Researching

I have learned that accurate research requires time and a variety of sources to gain some beneficial information.  I have gained my best research from interviews and talking with people in the profession.  The information seems to be more realistic and you can relate to it more.  When I did a schedule of when I would observe the children, talk with the adults, and read my research documents; I was able to get things in an order and organize my project.  I had initially just started researching websites and journals without any order and I became very frustrated.  So I took a more organized approach and received better results.

When I observed and interviewed in the classrooms some of the teachers and students did not accept it well.  I explained to the teachers that I was doing research for an assignment and I would try not to bother them for long. As I was completed the interview, I thanked them for their time and help.  I have become even more interested in the early childhood field, because I have read about a lot of things that I did not know about in the advancement of the Early Childhood field

Early Childhood Australia

 I chose to review the Early Childhood Australia website.  The research topics on this website include:  “Push for reform as parents pay more for early childhood education and care”, “Extension for preschool funding welcomed”, and “Professional development fund a board to early childhood sector”.  In 2013, the Early Childhood Australia (ECA) celebrated 75 years of continued services to Australian children.  It is a non-profit, non-government organization.

            They have three branches that are integral parts of the organization; they help identify issues and priorities for state and national action and influence position statement concerning young children.  The branches are a great source of professional support for Early Childhood Australian members with great networking opportunites.

Option 1----Positive Example of the effects of research

Research can be beneficial to families, because early childhood should be a necessity.  Research can be done with families to compare their incomes, backgrounds, or locations to determine the children’s different learning skills and abilities.

            The research can be done without being to invasive.  The community can send out different surveys or questionnaires to the different families.  The surveys would be completed by families from all backgrounds.  This will give the community leaders/educators a picture of how important an early childhood education is to young children.

            The early childhood program that I work for could ask the families to complete a survey every year about the previous year and the child’s progress.  The surveys are mailed to the state offices and the results are used to help the early childhood area improve in the upcoming years.  The parents usually become frustrated at times, because of the surveys but we remind them that is for the betterment of their child and their education.

Your Personal Research Journey

I had originally chose to do my research on “early childhood being available to all children ages 3-4 years”, but after receiving comments and suggestions from Dr. Todd I decided to research one of my sub topics, “social development in young children”.  I believe that social skills are just as important as academic skills.  The children must learn how to cooperate with each other just as well as they recite their ABC’s. My personal children all have good communication skills, but we are working on the socializing area. They will talk to familiar people all day, but they are not as open to strangers or new people.

            I would appreciate any suggestions that will enhance my research on my topic, “social development in young children”.

Final Blog Assignment

Australia and UK The international contacts that I chose were in Australia and the UK. I have received very little help from the contacts. I have received a reply email about once or twice by both contacts, but they were redirecting me to someone else. I contacted the other contacts and I have heard absolutely nothing back. I have researched the websites and found interesting facts about the countries and the educational background. Australia’s poverty line of single parent families is 21.8%. In 2008-2009, the UK had 13 ½ million people living who were living below the low-income threshold. Most of the students of Australia fall below the poverty line. The short term goal for the UK was that child poverty be redirected to the number of children in low income households by a quarter. A goal I would suggest would be that countries try to come together for the good and make things work out to improve the education spectrum and make some good moves in the education field.

International Contacts-Part 3

The issues that are being discussed around me include the rules and regulations of Medicaid, eligibility requirements for children to qualify for special services, and the cost of daycare. As I have previous mentioned. I work for a daycare in the DDS department (Development Delayed Services) and it is funded by Medicaid for students who are eligible to attend based on their evaluation reports. The rules and regulations are getting tougher and tougher. We have to make sure all our I's and T's are crossed, because we are dealing with the federal government. We have different professional developments through out the year and it is also available for us to receive it online if we were interested. My professional goal is to receive my certification and get a job in teaching and recruiting, but I know I will have to go into to the classroom first as a stepping stone. I hope my time in the classroom is not as a long time, because I feel I can be more beneficial in the area of finding and recruiting teachers. One challenge that I am facing now is that I am kind of stuck on which area I would like to teach or what age level and that is something that needs to be decided in order for me to move further in my educational venture. I am hoping to pass my program and move on to my next educational level.

Canadian Association for Young Children....Sharing Web Resources

On the Canadian Association for Young Children website, I explored the "Membership" link and it explained the membership fees and incentives. It named the different membership levels and gave me the contact person's information. As I explore the website, I do not see any subscriptions to a newsletter. It a journal that comes our seasonally. It is online and it is called "The Canadian Children" contextualizes and maps pedagogical moments, practices, events, discourses, and conceptualizations of Canadian early childhood education. The articles examine arrangements, linkages, and assemblages can simultaneously create limitations and possibilities for children, educators, parents, researchers, policy makers, and curriculum developers.