For this blog assignment I reviewed the EECERA website at http://www.eercera.org/ which is the European Early Childhood Research Association.
The EECER is an independent, self governing, international association which promotes and disseminates multi-disciplinary research on early childhood and its applications to policy and practice. This site provides a tremendous amount of information through articles, books, and newsletter, and journal. The EECERJ journal is issued 4 times a year and it is translated in English, French, and German. The journals is an promotion and dissemination of research in the Early Childhood Education throughout Europe and beyond. I tried to review some article, but you had to be a member or pay for articles, so I was unable to read any, but they were some that I thought would be very interesting to read, such as the one on teenage pregnancy because that is a big issue where I live.
The web site also provides eUpdates which provides updated information on journals, books, conferences, and other news within a variety of areas. Also, there is an Author's Newsletter, which is very beneficial to researchers who wishes to publish work because it provides articles and other features to guide them and to establish contact with other authors.
The EECERA has a progam called the Supporting Guidance for Authors, this program helps guide authors' to publish their work, helps with writing editorials/review articles, guidance for EECEERJ referees, and guidance on research and publishing ethics.
This website is very informative and provides so much assistance and articles. This web site is very encouraging as they want to help people become published authors and to gain more insight into the field of early childhood. They also encourage communication between others to deliberate and build on ideas and interest, collaboration is a very important factor.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Research that Benefits Children and Families- Uplifting Stories
Since this course I have been thinking a lot about research and utilizing children in the research, so I took it upon myself to search studies on the Internet on children and families. I came upon a research called The FACES Study.
Head Start launched the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) in 1997. FACES is an ongoing, national longitudinal study of the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of head start children; the characteristics, well-being, and accomplishments of families; the observed quality of head start classrooms; and the characteristics and opinions of head start teachers and program staff.
A random sample of 3200 children and families in 40 head start programs were studied at entry of program and assessed again after a year or two in head start and lastly after kindergarten and 1st grade.
Findings from the 1st FACES study showed head start narrowed the gaps between disadvantaged students and all other children and their families in many ways.
Some of the benefits found:
~ vocabulary and writing skills during program
~ children who scored low and cognitive measures at beginning show greater gains than those who scored high at the beginning
~ Language-minority shows gains n school readiness skills and in their knowledge of English by the end of head start
~ Gains in social skills, including improvement in peer interactions and complex play.
This study determined evidence of areas in head start program quality and staff development that needs to be improved.
This study to me was very interesting to read about and its purpose was to improve the children's well-being and education. I believe studies such as these are well worth the time and effort because it highlights areas that needs to be worked on and areas that are helping the children advance in language and other skills. Studies such as these are very important because as teachers and child care professionals we want to provide children with the best education possible so they can succeed in life and in the workforce. There were also more studies that they talked about on this site. Here is all the information if anyone would like to read more on this study or others dealing with school readiness.t
Tarullo, L.B., Zill, N., Hubbell-McKey, R., Resnick, G., & The FACES Research Team (2002). A National Picture of Head Start: The FACES Study. The Head Start Bulletin, 74. Retrieved from
http://edkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/nslc/resources/ECLKC_Bookstore/PDFs/2C72F6BF4DF338535DD338BDAD07206C.pdf
Head Start launched the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) in 1997. FACES is an ongoing, national longitudinal study of the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of head start children; the characteristics, well-being, and accomplishments of families; the observed quality of head start classrooms; and the characteristics and opinions of head start teachers and program staff.
A random sample of 3200 children and families in 40 head start programs were studied at entry of program and assessed again after a year or two in head start and lastly after kindergarten and 1st grade.
Findings from the 1st FACES study showed head start narrowed the gaps between disadvantaged students and all other children and their families in many ways.
Some of the benefits found:
~ vocabulary and writing skills during program
~ children who scored low and cognitive measures at beginning show greater gains than those who scored high at the beginning
~ Language-minority shows gains n school readiness skills and in their knowledge of English by the end of head start
~ Gains in social skills, including improvement in peer interactions and complex play.
This study determined evidence of areas in head start program quality and staff development that needs to be improved.
