Early Childhood Research

Last week, I began the fifth course of ten toward my master's in early childhood. This course is Research and the very title intimidates me. My chosen topic for my Research Project is how English Language Learners learn best in the classroom. Over 95% of the 700 students in our school are of Hispanic origin. Statistically, our students show great improvement over other schools when it comes to testing and mastering skills. We have full-time, Spanish speaking assistants in every early childhood classroom, pre-K to 3rd grade. Part of my research is to find out how having these assistants affects the language acquisition of these children. Additionally, I have found through reading and taking professional development courses that showing these students pictures and using objects helps to promote this language acquisition process as well. I will be doing a simulated research project for the next 7 weeks on this subject. If you have any experience with this subject, thoughts or suggestions, I would love to hear from you.

Early Childhood Research

This week marks the beginning of the fifth course in my Master's in Early Childhood. When I complete this course, I will be half-way through. I am intimidated by the idea of spending an entire course on research alone. So much of the research today seems to fly in the face of common sense. I feel that anyone can support any cocky idea with research. I hope my research will be meaningful, insightful and beneficial to the field of early childhood and to my professional career. Wish me luck!

The International Early Childhood Community

During the past 8 weeks, I have been engaged in conversations with early childhood educators from around the world. I have come to realize that early childhood education is not only a concern in our country, but is a concern globally. Most of the issues we face in America are being faced by many other countries. Early childhood educators around the globe understand the implications of preparing children for a lifetime of learning. They understand that the earlier we provide things like a quality education and medical care, we can influence children and families for the good. Additionally, when children are healthy and receive a quality education, they will be much less likely to live in poverty or become high school dropouts. 

Early childhood educators around the globe are engaged in supporting many organizations that promote the health, education and rights of the child. Such organizations are the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) http://www.naeyc.org/  and the Association for Childhood Education International http://acei.org/

Organizations like World Vision http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/pages/sponsor-a-child?open&campaign=1193512&cmp=KNC-1193512 and Compassion International http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm?referer=112035GooglePaidSearch&gclid=CPmTvL-ftKgCFQMRNAodaQIkBQ  serve the world’s poorest children. The World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/ keeps us informed about the happenings of health issues affecting children around the world.

My goal for the field of early childhood education around the world is that we will continue to reach out to one another, share ideas and information and continue to develop high quality educational programs for the world’s youngest children.   

Professional Contacts, Part 3

This week, I asked another professional this question:

What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?

Sonia of Ontario, Canada said:

We have many areas of inequity in our educational system. Of course, these things are discussed often by parents, teacher and politicians. Childcare is very expensive and subsidies are scarce. So, if you have money you can access a space anywhere you want because you don't need to depend on the subsidy system. Those who cannot pay, have to apply for subsidy, face long waiting periods, sometimes 6 months to a year, and face all the rules that apply to that.

For example, both parents need to be working or studying to access subsidy; they have to make a minimum wage, not more, or otherwise they don't qualify for it. They have to study full time, not part time courses. A parent who wants to study and work may not qualify because they would both be part time activities. Silly, very silly.

Take the situation of a family with one child in care and mom pregnant. When mom has a new baby, she takes mat leave and the government takes your subsidy away. The government assumes that mom will be home doing "nothing" so, that family loses the subsidy for the child in care. Mother ends up at home with a new baby and sometimes a toddler or a jr preschool child. Unless she decides NOT to take mat leave and simply put that young baby (4 to 8 weeks old) in care right away (how crazy is that). So, we have centres with very young babies and older one, over a year old.

Inequities related to the areas where the centres are located concern me as well. Those located in affluent areas have most of parents professionals, working full time, well-educated families, etc. Families with resources. So, the centres also have resources. These parents want the best for their children and don't mind paying extra fees to have music classes for their todds once a week; yoga instructions; gymnastics, etc. The playground equipment is fabulous, the outings, trips, and extra curricular activities are superb. While centres located in low-income neighbourhoods don't get anything. These centres have playground equipment that is old and needs to be removed; the children get whatever free is available (public health visits, police officers, fire fighter visits, just the freebies). The children may get two trips a year, just to a movie theatre or a local park. The centre pays for everything, including lunches and transport tickets. These parents cannot afford anything.

There is a big emphasis in language, literacy and numeracy skills among young children. We start this at the daycare level. In the province of Ontario, we follow the ELECT framework. Early Learning for Every Child Today is mandatory for all daycares in Ontario and has big educational and parental involvement components. We do not get many parents really involved, but the ECEs are amazing and integrate literacy, language and numeracy in everything they do.

