When I Think of Research

I love research because I’m an analytic person; some may say a type A person who needs to know the function of matters. Research speaks volumes to my heart! It really doesn’t matter about the population of groups study but, whatever I’m researching, there will most likely be a twist.

The insight gain from the course are the vocabulary words that I will never forget “qualitative  and quantitative” as my examples, the “understanding the research chart “ was my favorite assignment to do, “it didn’t mean that I always got it right, BUT I could express my understanding of what I was try to learn .  Now I have the understanding of a protocol, the steps of planning, designing and conducting have guided me  in how to think through, collect necessary forms and proceed with caution, while working with children and families.  The ethical rights of children, the inform consent, the formal consent and the respect for others if the participants were no longer interested.  When I think of challenges, I can’t say that I really met any; it was all about learning and growing in knowledge.  

Finally, because of my research simulation project of “Teacher burnout in early childhood education” my perception and compassion of teacher responsibilities has grown deeper. Early education in a child care center is HARD work, especially if you claim to be a quality center.   Therefore, CHEERS to the best research class ever!!!!!! I have learned lot about myself and others.

 

Research around the World

Research around the World

·         Some of the articles today are still current research topics that deserve attention like;

·         The Development of an Integrated Early Childhood Development Urban Model Training Program for Informal Minders and Community Volunteers in Ghana

·         Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Care and Development -Nigeria -

·         Coordinating the Development and Implementation of the 2003 – 2013 National Action Plan (NAP) for Children in Malawi

·         Parents’ and Other Caregivers’ Perception of Early Childhood Development Needs and Quality: A Study of the PLAN-Assisted Programmes in Bawjiase, Ghana

A lot of the articles are out date YET timeless, it still speaks to the stagnant or progression we have made in ECD.   

 I have gained

Just from exploring the  http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major.report.php   I have come across an idea to  contribute to my center .  The article “Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Care and Development “   written by ; Rosemary Hua  of Nigeria,  inspirited me to take a closer look at father participation  in child care.   We have fathers from one extreme, to the other meaning ; helicopter fathers who make it impossible or uncomfortable for educators to do their jobs or from the other end of the spectrum  fathers that  are missing in action. This particulate article is about getting fathers involved more, they are even asked how they view children , an  interesting reply from a father  from Nigeria was “Mr. Swem, who is about 65 years old, said: “A man without children is like a farmer who eats all his corn without keeping some seeds. He will have nothing to plant next year.” http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major.report.php

Interesting comparison,  just from this website alone I find this to be  noteworthy,  it seems that most men have allowed mothers to take the lead in child care and I’m sure that the mothers convey information about their child’s development growth from the educators stand-point,  however I can see and indicator (from what  moms share, or how lost fathers  look at drop off or pick up) that  educators need to support the moms and focus in on giving the fathers  their own club to receive  information

Reference;
Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Care and Development http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major.report.php

Research On Quality Sleep

Sharing a positive example of research from the Z flo for infants positioner/ I worked in the  NICU for nine years with the smallest citizens, you can imagine.

A protocol was written about the quality of rest an infant needed to grow. So the research question was "Will Z-flos help an infant sleep long?"  Deep sleep is how an infant heals. The environment plays a part ( lights, sound and touch) but actual quality of the environment takes the place of the womb in the outside world. So the research went on for a couple of months, The infant would be place on the z-flo at 9:pm and  the nurse would document the times the infant would wake up (not including the assessment times) while he or she was on the z-flo.  Again the next night at the same time without the mattress, documentation was collected. From there,  another part of the day was added,  this would happen in the morning and a night.  Ultimately data shared our hypothesis, the infant slept better on the z-flo.  Parents were relieve that their child was getting satisfactory sleep in the world of  NICU.

                                        

My chosen topic for my simulation is Teacher Burnout.

Simulation

In the last year  our center has  made some adjustments to preparing for “Set Up to Quality” requirements.  A lot of the paperwork takes away from that rich relationship between the teacher and child because intentional anecdotes, documented observations, portfolios screeners and assessment  need to be current, and factual ( which I agree) . Teachers have shared, they just don’t have enough planning time while meeting the needs and giving relationship attention to the children individually and as a group. This concern is more so in the infant rooms because schedules and routines are also a factor.

Personal experience

My personal experience in this process are finding ways to help teachers get out of the room more for their planning times. Example, days that we don’t have meetings  using that  hour to plan,
or cutting down on forms so that screeners and parent conference forms  can be used as a onetime lesson plan for that month,  so that  planning the following  week will  help the  teachers  stay a head of paper work.  

