ABSTRACT
This chapter is included as a resource for those readers who would like a brief review of the child development theory that forms the basis for best practices in programs that serve children through the third grade. The idea of applying child development theory to instructional design is hardly new, but awareness among educators has grown significantly since 1987, when the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) published its position on developmentally appropriate practices (Bredecamp, ed. 1987). Three years later the NAEYC and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) jointly issued Guidelines fo r Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs Serving Children Ages 3 through 8 (1990), which addresses the content of curriculum and assessment as well as pedagogy. In concert with other school reform documents, these two guide lines have influenced the nature of teaching and learning in pri mary education as well as in preschools.
