in the early childhood years: Applying a Vygotskian model of learning and development. In Handbook of research on the education of young children, ed. B. Spodek, 13750. New York: Macmillan.

McGee, L., R. Lomax, & M. Head. 1988. Young children's written language knowledge: What environmental and functional print reading reveals. Journal of Reading Behavior 20: 99118.

McGee, L., & D. Richgels. 1996. Literacy's beginnings. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

McGill-Franzen, A., & C. Lanford. 1994. Exposing the edge of the preschool curriculum: Teachers' talk about text and children's literary understandings. Language Arts 71: 26473.

Morrow, L.M. 1988. Young children's responses to one-to-one readings in school settings. Reading Research Quarterly 23: 89107.

Morrow, L.M. 1990. Preparing the classroom environment to promote literacy during play. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 5: 53754.

Morrow, L.M., D. Strickland, & D.G. Woo. 1998. Literacy instruction in half- and whole-day kindergarten. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Morrow, L.M., & C. Weinstein. 1986. Encouraging voluntary reading: The impact of a literature program on children's use of library centers. Reading Research Quarterly 21: 33046.

Moyer, S.B. 1982. Repeated reading. Journal of Learning Disabilities 15: 61923.

NAEYC. 1996a. NAEYC position statement: Responding to linguistic and cultural diversity--Recommendations for effective early childhood education. Young Children 51 (2): 412.

NAEYC. 1996b. NAEYC position statement: Technology and young children--Ages three through eight. Young Children 51 (6): 1116.

NCES (National Center for Education Statistics). 1996. The condition of education. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

Neuman, S.B. 1997. Literary research that makes a difference: A study of access to literacy. Reading Research Quarterly 32 (April-June): 202-10.

Neuman, S.B. 1998. How can we enable all children to achieve? In Children achieving: Best practices in early literacy, eds. S.B. Neuman & K. Roskos. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Neuman, S.B., & K. Roskos. 1992. Literacy objects as cultural tools: Effects on children's literacy behaviors in play. Reading Research Quarterly 27: 20225.

Neuman, S.B., & K. Roskos. 1993. Access to print for children of poverty: Differential effects of adult mediation and literacy-enriched play settings on environmental and functional print tasks. American Educational Research Journal 30: 95122.

Neuman, S.B., & K. Roskos. 1997. Literacy knowledge in practice: Contexts of participation for young writers and readers. Reading Research Quarterly 32: 1032.

Nye, B.A., J. Boyd-Zaharias, & B.D. Fulton. 1994. The lasting benefits study: A continuing analysis of the effect of small class size in kindergarten through third grade on student achievement test scores in subsequent grade levels--seventh grade (199293), Technical report. Nashville: Center of Excellence for Research in Basic Skills, Tennessee State University.

Nye, B.A., J. Boyd-Zaharias, B.D. Fulton, & M.P. Wallenhorst. 1992. Smaller classes really are better. The American School Board Journal 179 (5): 3133.

Pappas, C. 1991. Young children's strategies in learning the "book language" of information books. Discourse Processes 14: 20325.

Read, C. 1971. Pre-school children's knowledge of English phonology. Harvard Educational Review 41: 134.

Richgels, D.J. 1986. Beginning first graders' "invented spelling" ability and their performance in functional classroom writing activities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 1: 8597.

Richgels, D.J. 1995. Invented spelling ability and printed word learning in kindergarten. Reading Research Quarterly 30: 96109.

Riley, J. 1996. The teaching of reading. London: Paul Chapman.

Roberts, B. 1998. "I No EverethENGe": What skills are essential in early literacy? In Children achieving: Best practices in early literacy, eds. S.B. Neuman & K. Roskos. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Rowe, D.W. 1994. Preschoolers as authors. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.

Samuels, S.J. 1979. The method of repeated readings. The Reading Teacher 32: 40308.

