Research Benefits Children and Families-Uplifting Stories

Option 1:
Share a positive example of the effects of research on children and/or families: Perhaps you can provide real-life examples of research benefits to children and/or families; maybe you are familiar with stories of people who have been positively affected by research; or you came across a published research article concerning children or families which you find exciting and would like to share with your colleagues. I decided to elaborate on Option 1 because I have had close family members and close friends both have been diagnosed with cancer. When I was a little girl in 1972 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and with research they found a way to cure her and it has been 42 years which never resurface. Had not been for research I don't want to think what could have happened to my mom and family.

Next, a good friend of the family was having excruciating pain in her back and not knowing what was going on, went to the doctor and with research they determined she had cancer. What type of cancer I don't remember but they knew how to cure her and advised her with the right materials. She has been cured for the last five years of more.

All cases where not as successful as the ones above because several friends died. Especially a good friend and past hair styles. There much research conducted but remission even a short time but none of information helped save life. But research doesn’t always have positive outputs.

March 15, 2014

I encourage my colleagues to relate information regarding themselves or even knows someone that experience shyness and social phobia which prevented them from having a normal and fulfilled life.

My Personal Research Journal

March 15, 2014

I have chosen this week's simulation for my subtopic Overcoming shyness and social phobia in early childhood children. As I reflect on my life as a child I chose this topic only because it is dear to my heart because I am that particular child that encountered shyness and social phobia which eventually led me to encounter many disappointing situations and experienced a sad life. Furthermore it led me to have low self-esteem, not to make friends, or just to be sociable, which prevented me from just walking into a room along without been suspicious of other people. This shyness prevented me from pursuing my education, which I eventually dropped out of college and could not accomplished any thing in life I wanted. This shyness and social phobia also makes me the teacher I am today. Unless one has experienced this type of phobia one does not understand or cannot comprehend the barriers that prevent one to do the small things in life.

I find it interesting to set goals for shyness to overcome their social phobia at an early age because if not this will have a negative impact in their adulthood life as well. Positive goals are necessary and they also need the support. But parents and teachers some reason of another believe and think this type of behavior is acceptable and they will eventually overcome this behavior. However one who has lived this type of life knows first hand it does not take another twist or turn around in life unless it is deal with professional.

So this is the reason I find this topic very interesting and intriguing because it is a disease or sickness that needs attention and taken serious to help children cope with this problem or prevent it all together. And it is extremely good to know there are studies and research concerning shyness and social phobia to prevent or cope with this illness.

Week 8

March 1, 2014

During the studied of this course we covered a huge assortment of valuable information that will be useful to me in my professional life.  Even though I was not able to make international contact I will make it my goal.  Given that I consider this to be valuable for my career as well.  It will offer me a clearer picture of how other countries early childhood learning experience compares to our.  It will afford me the opportunity to share ideas among one another that will enable me to improve on our early childhood learning experience.  In addition to that it will be a great collaboration with two individuals with a common purpose.  I think it is imperative as early childhood educators to have an outlet that will permit us to exchange ideas, share information and offer support. Furthermore this class also has been interesting, insightful, and rewarding as a early childhood teacher.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 3

February 22, 2014

What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work? In the State of Mississippi the hot topics that are being discussed are Common Core Standards, Reading Achievement, School Readiness, and Teachers meeting quality education for Head Start.

 What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

According to the National Registry Alliance, a comprehensive professional development system:  Is accessible and based upon a clearly articulated framework.

 Includes a continuum of training and ongoing supports. 

 Defines pathways that are tied to licensure, leading to qualifications and credentials. 

 Addresses the needs of individual, adult learners. 

The systems are generally composed of five interconnected components: 

 Core knowledge 

 Access and outreach 

 Qualifications, Credentials and Pathways 

 Funding 

 Quality Assurance

How Does a Registry Fit Into a Professional Development System?

Personnel and training register (Qualifications, Credentials and

Pathways) of a professional development system. A registry can:

 Collect, track, acknowledge and manage workforce data. These data can help identify trends in

training participation and achievement of credentials or movement along a career lattice, and

inform decision making regarding workforce policies and investments.

 Produce records that can validate qualifications or ongoing professional development for

accreditation, a quality rating system/quality rating and improvement system, wage incentives,

and credentials.

 Verify provider qualifications to meet state licensing requirements.

 Approve and track training offerings and compile the qualifications of approved trainers.

 Record and track training attendance.

 Maintain a calendar of training offerings for a state, region or local area. NAEYC recommends all early childhood professionals receive 24 hours ongoing a year of professional development.

Source: www.registryalliance.org

What are some of your professional goals?

