Developmentally Appropriate Content Activities for Early Learners

(Grades PreK-2) / Flex Course

PDI Course Number: 120T02 / UCSD Course Number: EDUC40299

Course Description

As long as a classroom activity is designed for a specific grade level, then that must mean it is developmentally appropriate, right? Wrong! Developmentally appropriate activities are designed to be at the correct developmental level of the student, presented in an appropriate way so that s/he has access to the learning. This may or may not “mesh” with his/her grade or age level and applies to a broad spectrum of students including those with learning disabilities as well as students who are gifted and talented. This online course is designed for PreK-2 teachers who are looking to explore how to update their current curriculum to make it more developmentally appropriate for all their young learners. This course begins by defining exactly what developmentally appropriate means. As teachers progress through the course, they will learn about the importance of play. They will learn specific strategies for bringing developmentally appropriate activities into phonological awareness, phonics, and sight word instruction. Teachers will learn about the developmental stages of writing and will be introduced to a variety of activities to supplement their writing instruction. Additional developmentally appropriate strategies and activities are discussed for each of the content areas including mathematics, science, and social studies. By the end of this course, teachers will feel more confident and successful in their quest to implement developmentally appropriate activities into their own teaching practices. This course is worth 3 ⅓ semester units/5 quarter units (50 hours of training) from University of California San Diego (UCSD) Division of Extended Studies. For detailed information on university credit, click here.

"This course is perhaps the best PDI course that I have ever taken. I can use what I learned from the course the very next day that I walk into my classroom." - Robin Frank