Getting to know your professional contacts part1

 I have not received anything back from the contacts I made so I  decided to research Mongolia, just because I was curious. Over the years the economy has become more stable bit for the people of this country the divide has grown between those who benefit from the economy and those who are living in poverty.  The malnutrition rate is growing as families are unable to afford healthcare. One of the other concerns is the government is not doing anything to support those who are living in poverty.  Children are taking on more roles at home by watching out for their siblings instead of getting the proper education. From what I have read though the amount of children living in poverty is decreasing if their was government programs to help  there would be more progress in Mongolia.

Sharing Web Resources

As the we all know hurricane Sandy was devastating for so many individuals, but did any one think about how children are being affected in this aftermath.  Something I found interesting on  http://nbcdi.org was a an blog on helping African American families cope with crisis. The book is entitled Helping Children Cope with Crisis.
"Helping Children Cope with Crisis is an activity book for African American families that was developed by the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), in collaboration with other organizations serving the African American community."

I find this information very helpful to families.  Especially for African American families because we have a tendency to not address things and assume the children will be ok. Children are very resilient but having a resource like this can help them cope.

Resource:

http://nbcdi.org/blog/2012/11/02/helping-children-cope-with-crisis/

Establishing Professional Contacts

In effort to establish professional contacts I have contacted Mrs. Eva-Hammes-Di Bernardo in Germany and Rev Charles Arko-Nunoo of Ghana. I am awaiting responses from both.  

For the  Second part:
I have chosen to explore the website of the National Black Child Development Organization.  I have requested to receive there newsletter and am awaiting information from them.  Thus far I have found it interesting the the organization developed a program entitled Parent Empowerment Program(PEP). PEP was designed to give parents the tools to be their child's first teacher and is geared towards lower income African Americans but of course it can be used in a broad spectrum of parents.  I look forward to sharing more as I continue to explore the site.

When I Think Of Research.....

When I look back over this course I have gained insights on completing research, designing research, methods of research and a variety of terms related to research. When it comes to completing research the design and topic and specifics must be well thought out and planned in order to create a valid research project.  In the beginning I did not anticipate any difficulties in doing research but as I proceeded throughout the class it did become more difficult. As an early childhood professional I understand how important research is to the field, research is the reason our field is advancing and will continue to grow.

Research Around the World

The website I explored was http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php.  There where several topics on early childhood to explore. I specifically took a look at the study on Parents’ and Other Caregivers’ Perception of Early Childhood Development Needs and Quality: A Study of the PLAN-Assisted Programmes in Bawjiase, Ghana. This stood out to me because I wanted to know the out comes of the study. Which it was found that parents did understand the need for quality care and exactly what their children needed. There ideas did not stray from what recent research stated children needed to know. Just interesting to me because education is different across the world and some areas tend to be more advanced than others.

Resource:

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/documents/major_projects/Etse%20-%20MP%20Final%20-%20UVic%20LP.pdf

Research that benefits Children and Families

If I could imagine a research project that will positively affect children and their families I would conduct research on how effective the current methods used to help children cope with abuse are. The outcome I expect that we can determine the best practices and create standards in which professionals can use.

Research Simulation

The topic of interest for me is children who live in poverty. I chose this topic becuase recently I have encountered a child with clearly defined developmental concerns and he is from a low income family. The reactions that the family has to these issues is not a common one. So I wonder if there environment plays a key part of their reactions. I want to research how poverty effects social development duri g early childhood years. Poverty is one of the largest issues affecting our country as well as many other nations. To my fellow colleagues I welcome any thoughts, comments or ideas concerning the topic.