Research that Impacts Children and Families

When looking into the early childhood field, there is endless research and studies being conducted.  Many of these studies have made an impact or will make an impact on a child or family in some way.  No matter how big or small the impact was, it made a difference in a person's life.  If I had the means and knowledge to conduct a research study, I would choose to research the effects of parent involvement on children's school readiness skills.  I feel that the effects of this study would make a positive contribution to the well-being of children and families.  As parent's are a child's first and most important teacher, we need to give families the tools and knowledge to help their child become successful.  Most importantly we need to find ways to involve families in their child's education.  As early intervention is also key to a child's success, the earlier in a child's educational process parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects. 

The positive outcomes from this study would show:

Higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates
Better school attendance
Decreased use of drugs and alcohol
Better self-esteem

As the lack of parental involvement is the biggest problems facing public schools, we need to give parents the tools necessary to help their child be successful.  In doing so, we will have positive outcomes that will make a major impact in a child's life. 

Your Personal Research Journey

I chose to research ways to promote healthy social emotional development in young children.  I chose this topic for my simulation as this is one of key factors when looking at the social emotional development of a young child.  Social emotional development is a personal interest to me as I am involved with this issue on a daily basis in my current position.  In order for a child to be succesful, we need to be aware of their social-emotional needs and address them.  As there are many factors when looking at the topic of social-emotional development, I feel forunate to have the opportunity to research and learn more on this topic.

When completing the simulation process, I found that narrowing my research to one chosen topic beneficial as it was easier to find more specific information.  This allowed me to direct my research more specifically.  I was able to understand how to use the literature review and how it can be very beneficial to research.  This process helped me direct my reading and to find the imporant information from within the reseach report. 

Completing the research chart was very beneficial as it guided me through the research process.  As many of these terms and strategies are new to me, looking deeper and defining these terms gave me better understanding of research and how to conduct it.  Many of the articles in the learning resources of this course have given me a wider range of strategies and ideas to help in my research process.

When looking at the topic on social emotional development, are there any resources or experiences you can share with me to give me a different perspective on this area?

Resources to share:

Baggett, K. (2009, November). Technologies for Expanding the Reach of Evidence-Based Interventions:  Preliminary Results for Promoting Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood Retrieved from Walden Library http://tec.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/content/29/4/226.full.pdf+html