When it comes to teaching young children, there are many different developmental theories involved, each portraying different aspects of children’s development. However, Dreamland Daycare LLC believes that the two theoretical models of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and Erikson’s Theory of Psychological Development are the most essential theories in children’s development and align with our philosophy.
Piaget believes that children learn through hands-on experience. Through his Cognitive Development theory, he breaks down the children’s learning process into four stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. We strongly believe in hands-on experience when it comes to children and their cognitive and language development. Children gain knowledge through theoretical ways such as reading, discussions, videos, and songs, but they will only learn and remember when they experience and practice things themselves.
One approach we like to use with our students is “topic projects,” where we choose a topic based on children’s interests and focus on learning about that topic through investigations, experiments, and trial and error. We make charts and collect data using the three “W” technique to learn together.
“Piaget's theory of cognitive development is considered constructivist. Constructivism portrays learners as active participants in the construction, through experience, of their own knowledge.” (Estes & Krogh, 2012).
Erikson, on the other hand, focuses on individuals’ psychological growth and what he believes a healthy human being should experience from infancy to senior years. He identifies the individual’s lifespan as eight stages that one should pass through to learn about oneself. It is through these eight stages that individuals develop their social, emotional, and moral skills.
We believe that each of us, from birth onward and especially in the early ages, go through certain social-emotional phases that we must navigate. With correct guidance and tools, we will become psychologically healthy. For example, an infant who has many different main caregivers other than mom may not successfully pass the “trust vs. mistrust” stage, which could lead to trust issues and feelings of insecurity in relationships later in life.
“At each stage, individuals are faced with a social-emotional crisis they must resolve. These crises have either positive or negative resolutions depending on the events that individuals experience during a stage. Positive resolutions contribute to mentally healthy development; negative resolutions contribute to less healthy levels of personality development.” (Estes & Krogh, 2012)
Every child is unique and we believe that success and growth come from encouragement and praise. Dreamland Daycare’s mission is to provide a variety of activities that are Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) that recognize the individual needs and differences so children can grow to their full potential.
For that reason, Dreamland Daycare values the importance of curriculum approach and environment in children’s learning and believes that the combination of Reggio Emilia and Creative Curriculum are the best approaches for children’s development.
Our teachers focus on building every child’s self-esteem and confidence through positive feedback and rewards. We nurture their natural strengths.
A child sees the world around them with wonder and awe, and we believe in encouraging their natural curiosity.
The first step in teaching children is to have a philosophy of teaching and a belief in what is best for children. After many years of working with children and expanding our knowledge about them, we are very clear about our philosophy of teaching and the approach we believe is best for children.
We understand the importance of the curriculum approach and the environment in children’s learning, and we believe that the combination of Reggio Emilia and Creative Curriculum are the best approach and environment for children.
The Reggio Emilia Approach is based on the children's interest and direction in learning, emphasizing hands-on experience, exploration, and discovery through interaction with others — which best fits the needs of young children. The environmental setting in Reggio Emilia also plays an important role in children’s learning. The nature of the environment, with different areas and spaces for small and large group activities, engages children and encourages them to learn and experiment.
The Creative Curriculum Approach focuses on children learning best by doing, which aligns with the Reggio Emilia belief in hands-on experiences. It provides a valid routine for children to be consistent and understand what is expected of them. It also focuses on providing areas that promote development in all domains. Creative Curriculum supports the beginning of symbolic thinking and lays a foundation for academic learning and success.
The emergent curriculum in the Reggio Emilia approach is very relevant to Creative Curriculum since both are based on children’s interests. This can be easily seen when entering a classroom that uses both Reggio Emilia and Creative Curriculum approaches; children’s works are displayed and observed in every corner of the class.
We believe the best environment for children to learn is one that includes different activity areas set up for children, with teachers who can observe children closely and deeply to encourage great growth and learning.
“Developmentally appropriate practice, often shortened to DAP, is an approach to teaching grounded in the research on how young children develop and learn and in what is known about effective early education. Its framework is designed to promote young children’s optimal learning and development.” (DAP, NAEYC).
Teachers who use the DAP approach to teach students will evaluate students’ development and consider their background before teaching and tailor their lesson plans accordingly.
DAP takes students' culture and individual development into consideration and works closely with families to provide meaningful, relevant, and respectful learning experiences for students.
More importantly, DAP is specifically designed to meet the appropriate development of each age group of students, and its knowledge helps teachers and schools decide which experiences are best for students’ learning.
Using DAP to teach young children helps them develop personal responsibility, self-direction, and logical thinking as they go through major intellectual leaps. The growth in all domains of development — physical, social, cognitive, and language — promoted by the DAP approach encourages a joy of learning in students and prepares them for future academic challenges.