This study to me was very interesting to read about and its purpose was to improve the children's well-being and education. I believe studies such as these are well worth the time and effort because it highlights areas that needs to be worked on and areas that are helping the children advance in language and other skills. Studies such as these are very important because as teachers and child care professionals we want to provide children with the best education possible so they can succeed in life and in the workforce. There were also more studies that they talked about on this site. Here is all the information if anyone would like to read more on this study or others dealing with school readiness.t
Tarullo, L.B., Zill, N., Hubbell-McKey, R., Resnick, G., & The FACES Research Team (2002). A National Picture of Head Start: The FACES Study. The Head Start Bulletin, 74. Retrieved from
http://edkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/nslc/resources/ECLKC_Bookstore/PDFs/2C72F6BF4DF338535DD338BDAD07206C.pdf
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
My Personal Research Journal
I have chosen to look more into play and how it is important to children's social, emotional, and cognitive development. Play also is important when it comes to children's health and learning within the classroom. I think this is a very important topic because I believe parents, policy makers and others are not realizing how play is a huge part in children's development and its like play is pretty much disappearing from the classroom and curriculum.
This topic is meaningful to me because I watch my little cousins and my niece and nephew as they dread going to school in the morning times. They say, "school is boring because all we do is sit all day at our desk." Teachers worry so much about teaching the test that they are forgetting about children needing a break to get up and move around because they are not going to retain much information when they are stressed and tired from sitting all day and being lectured. Children learn so much by exploring and discovering their surroundings and by interacting with other children. This is an important time for children to build bonds and friendships.
I think so far, I have learned some valuable information about research and the set up of research. I have found out how important it is to take the time and make sure each research article is creditable because just because it is online it doesn't make it a liable site. Research is a timely process and it worries me about having the time to conduct research and put the information in correct in the paper. The information we have read so far will hopefully lead me in the right direction and help me to successful set up my paper correctly.
Does anyone know of any sites that provides information about play and development or does anyone like to share their thoughts and opinions and play and development?
This topic is meaningful to me because I watch my little cousins and my niece and nephew as they dread going to school in the morning times. They say, "school is boring because all we do is sit all day at our desk." Teachers worry so much about teaching the test that they are forgetting about children needing a break to get up and move around because they are not going to retain much information when they are stressed and tired from sitting all day and being lectured. Children learn so much by exploring and discovering their surroundings and by interacting with other children. This is an important time for children to build bonds and friendships.
I think so far, I have learned some valuable information about research and the set up of research. I have found out how important it is to take the time and make sure each research article is creditable because just because it is online it doesn't make it a liable site. Research is a timely process and it worries me about having the time to conduct research and put the information in correct in the paper. The information we have read so far will hopefully lead me in the right direction and help me to successful set up my paper correctly.
Does anyone know of any sites that provides information about play and development or does anyone like to share their thoughts and opinions and play and development?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Week 8 Change, Contexts, Consquences, and Constraints Revisited
3 Consequences:
1.) During this course I have had the opportunity to send out emails to international early childhood professionals and that is something that I would never had done on my own, so I have gained so confidence in my knowledge and reaching out to learn about the early childhood field. I was not able to make any connections with the international contacts, but I was able to research a variety of web sites that provided great information and insight into the early childhood field in other countries. It made me realize that children are suffering all over the world and so many people are working hard to make a change in these children's lives.
2.) I have gained so much from this course and realize that as a professional you have to continue learning, researching and have that drive to make changes for the better.
3.) By making professional contacts and researching international web sites/organizations we can improve on an existing goals, develop new ideas and work together to help bring change in families and children's lives.
Goal:
To establish contact with an international organization that works with children in summer camps or clubs that help children gain confidence and self esteem. I would to bring a organization such as that to my community. I would like to have a program available to all children that concentrates on their well-being. All children deserve the right to be happy, healthy, and seen as an individual, not just another child. The children should be proud of who they are and what they are capable of achieving in life. Children should be inspired and supported to reach for their hopes and dreams because they can come true.
By making contact I can gain some insight into their program and form some ideas and build on their suggestions.
1.) During this course I have had the opportunity to send out emails to international early childhood professionals and that is something that I would never had done on my own, so I have gained so confidence in my knowledge and reaching out to learn about the early childhood field. I was not able to make any connections with the international contacts, but I was able to research a variety of web sites that provided great information and insight into the early childhood field in other countries. It made me realize that children are suffering all over the world and so many people are working hard to make a change in these children's lives.
2.) I have gained so much from this course and realize that as a professional you have to continue learning, researching and have that drive to make changes for the better.
3.) By making professional contacts and researching international web sites/organizations we can improve on an existing goals, develop new ideas and work together to help bring change in families and children's lives.
Goal:
To establish contact with an international organization that works with children in summer camps or clubs that help children gain confidence and self esteem. I would to bring a organization such as that to my community. I would like to have a program available to all children that concentrates on their well-being. All children deserve the right to be happy, healthy, and seen as an individual, not just another child. The children should be proud of who they are and what they are capable of achieving in life. Children should be inspired and supported to reach for their hopes and dreams because they can come true.
