Research Around The World

I choose to read about articles from the Early Childhood Development Virtual University. They had several research topics such as:

• Improving the quality of childcare through parenting enrichment and Training on Trainer: The Eritrean Model
• Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Care and Development
• Assessment of Interaction and Stimulation in Single-Mother Low-Income Families
• Leadership Skills Training for Administration and Parent Support Training for Caregivers.

I took a closer look at the "Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Care and Development" because I feel like all children need both parents present especially boys. While mothers tend to take on both roles there will come a time in the child like where they will seek the love and affection that only a father can give. Boys need there father present to show them how to become a man and be a provider for the family.

In this study the focus was on fathers, their involvement in the child upbringing, and if cultural beliefs had any influence as to how involved the father was to the child. The study was done in different villages in Nigeria. As I read the article, I realized that there are many factors as to how involved the father is with the upbringing of their child. Men are considered the bread makers of the family in most cultures in Africa while the wife stays home and tends to all the needs of the house. Lack of parenting programs is another factor because many men are following the tradition of how they were raised. Not saying that the tradition is right or wrong but first time parents need help especially if the grandparents are not present. In addition, I learned that grandparents involvement have a significant difference on how involved fathers are with their children.

I learned just from this one article to be grateful for all the people who helped in the upbringing of my childhood. In some homes in Africa the children are living with numerous of people due to father being a polygamist. Since the father has so many children and wives it is rather hard for him to be dedicated or involved in all the children upbringing. I learned that girls in small villages are deprived from going to school because they have to learn at a early age how to submit themselves to others, care for younger siblings, and do house chores.

The website Early Childhood Development Virtual University offers 6 one-year programs to help people who want to get more educated on International Child and Youth Care for Development. The programs are offered to individuals who have or don't a degree that is recognized by the University. All the programs seem very information just from reading what the course offers. I think its great that this websites is helping to better the lives of the children.     

Research that Benefits Children and Families-Uplifting Stories (Week 3)

If I had the ability to conduct a research I would chose ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). This disorder hits home for me because my nephew was diagnosed with it. However, his parents had little no knowledge about the disorder and I believe that just because he had behavior problems his parents just assumed that had this disorder. ADHD seem like the most common thing people are saying their children have in my community.  I really feel that parents should be sure about labeling their children with different conditions because if it is the wrong label it can harm the child in the future. Previously, I have did research on ADHD to familiarize myself with the conditions and and how to treat a child with this disorder. Below is a link that gives you information on symptoms, different types, getting tested and treatment. Understanding ADHD- ADHD in Children

In choosing this topic I feel the major contributions to children and families would be the following:

• Properly identifying which type of ADHD the child has
• Provide adequate results with how to handle a child with ADHD
• Provide a clearer picture of what signs to look for when determining if a child has ADHD.
• How to administer the proper treatment with a child
• Determine if the child need additional treatment outside of the medication that is provided

These contributions will benefit families and children because they will have a better understanding of exactly what ADHD is. Every child case is different which means that their symptoms and treatment will be different. As I begin to look further into ADHD I realized that are several types of ADHD. Many parents are not even aware of these types. It seem like once the child is diagnosed as ADHD that is all the parent know. It is important to know how much dosage of medication to give a child because the wrong dosage can cause an allergic reaction or the child can begin to become addicted to a high dosage that never needed in the first place.

Since my research will not have restrictions of the present I would use children who have been diagnosed with ADHD as well as children who parents think they child has ADHD. Some parents have the tendency to just think they child has the disorder because of types of behavior that another child possess. In conducting this research it is my hope to show parents that some of the children just have a behavior issue and not necessarily have ADHD. This will also prevent many children from being diagnosed with a disorder that they don't have.

My Personal Research Journal (Week 2)

Greetings to all my colleagues in this research class. First let me say I feel this class will be challenging but I'm still looking forward to walking away with an A. I'm not a research fanatic and I'm use to just finding two or three scholarly articles and calling it a day. I already have had a headache with my research topic but hopefully some or many of you can help me clarify exactly what I'm trying to research.

The Topic I chose is standardize learning. I'm not sure if that is too broad because I'm having such a hard time finding resources for this topic. I chose this topic because I see so many child care centers taking play out the classrooms and changing the curriculum to more standardize learning. While I do believe that children need to learn, I also feel that play shouldn't be eliminated from there schedule. As I begin to do the research I see myself moving from standardize articles to elimination of play in the classrooms. So do I change my topic or keep the same? I'm really disturb at why play is being eliminated because their are so many researchers that says play helps children learn. I'm curious as to who really benefits from standardize learning. In my last class I really showed interest in this topic because my nieces and nephews are in Mastery Charter Schools and they never have gym or outdoor play. They are in a structured learning environment for 8 1/2 hours. I feel that this is wrong because children learn differently and they tend to get frustration with school because someone is always constantly teaching teaching and teaching. In addition, standardize learning doesn't even allow teachers to be creative and teach outside of the curriculum. Ok I feel like I'm just venting but I just wanted to give you all a sample of how feel about standardize learning.

My personal experience with the stimulation process has been like a roller coaster. While I am learning about the ways of finding a good reliable resource I am also trying to understand the language of the research. I can't even remember the last time I looked at a research study. While I am very familiar with the topics in the research model it just gives me the feeling of being back in high school. I can see now that everyone has an opinion but some people are lazy in doing research and they might begin the process but not finish it. Lastly, I understand what I need to know about credible resources.

The insight that I want to share is don't be a procrastinator in this research class. Since we are researching topics I feel that you can't wait until the last minute to do assignments. I am a person that works best under pressure so I tend to do my assignments during crunch time. As I look over the assignments for this course I am mentally preparing myself to put additional time aside to work on these assignments. So I encourage my colleagues to don't be like me and allow yourself time to ask questions or get feedback for others.

Currently, I don't have any resources to share but I am open to suggestions, feedback, criticism, and anything else that will help along on this research journey.