Developmentally Appropriate Practice and The Creative Curriculum which are the highest of industry standards, are detailed in the below links. The curriculum includes learning experience planning that promotes a child’s personal and social development, physical development, cognitive development and creative expression.

DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICE

The editors of Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs – Revised Edition relied on research regarding how children learn as well as beliefs about what practices are most supportive and respectful of children’s healthy development. The materials in the book help teachers make informed decisions about educating young children. It provides sketches of characteristics and widely held expectations for children’s development in four domains: gross motor development, fine motor development, language and communication development, and social and emotional development. Charts that give examples of contrasting appropriate and inappropriate practices are provided to encourage teachers to reflect on their own teaching strategies.

THE CREATIVE CURRICULUM

For young children, meaningful and long-lasting learning requires active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work. This is best accomplished through purposeful play facilitated by highly intentional teaching practices.The Creative Curriculum’s comprehensive approaches to curriculum are based on an understanding of the complex social/emotional, physical, and cognitive development of young children and the way children learn. A comprehensive curriculum provides guidance on the many factors that lead to a high-quality program and presents all aspects of teaching young children effectively. This thorough guidance contrasts with approaches that give teachers a rigid script to follow. The comprehensive, research-validated, integrated curricula provide everything programs need to achieve positive, consistent outcomes for children. They address teachers’ need to know what to teach and why, and how children learn best. Teachers respond to the individual needs and learning styles of all of their children. Built from the ground up to be inclusive, The Creative Curriculum is widely used in special education and inclusive classrooms nationwide. The curriculum rests on a foundation of more than 75 years of scientific research about child development and learning theory that leads to specific instructional strategies based on how young children learn best.  The Creative Curriculum takes what has been learned from theorists such as Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Howard Gardner, as well as recent research studies about language, literacy, and math development and clearly and simply explains how to apply this information in a classroom. The curriculum model is practical, logical, and meaningful to teachers. The books translate theory into daily practice by presenting material with structure that makes sense.