By making contact I can gain some insight into their program and form some ideas and build on their suggestions.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Week 7 Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 3
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/
I have never heard back from any of the people that I had emailed and tried to get in contact with and I really wished I would have had that opportunity. However, I reviewed the UNESCO's website and it is very informative and provided a great amount of resources, additional links, videos, news publication, and events.
UNESCO leads the international policy drive for an integrated early childhood care and education system that encompasses both the well-being and holistic development of the child. Their mission is to support early childhood policy development with the aim to build a solid foundation for a child's lifelong learning.
In the quality section it talked about how early childhood programs should focus on the child's holistic development. How learning materials should be quantitatively, culturally, and developmentally adequate and focus on child-centered interaction. Active involvement from parents/communities and relevant play and learning materials ensure that early childhood services remain relevant to the needs of the children and all other stakeholders and increases sustainability.
Some countries aim to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the poor and disadvantage. Their approach is to expand access to high quality care, resources, and education without creating serious regional inequities.
This website provided such detailed information and highlighted very important factors to healthy child development and their goal to provide all children with the highest quality of care and education that they all need and deserve. They want to see the whole child and focus on helping them in all aspects for their overall well-being and that is so important. It is also important to have their family involved because it helps the child more in their learning and development. I also really liked where they are working strategies and programs to help the poor and disadvantaged children to receive the same opportunities as children that come from good home. This to me is so important because no child should be left behind due to the lack of resources. Every child deserves the chance to succeed in life.
I have never heard back from any of the people that I had emailed and tried to get in contact with and I really wished I would have had that opportunity. However, I reviewed the UNESCO's website and it is very informative and provided a great amount of resources, additional links, videos, news publication, and events.
UNESCO leads the international policy drive for an integrated early childhood care and education system that encompasses both the well-being and holistic development of the child. Their mission is to support early childhood policy development with the aim to build a solid foundation for a child's lifelong learning.
In the quality section it talked about how early childhood programs should focus on the child's holistic development. How learning materials should be quantitatively, culturally, and developmentally adequate and focus on child-centered interaction. Active involvement from parents/communities and relevant play and learning materials ensure that early childhood services remain relevant to the needs of the children and all other stakeholders and increases sustainability.
Some countries aim to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the poor and disadvantage. Their approach is to expand access to high quality care, resources, and education without creating serious regional inequities.
This website provided such detailed information and highlighted very important factors to healthy child development and their goal to provide all children with the highest quality of care and education that they all need and deserve. They want to see the whole child and focus on helping them in all aspects for their overall well-being and that is so important. It is also important to have their family involved because it helps the child more in their learning and development. I also really liked where they are working strategies and programs to help the poor and disadvantaged children to receive the same opportunities as children that come from good home. This to me is so important because no child should be left behind due to the lack of resources. Every child deserves the chance to succeed in life.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Sharing Resources Week 6
I have been following the Zero to Three website: http://www.zerotothree.org/
As I reviewed the the website this week I clicked on the Head Start Link and it took me to the Early Head Start National Resource Center. On this site it provided webinars on: Effective Child Care & Early Head Start Collaborations that promote high quality comprehensive care; web events for new EHS programs; Newsletter; EHS program staff Listerv to connect with other EHS located across the country; Training/Materials; News and media releases; Online lessons; Media Guide; and the website is provided in Spanish as well. There are also audio conferences and web casts.
On this site their were so information related to what we are reviewing at this time.
One article discussed bringing in home cultures and the best way to do this is through home visits to get to know the families and their culture. The teachers need to find different ways to be reflective and respectful of the families cultures; they can hang pictures; paintings, piece of fabric, stories and so forth.
However, what I really enjoyed reading about was the cultural responsiveness and dual language education project (CRADLE).
The CRADLE project goal is to assist EHS programs in deepening their relationship with parents and young children in the area of language acquisition in order to give the children the foundational support required for future success.
During the program training participating teams learned about current applicable theory in dual/second language acquisition and they participated in activities that helped the team apply their theory approach. They explored ways in which infants.toddlers learn and how dual language is acquired during infancy/toddler period. Last, they attended training that developed action plans to include parent involvement, staff development, and program/communication activities and through all of this the teams monitored their own program goals and progress. I thought this program was very interesting and is very beneficial to the EHS programs. I am interested in reading more about it and to see how well it is doing in certain programs.
I have learned that dual/second language is growing so fast and as professional we need to stay up to date on these changes and do our best to provide these children with the best education possible.
