Quality Rating 4: Developmental Progress
Observation Practices Statement and Developmental Checklist
Think about all you know about the children in your program. You know about their interests, their likes and dislikes, their strengths and challenges, their backgrounds and cultures. How did you gain this information and how do you use it to plan and deliver a quality program? Most likely, you gained this information through every day interaction and observation. It’s from this information that you make decisions that influence the lives of the children and families you serve.
Children develop and progress at different rates and their development and progress may follow different patterns. Understanding different patterns and rates of development helps you plan and deliver activities that encourage each child’s growth, development, and success.
This section guides you to explain how your program uses observations and developmental checklists to learn about the children in your program, plan lessons for them, and monitor their developmental progress. To meet the requirements for Developmentally Appropriate Learning and Practice: Developmental Progress: DAP 9.4, you will submit a statement that describes your program’s observation practices and use of developmental checklists aligned with your program’s curriculum.
NOTE: There are no Development Progress requirements for School-Age Only programs.
Select the Requirements tab to learn about key information to include in your documentation of your program’s approach to monitoring children’s progress.