| I. Child Development and Education Approach for
All Children |
|
A. |
In order to help children gain the skills and
confidence necessary to be prepared to succeed in their present
environment and with later responsibilities in school and life, a Title I
preschool’s approach to child development and education must-- |
|
1. |
Be developmentally and linguistically
appropriate, recognizing that children have individual preferences and
individual patterns of development as well as different ability levels,
cultures, ages, and learning styles; |
|
2. |
Provide an environment of acceptance that
supports and respects each child’s gender, culture, language, and
ethnicity; and |
|
3. |
In center-based settings, provide a
balanced daily program of staff- directed and child-initiated activities,
including individual and small group activities. |
|
B. |
Parents must be-- |
|
1. |
Invited to become integrally involved in
the development of the program’s curriculum and approach to child
development and education; and |
|
2. |
Provided opportunities to increase their child
observation skills and to share assessments with staff that will help plan
the learning experiences. |
|
C. |
Title I preschools must support social and emotional
development by-- |
|
1. |
Encouraging development which enhances each
child’s strengths by |
|
|
a. |
Building trust; |
|
|
b. |
Fostering independence; |
|
|
c. |
Setting consistent limits and realistic expectations; |
|
|
d. |
Encouraging respect for the feelings and rights of others;
and |
|
|
e. |
Supporting and respecting the home language and culture of
each child in ways that support the child’s health and well- being; and |
|
2. |
Allowing routines and transitions to occur in a timely,
predictable and unrushed manner according to each child’s needs. |
|
D. |
Title I preschools must provide for the development of
each child’s cognitive and language skills by-- |
|
1. |
Supporting each
child’s learning, using various strategies, including experimentation,
inquiry, observation, play, and exploration; |
|
2. |
Providing opportunities for creative self-expression
through activities such as art, music, movement, and dialogue; |
|
3. |
Promoting interaction
and language use among children and between children and adults; and |
|
4. |
Supporting emerging literacy and numeracy
development through materials and activities according to the
developmental level of each child. |
|
E. |
In center-based
settings, Title I preschools must promote each child’s physical growth
by-- |
|
1. |
Providing sufficient time, indoor and outdoor space,
equipment, materials, and adult guidance for active play or movement that
support the development of large muscle skills; |
|
2. |
Providing appropriate time, space, equipment, materials
and adult guidance for the development of small-motor skills according to
each child’s developmental level; and |
|
3. |
Providing an appropriate environment and adult guidance
for the participation of children with special needs |
| II. Child Development and
Education Approach for Infants and Toddlers |
|
A. |
Title I programs that include infants and toddlers
must provide an environment for infants and toddlers which encourages-- |
|
1. |
The development of secure relationships in out-of-home
care settings for infants and toddlers by having a limited number of
consistent caregivers over as extended a period of time as possible. Staff
caregivers must be able to understand the child’s family’s culture
and, whenever possible, speak the child’s language; |
|
2. |
Trust and emotional security so that each child can
explore his or her environment according to his or her developmental
level; and |
|
3. |
Opportunities for each child to explore a variety of
sensory and motor experiences with support and stimulation from staff
caregivers or family members. |
|
B. |
Title I programs that
include infants and toddlers must support the social and emotional
development of these children by providing and environment that-- |
|
1. |
Encourages the development of self-knowledge,
self-awareness, autonomy, and self-expression; and |
|
2. |
Supports the emerging communication skills of infants and
toddlers by providing daily opportunities for each child to listen and
express himself or herself freely. |
|
C. |
Title I programs that include infants and toddlers must
provide an environment that promotes the physical development of these
children by-- |
|
1. |
Providing opportunities for small-motor development
that encourage the control and coordination of small, specialized motions,
using the eyes, mouth, hands, and feet; |
|
2. |
Supporting the development of the new-found physical
skills of infants and toddlers such as grasping, pulling, pushing,
crawling, walking, and climbing; and |
|
3. |
Allowing and enabling children to independently use toilet
facilities when it is developmentally appropriate and when efforts to
encourage toilet training are supported by the parents. |
| III. Child Development and
Education Approach for Preschoolers |
|
A. |
Title I preschools, in collaboration with the parents,
must develop or select a curriculum that is adapted for each group and
applied consistently in the program and that-- |
|
1. |
Supports each child’s individual pattern of development
and learning; |
|
2. |
Provides for the development of cognitive skills by
encouraging each child to organize his or her experiences, to understand
concepts, and to develop age appropriate skills in literacy, numeracy,
reasoning, problem solving and decision-making, which form a foundation
for school success; |
|
3. |
Integrates all educational aspects of the health,
nutrition, and mental health services into program activities; |
|
4. |
Ensures that the program environment helps children
develop emotional security and faculty in social relationships; |
|
5. |
Enhances each child’s understanding of self as an
individual and as a member of a group; |
|
6. |
Provides each child with opportunities for success to help
develop feeling of competence, self-esteem, and positive attitudes toward
learning; and |
|
7. |
Provides individual, small group, and large group
activities both indoors and outdoors. |
|
B. |
Staff must use a variety of strategies to promote and
support children’s learning and assessment of each child’s individual
strengths and needs. |