As I reviewed the the website this week I clicked on the Head Start Link and it took me to the Early Head Start National Resource Center. On this site it provided webinars on: Effective Child Care & Early Head Start Collaborations that promote high quality comprehensive care; web events for new EHS programs; Newsletter; EHS program staff Listerv to connect with other EHS located across the country; Training/Materials; News and media releases; Online lessons; Media Guide; and the website is provided in Spanish as well. There are also audio conferences and web casts.
On this site their were so information related to what we are reviewing at this time.
One article discussed bringing in home cultures and the best way to do this is through home visits to get to know the families and their culture. The teachers need to find different ways to be reflective and respectful of the families cultures; they can hang pictures; paintings, piece of fabric, stories and so forth.
However, what I really enjoyed reading about was the cultural responsiveness and dual language education project (CRADLE).
The CRADLE project goal is to assist EHS programs in deepening their relationship with parents and young children in the area of language acquisition in order to give the children the foundational support required for future success.
During the program training participating teams learned about current applicable theory in dual/second language acquisition and they participated in activities that helped the team apply their theory approach. They explored ways in which infants.toddlers learn and how dual language is acquired during infancy/toddler period. Last, they attended training that developed action plans to include parent involvement, staff development, and program/communication activities and through all of this the teams monitored their own program goals and progress. I thought this program was very interesting and is very beneficial to the EHS programs. I am interested in reading more about it and to see how well it is doing in certain programs.
I have learned that dual/second language is growing so fast and as professional we need to stay up to date on these changes and do our best to provide these children with the best education possible.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 2
I have not yet heard from any of the contacts that I have emailed, but I still hope to hear from at least one by the end of this course. However, I did visit the web site (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/), and it provided readers with a variety of information.
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible an productive citizenship. With this said, the Global Children's Initiative began a portfolio of activities focusing on early childhood development; mental health, and children in crisis and conflict situations.
In each three areas a group of faculty workers collaborate to design new projects.
** In the Child Mental Health Network they focus on 4 tasks
~ anxiety and anxiety disorders
~ depression and depressive disorders
~ ADHD and related problems
~ Conduct problems ranging from early childhood disobedience to adolescence
There is a library to research these areas and other areas of interest.
There are initial projects that are in various stages of planning, fundraising, and implementation for example; assessing quality in early childhood environments and programs in diverse global contexts; as well as expanding effective interventions to improve preschool quality in Chile. Plans are to begin a research forums to facilitate collaboration among a wide network of scholars globally to share findings and co-develop publications. There are goals provided for each area mentioned earlier and they want to reach the majority of the world with this research.
After reading and looking over this web site, I decided to look over Early Childhood Research and Practice (ECRP), which is a peer reviewed multilingual journal on the development, care, and education of young children.
There is a newsletter available you can research and review past issues, you can make financial contributions; there is a survey that can be taked to provide them with feedback on how helpful there site is.
Also, available is a link "Beyond this Issue", which offers readers a range of resources that are relevant to the mission of Early Childhood Research & Practice. Features may include selected papers from conferences or symposia, book reviews, and other resources for practitioners, administrators, and scholars. This site is very informative and provide great insight to many early childhood topics and you can search for additional resources.
This would be a great web site to look at for information in the future.
(http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/),
http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v9n1/little.html
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible an productive citizenship. With this said, the Global Children's Initiative began a portfolio of activities focusing on early childhood development; mental health, and children in crisis and conflict situations.
In each three areas a group of faculty workers collaborate to design new projects.
** In the Child Mental Health Network they focus on 4 tasks
~ anxiety and anxiety disorders
~ depression and depressive disorders
~ ADHD and related problems
~ Conduct problems ranging from early childhood disobedience to adolescence
There is a library to research these areas and other areas of interest.
There are initial projects that are in various stages of planning, fundraising, and implementation for example; assessing quality in early childhood environments and programs in diverse global contexts; as well as expanding effective interventions to improve preschool quality in Chile. Plans are to begin a research forums to facilitate collaboration among a wide network of scholars globally to share findings and co-develop publications. There are goals provided for each area mentioned earlier and they want to reach the majority of the world with this research.
After reading and looking over this web site, I decided to look over Early Childhood Research and Practice (ECRP), which is a peer reviewed multilingual journal on the development, care, and education of young children.
There is a newsletter available you can research and review past issues, you can make financial contributions; there is a survey that can be taked to provide them with feedback on how helpful there site is.
Also, available is a link "Beyond this Issue", which offers readers a range of resources that are relevant to the mission of Early Childhood Research & Practice. Features may include selected papers from conferences or symposia, book reviews, and other resources for practitioners, administrators, and scholars. This site is very informative and provide great insight to many early childhood topics and you can search for additional resources.
This would be a great web site to look at for information in the future.
(http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/),
http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v9n1/little.html
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