 

Insights gained

As I become more familiar with my course work, I’m paying closer attention to websites that offer research data. At this point just discovering more educational sites is big for me. A few examples ; http://www.childcareexchange.com/eed/

http://www.cdc.gov/

http://www.naeyc.org/policy/ecwsi 

 http://www.aap.org/en-us/Pages/Default.aspx and my favorite http://www.centerforchildhoodcreativity.org/research/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAreilBRDzrNfb6uqX4fwBEiQAk-MRY_dbKHCpCvEJER0650g-i3oGD7J6WJ58LnJApFeFPQEaAk318P8HAQ  which comes from Zero to Three

 

I’m learning how to make sense of new terminology of research  and applying it in  everyday life on my job. IF you have any websites that I should add to my list please feel free to guide me or just hearing your experiences will help me greatly.

 

 

My Support

Support= someone  being helpful in the time of need or have your best interest at heart.

    It would be a very lonely life if a person did not show or receive support from others. Each  morning  I wake up, I need to know that I have spiritual/emotional  support from praying to GOD. Studying my bible gives the support to deal with matters of the day. From this I feel that I can help others socially ( hugs, smiles, conversation and reaching out via e-mail or phone).
   My husband and daughter are another factor of support, with out them I would feel very much alone. Each evening we talk about our day, I guess you could say it's a time to reflect on the high points and the low points. Sometimes venting or  laughter comes with the mood we are in and  a hug of gratitude for the end of a working day.  My practical support is simply being organize in the day to day priorities, getting clothes ready for the work week, having lunch ready for the week ,dinner,  days for cleaning the house to keep it nice at all times. I must say having support  from the family with an organized home truly helps with the mood  and then the monetary support is something I take pride in. My husband pays all of the bills and I'm the  contributor to the pot. I'm very bless that he takes awesome care of our family. The benefits that we reap from this is a peaceful, loving  castle to come back to at the end of the day.
  All of this support that I receive benefits others in my life, I've  learned  early on to think about other's needs and be in the moment with friends , family and co-workers. I believe when you understand being supportive to others it becomes a "service" that is so worthwhile. and the measures come back to you in more ways.
   If I had to chose a challenge and imagine what life would be like without help, I would look at being pregnant in my late forties with no help. Wow how frightening that would be!
   No father for the child, no extra monetary support, no community help, no emotional support to share my feeling. I'm so grateful that I'm not in that type of situation, yet I  must think of others that could be. In my heart of hearts I believe that everyone has at least someone in their life that they can count on. What would this world be like if absolutely no support was available for such an individual.

My prayer is that each person feels loved and supported through life!




    

My Connection to Play

Two great quotes;

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
― Plato

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/879.Plato

 

Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.

Diane Ackerman
Contemporary American author

http://www.museumofplay.org/education/education-and-play-resources/play-quotes

The Essentials things I would need for play.....my FRIENDS and TOYS in my younger self

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a child, I had the best time playing in my yard. My parents encouraged play and allowed our home to be the head quarter for friends to hang out at all day over the weekend and after school!

 

Today's play is much different from the 70's. Today children have videos, x-boxes, wii games and so much more. In the 70's we all had sticks and balls to play with. I'm glad today that toy guns are not as welcomed as they were in the 70's.

My hope for the parents today, is let your child have a balance of structured paly with free play!

 

The role of paly was a part of life everyday. We were expected get homework done then go outside until the street lights came on.  Today play has it's same meaning.....freedom and fun. Children should be given that break each toady to run from their world of stress through play! As for adults we need that pleasure....we should train our self to have fun, it could be the form of sports, bile riding whatever, but we most have be intentional about working hard, resting and PLAYING!

 

Relationship Reflection

Relationship Reflection

 I love meeting people and sharing history.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that I have childhood friends in my life or even a friend that I speak to on a daily or monthly basis. My daughter, son  and my husband are the wonderful people that keep me motivated.

My husband and I made up in our minds that we would treat each other better than we treat our co-workers or other family members. We agreed to handle things on our own and if we needed help, we would seek  a seasoned, wise, Christian, whom values truth and love  for guidance.

In our experience over time, we have learned that others truly look for drama to divert them from their own issues; we just don’t have the time nor do we want to entertain those people.  Special characteristics are confidence, kindness, and care in how we deliver or have a crucial conversation.

The expectation of a healthy relationship was actually modeled for me from a former department on my job, at the Hospital, where investing in tools to have a successful crucial conversations or learning gratitude , to produce the  best outcome in patient care, reminded me that this tool could be used anywhere: home or work. So for the best outcome in a child’s development; honesty, respect and participation to build a relationship is how I like to think I  contribute to an effective partnership with families.