Some of my professional goals are to become a higher learning instructor for Jackson State University, own,   pilot, and track the first learning center that render services to infants the first five years of their life with high-quality educated teachers, and meet the needs of disadvantage children.

What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?

Some of my hopes are becoming a professional developer trainer, own my childcare center, and implement training sessions at my present job. Dreams I aspirate are become famous as an educator, the children I served become successful and let me know I had a part of their success, all my grandsons become a success and my children reach the top in their careers. The challenges I present faced are building confidence of writing, public speaking, and owing my business, and obtaining a doctoral.

This week has been very insightful and knowledgeable because I discovered a new career I always wanted to embark upon; therefore as searching the Internet I accidentally learned how to become a professional development or staff development trainer; which I am going to embrace this idea within the next few weeks. My main goal I desire this is to help day care or child care owners to better serve their disadvantage children and families. Through this the children do not have to vicious repeat the cycle of their ancestors. Unfortunately, I have not heard anything from the International contacts.

References

Conceptual Framework for Early Childhood Professional Development

www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/.../PSCONF98.PD

 

Professional Development Systems and the SECA States.pdf

 https://www.google.com/

Source: www.registryalliance.org

SHARING WEB RESOURCES

February 15, 2014

Reflecting many years ago when I was an undergraduate student doing a research paper on child development that I discovered the importance of brain development. In searching the internet for the latest article from the magazine Zero to Three I discovered the issue on "This Issue And Why It Matters": According to Stefanie Powers "During a child's first 1,000 days of life, a nurturing responsive relationship between the child and engaged, invested caregivers positively influences the child's physical, social, and emotional health across the lifespan".

Children's overall development is closely connected to the development of the brain. Although all aspects of development are interrelated, different areas of the brain contribute to children's development across the different domains.

• Physical development is influenced by the motor cortex or band in front of the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe for hand-eye coordination, and thetemporal lobe for hearing.


• Social development is influenced by the limbic system, the frontal lobe, the site of reasoning and planning functions, and by the development of language.


• Emotional development also is influenced by the limbic system and the frontal lobe.


• Cognitive development is influenced by the frontal lobe, the site of planning and thinking functions, and by the temporal lobe for development of language abilities.

Example: Reading and the Brain

Children learn language through experience. When adults read to children, neurons connect and a vocabulary builds.  When adults and children read a favorite book again and again, connections in the child's brain become stronger and more complex.

Talking about the story also contributes to brain development. As adults discuss the storyline with children, even more new words are introduced. Vocabulary increases, and children starts to learn the process of conversation. 

Watching television or listening to a recorded story does not have the same benefits of live conversation.The interaction in give and take conversation is the key experience that wires the brain to develop language

It is essential that infants received the love, touching, and all the motor senses that's needed to develop normal and wired to connect with the world around them. I have seen many children in my life time not able to communicate or comprehend the simplest things as retaining the alphabets' and now I understand that these children missed the necessary brain development; which is critical in life to get a head start in life.


References:
Early and middle childhood. http://www.fcs.uga.edu/ext/bbb/brainTimeEarlyChild.php
This issue and why it matters. http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/areas-of-expertise/zero-to-three-journal/34-1-ednote-toc.pdf

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 2

February 8, 2014

International Contacts China, Rwanda, and Three Caribbean Nations





 Assessing the state of child mental health services in
China;
 Developing and evaluating family-based strategies
to prevent mental health problems in children affected
by HIV/AIDS in Rwanda; and
 Addressing child maltreatment and mental health
outcomes in three Caribbean nations (Barbados, the
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname).
To strengthen their policy relevance, each of these
projects is being designed to include an economic component
to analyze allocation effects in the supply and

demand for services.

Children in Crisis and Conflict Situations
The Global Children’s Initiative is currently exploring
potential synergies with the Harvard Humanitarian
Initiative and the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for
Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of
Public Health, both of which have extensive experience
working in emergency situations across the world. The
goal of this effort is to foster interdisciplinary collaboration
that incorporates a science-based, developmental
perspective into the assessment and management of
child well-being in a range of natural and man-made
crises, focusing on both immediate circumstances and
long-term adaptation. Two issues are the initial focus of
activity in this domain:
 Exploring comparable approaches to surveying
child status in post-earthquake Haiti and Chile.
 Bringing the science of child development into
strategies for addressing acute malnutrition.

Building Broader, More Diverse Leadership Capacity
in Research and Policy
Finally, and central to the Center’s core mission, an
array of education and training activities will be incorporated
into all of the thematic areas described above.
The first dimension of this work focuses on building a
sustainable infrastructure to support the productive
engagement of Harvard students and faculty in a diversity
of global settings. The second dimension focuses on
developing opportunities to provide leadership training
for individual researchers, policymakers, and institutions,
primarily in the majority world.