Shepard, L. 1994. The challenges of assessing young children appropriately. Phi Delta Kappan 76: 20613.

Shepard, L., S.L. Kagan, & E. Wurtz, eds. 1998. Principles and recommendations for early childhood assessments. Washington, DC: National Education Goals Panel.

Shepard, L., & M.L. Smith. 1988. Escalating academic demand in kindergarten: Some nonsolutions. Elementary School Journal 89: 13546.

Shepard, L., & M.L. Smith. 1989. Flunking grades: Research and policies on Retention. Bristol, PA: Taylor & Francis.

Snow, C. 1991. The theoretical basis for relationships between language and literacy in development. Journal of Research in Childhood Education 6: 510.

Snow, C., M.S. Burns, & P. Griffin. 1998. Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Snow, C., P. Tabors, P. Nicholson, & B. Kurland. 1995. SHELL: Oral language and early literacy skills in kindergarten and first-grade children. Journal of Research in Childhood Education 10: 3748.

Stanovich, K.E. 1986. Matthew Effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly 21: 360406.

Stanovich, K.E., & R.F. West. 1989. Exposure to print and orthographic processing. Reading Research Quarterly 24: 40233.

Stauffer, R. 1970. The language experience approach to the teaching of reading. New York: Harper & Row.

Strickland, D. 1994. Educating African American learners at risk: Finding a better way. Language Arts 71: 32836.

Sulzby, E. 1985. Kindergartners as writers and readers. In Advances in writing research, ed. M.Farr, 12799. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Teale, W. 1984. Reading to young children: Its significance for literacy development. In Awakening to literacy, eds. H. Goelman, A. Oberg, & F. Smith, 11021. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Tierney, R., & T. Shanahan. 1991. Research on the reading-writing relationship: Interactions, transactions, and outcomes. In Handbook on reading research, vol. 2, eds. R. Barr, M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, & P.D. Pearson, 24680. New York: Longman.

Vernon-Feagans, L., D. Emanuel, & I. Blood. 1992. About middle ear problems: The effect of otitis media and quality of day care on children's language development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 18: 395409.

Vukelich, C. 1994. Effects of play interventions on young children's reading of environmental print. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 9: 15370.

Wagner, R., & J. Torgesen. 1987. The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin 101: 192212.

Wells, G. 1985. The meaning makers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Whitehurst, G., D. Arnold, J. Epstein, A. Angell, M. Smith, & J. Fischel. 1994. A picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families. Developmental Psychology 30: 67989.

Whitmore, K., & Y. Goodman. 1995. Transforming curriculum in language and literacy. In Reaching potentials: Transforming early childhood curriculum and assessment, vol. 2, eds. S. Bredekamp & T. Rosegrant. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Wong Fillmore, L. 1991. When learning a second language means losing the first. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 6: 32346.

Excerpted from: Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children. (May, 1998) A joint position of the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Reprints

You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

Comments

This article was helpful because it addresses different ways to make the teaching experience fun and educational for all children involved.

I agree that some children learn at different levels , some fast some slow but to keep at it and they will get it. With the teachers dedication to education and learning the child will learn.

i'm looking forward for more shared experiences of actual teachers conducting programs that are age appropriate, individual appropriate, and culturally appropriate

Provide the child with books that they have an interest in (example: baseball, football, fashion or barbies). They will be engaged while you read and eventually want to read it themselves. Devote time to talk about the book and give them 'all the time in the world' to discuss it. I pray for all your success.

I love reading this article. I truly agree with teaching children from infancy because they will learn faster and be able to comprehend quicker.

Preschool Children are easy to read to if you have a good high quality book that will keep their attention, as well as, depending on how you read the book. Using props is helpful while reading also.

It's always good to start out as early as infants up to preschoolers to start teaching them

sometime its hard to give a child one-on-one interaction when you have other children to tend to.

Add comment

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
"Books are a uniquely portable magic." —

Stephen King