The thematic units in this valuable resource provide a variety of hands-on activities, fingerplays, and songs, as well as family letters and many timesaving reproducibles. Children will enjoy exploring these twelve thematic units: All About Me, Animals, Community Helpers, Dinosaurs, Fall, Family, Five Senses, Friends, Insects, Nursery Rhymes, Shapes and Colors, and Transportation.

Each of 36 weekly themes is accompanied by a list of materials, patterns, activities, and more.

The thematic units in this valuable resource provide a variety of hands-on activities, fingerplays, and songs, as well as family letters and many time-saving reproducibles. Children will enjoy exploring these twelve thematic units: All About Me, Animals, Community Helpers, Dinosaurs, Fall, Family, Five Senses, Friends, Insects, Nursery Rhymes, Shapes and Colors, and Transportation.

The long-awaited new edition of NAEYC's book Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs is here, fully revised and updated! Since the first edition in 1987, it has been an essential resource for the early childhood education field. Early childhood educators have a professional 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. But what is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)? DAP is a framework designed to promote young children's optimal learning and development through a strengths-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. As educators make decisions to support each child's learning and development, they consider what they know about (1) commonality in children's development and learning, (2) each child as an individual (within the context of their family and community), and (3) everything discernible about the social and cultural contexts for each child, each educator, and the program as a whole. This latest edition of the book is fully revised to underscore the critical role social and cultural contexts play in child development and learning, including new research about implicit bias and teachers' own context and consideration of advances in neuroscience. Educators implement developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the many assets all young children bring to the early learning program as individuals and as members of families and communities. They also develop an awareness of their own context. Building on each child's strengths, educators design and implement learning settings to help each child achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas.

This handbook is Unit II in the "Preschool Curriculum Activities Library," a unique new series that provides a comprehensive, carefully planned, and developmentally appropriate pre-school curriculum for two-, three, and four year old children.

What's your plan? If you're not sure, this great big book has the answer! With 52 weekly plans, it's easy to come up with appropriate learning experiences that children will love. This essential classroom resource covers special holidays, seasonal topics, everyday plans, and other things you've probably never thought of, such as National Pretzel Month or National Pancake Day!