Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

EDUC 6163: Building Research Competencies

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

The field of research has been significantly contributing to early childhood education.  As the research continues to progress, I believe that one of the most important  topics that I would  want to be involved in to make a major positive contribution  for the well-being of children and /or their families, is that of the powerful  impact  of nutrition on brain development  in children 0-8 years of age.

It is my firm belief that proper nutrition during pregnancy is foundational for proper brain development and will set the stage for enhanced learning in the future. If the mother is deprived of healthy nutrition during pregnancy, this can have serious repercussions on the weight of her baby as well as the size of her baby’s brain. Therefore, conducting research on how nutrition will affect brain of children 0-8 years of age will certainly be insightful for mothers and families in general to know how to make informed decisions about choices that will affect them and their children in the long run.

Murphy (2011) emphasizes the need for proper nutrition in children when she states that “insufficient nutrition takes its toll on a child’s learning experience … [and] a balanced, moderate approach to better nutrition can make a positive difference in school performance (p.1). From this statement, in my research it would be my desire to probe what “insufficient nutrition” would entail and what examples would I give to families of what a “balanced nutrition” would look like?

As the research continues, I hope that I would be able to mitigate deficiencies, and many learning disabilities that are directly related to proper nutrition. There are also research being conducted to show the correlation between aggressive behavior and proper nutrition. This is definitely a significant area of research that as an educator I am interested in to assist teachers and families to know more about. Learning about the different types of food that can trigger aggression in the brain as the child develops would certainly be helpful to all who are involved in the development of children.

There are so many issues surrounding nutrition and brain development that we as early childhood educators need to know about that the research, I believe is far from being completed and we must continue to unearth its gems to help our  children and their families.

Reference

Murphy, P. (2011)The daily nutrition requirements for school success. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/454425-the-daily-nutrition-requirements-for-school-success/

My Personal Research Journey

EDUC 6163: Building Research Competencies

My Personal Research Journey

The specific topic that I have chosen for my research simulation for this course is: An examination of the impact of poverty and literacy on the social and emotional development of children at the early childhood level.”

I am particularly drawn to this topic based on the experiences that I have had in previous courses that I have studied. I also believe that as an early childhood advocate, it is incumbent on me to continue to raise the awareness level of the powerful impact that poverty can have on the social and emotional development of young children and their families. It is my hope and desire that as I continue this research simulation I will be able to expand on how to build an impartial high class early childhood education system  that will be reactive to the social and emotional needs of the marginalized and undeserved children in the early childhood student population.

As I continue to immerse in this research process, I am excited about the knowledge that I am gaining from the different resources. However, I know that I can feel overwhelmed at times, especially at this time when I realize that balancing work and reading has been chaotic for the past month. Despite these challenges though, I am learning to be extremely meticulous about reading for important facts while eliminating those details that may not be relevant to the research topic. An important fact from the textbook that I wish to include here that has helped to drive my interest so far is: “Every part of the research process may offer surprises” (Mac Naughton, Rolfe & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010 p.9). In other words, our experience with the research tool will indeed be an interesting one.

An important insight that I have gained so far from the construction of the research chart is that of ensuring that every section is covered by APA format. This is something that must never be forgotten seeing that it is documented facts done by someone else.

One thing that I will request of my classmates at this point in time is for additional resources/ websites that will expand our knowledge not only on poverty but our understanding on any other aspect in the early childhood field such as ways to facilitate the physical, social and emotional well being of young children and their families living in poverty via literacy.

I am looking forward to share any resource or insight that I have with my fellow colleagues on their topic too.

The following websites are very important to me as I research on poverty and I do hope that my colleagues will find them helpful too.

Children’s Defense Fund. (2010). Ending childhood poverty. Retrieved from

http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy-priorities/ending-child-poverty/

National Center for Children in Poverty. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nccp.org/

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (2004). Publications. Retrieved from

http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_pubs_dpd.html

Reference

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International

perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.