Research that Benefits Children and Families-Uplifting Stories

 

 

 

Every moment of everyday we are curious about the world around us.  We are always asking questions, gathering information and using that information to make better decision. The same is to be said for the early childhood field.  The early childhood field is always evolving and improving, so it’s important to always stay up to date with the latest research, news, and findings that can benefit those in the field.    Just this week I came across an interesting research article that can provide valuable information for parents, families, educators and others in the early childhood field. Back in November of 2010, The National Institute for Early Education Research released an article that documented the advantages and importance of pre-k titled, The New Mexico PreK Evaluation: Impacts From the Fourth Year (2008-2009) of New Mexico’s State-Funded PreK Program.  New Mexico’s children who attend the state-funded Pre-K program have been found to have achieved significant positive effects in vocabulary, math, and literacy skills at the beginning of kindergarten, according to the fourth in a series of annual reports by NIEER (Hustedt, Barnett, Jung, Friedman, 2010).  Once again this research provides valuable information in regards to the importance of providing quality early childhood education in the early years of a child’s life.  More money was spent on every pre-k child and it proved to be beneficial in the long run.  With so much attention and talks from NY’s governor and mayor about universal pre-k, the research article just sheds such positive light and drives the message home about why pre-k is essential and needed.  Thus, research in the early childhood field is crucial, necessary, and it can provide many positive effects for children and families.

 

References: 

Hustedt,, Jason T., W.Steven Barnett, Kwanghee Jung, and Allison H. Friedman. "The New Mexico PreK Evaluation: Impacts From the Fourth Year (2008-2009) of New Mexico’s State-Funded PreK Program." (n.d.): n. pag. National Institute for Early Education Research. Rutgers, Nov. 2010. Web. <http://nieer.org/publications/latest-research/new-mexico-prek-evaluation-impacts-fourth-year-2008-2009-new-mexico%E2%80%99s>.

My Personal Research Journey

    Back in November of last year I was given the privilege of attending 92Y’s Seventh Annual Wonder Play Early Childhood Learning Conference-Balancing Core Early Childhood Principles with 21^st Century Expectations in NYC. Of the many workshops offered at the conference, I was drawn to and intrigued by JoAnn Deaks workshop titled From the Neck Up: Differences in Early Brain Development in Boys and Girls.  Thus, my simulation topic is learning about the different ways boys and girls learn.  These differences lead to a variation in the way females and males approach almost everything: from learning to loving, from communicating to consoling(92y,n.d).  As a parent, early childhood professional, and educator it is important to me to learn how to properly meet every child's learning styles.  As a society we often place boys and girls into specific gender roles.  For example, we often hear boys being referred to as being rough and full of energy, while girls are referred as being calm and gentle.  However, as educators it is important to stray from these biases and appeal to a child's abilities so that we appeal to them as a whole child. 
    In the most recent weeks I have used several web pages to gather information about a child's brain development.  Some of the web pages are: 
The Deak Group, http://www.deakgroup.com/our-educators/joann-deak-phd/
Zero to Three-Brain Development, http://www.deakgroup.com/our-educators/joann-deak-phd/
Center on the Developing Child-Harvard University, http://developingchild.harvard.edu/
Hopefully these web pages will be as useful to you as they have been to me.

References:
Deak, J. (2013). Afternoon Lectures-Session B-From the Neck Up: Differences in Early Brain Development in Boys and Girls. Retrieved from http://www.92y.org/Uptown/Wonderplay/Conference/AfternoonLectures.aspx