The stress levels are high here too. Children are pressured to learn, learn, learn. Early Childhood Educators are pressured to do more and more in the same amount of time and for the same money. Parents are pressured to work, study, and enhance their participation with school/daycare centre. We, as supervisors are stressed out too. Our managers demand more and more from us with no extra time to finish tasks/projects. We do not have assistants, we have to do everything ourselves: manage the budget, the staff, payroll, toy orders, furniture, health and safety issues, food orders and preparation, comply with all regulations and policies; obtain high scores in the Operating Criteria (quality rating tool) and of course maintain a clear license every year. We deal with staffing issues that sometimes take away half of your week!

While we continue to advocate for a universal child care system, we understand the barriers and try to lower costs in any way we can. We will have elections soon and we hope the new government continues to honour the moneys allocated to childcare. A new conservative government could decide to do something different and eliminate child care subsidy, or any other drastic measure like that.

I can take professional development classes on my own time, but don’t have much of that. Many of my hopes, dreams and challenges for children and education were mentioned above.

Excellence and Equity in Early Childhood Education

This week, I have been researching the website of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Our topic has been excellence and equity in education. This organization is dedicated to “excellence and equity in educating all young children” (NAEYC, 2011). There are many ways in which this organization supports this statement.

In addition to newsletters, magazines and a radio station, this organization is dedicated to early childhood research and puts out a quarterly newsletter with the results. In the March 2011 issue, Howes, et al. addressed peer interaction in the diverse classroom. They found that young children interacted better when there was dramatic play available, whether they spoke English or not. Dobbes-Oates, et al. concluded that “task orientation and behavior management each positively predicted children’s emergent literacy development, but not language development. There was a significant interaction between teachers’ behavior management and children’s task orientation in predicting children’s language development, such that high scores on both variables were associated with the most optimal language outcomes”. Another study concluded that parental control styles significantly influenced a child’s school readiness.

Ways they get directly involved in influencing teachers, administrators and policy makers in excellence and equity in education is to offer programs such as their 2009 series of three long distance learning sessions. This series was designed to “help educators, administrators and other stakeholders understand what’s new and what remains appropriate practice for teaching young children” (NAEYC, 2011). These three distance learning program video’s were released with the idea of revising and refining ideas that have surfaced within the past ten years about best practices and what is developmentally appropriate in the early childhood classroom. The first program addressed developmentally appropriate practices, the second program addressed intentional teaching and the third, play in the classroom. They released these videos to 100 state, local and regional agencies, held community forums and hoped to influence teachers, administrators and policy makers in developmentally appropriate practices in the field of early childhood education.

I found these tools on their website to be helpful to me as well:

Early Learning Standards Self-Assessment and Planning Tool http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/ecprofessional/StandardsSelfAssessmentTool.pdf

Early Learning Standards, Creating Conditions for Success http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/earlyLearningStandards.pdf

Good Toys for Young Children http://www.naeyc.org/toys

Self-Assessment and Planning Tool for Curriculum and Assessment http://www.naeyc.org/toys

Whether a teacher, administrator or policy maker, this site offers a plethora of information and research related to early childhood. It is a valuable resource and should be part of every early childhood educator’s resource list.

Dobbes-Oates, J. (March, 2011). Effective behavior management in preschool classrooms and children's task orientation: Enhancing emergent literacy and language development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. NAEYC. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W4B-52B13G6-1&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F06%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=bb67011138fdf1e8556a5f832d3978f4&searchtype=a

Howes, C., et al. (March, 2011). Classroom dimensions predict early peer interaction when children are diverse in ethnicity, race, and home language. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. NAEYC. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W4B-52C3RJM-1&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F11%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=cc7841691637ca71f2c404e16b75b9db&searchtype=a

Kleisner-Walker, A., MacPhee, D. (March, 2011). How home gets to school: Parental control strategies predict children’s school readiness. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. NAEYC.Retrieved from http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620184/description#description

Early Childhood Issues Around the Globe

This week, I explored the Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative website and gained some new insights about early childhood around the globe.  I was not aware of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University or their work in the field of early childhood education.

“The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. We view healthy child development as the foundation of economic prosperity, strong communities, and a just society, and our mission is to advance that vision by leveraging science to enhance child well-being through innovations in policy and practice.

“Drawing on the full breadth of intellectual resources available across Harvard University’s schools and affiliated hospitals, the Center generates, translates, and applies knowledge in the service of improving life outcomes for children in the United States and throughout the world”.

The Center is focused on three objectives: to educate high-level decision-makers about the science of learning, behavior and health in children; to support research to expand the global understanding of how healthy development occurs;  and to “build leadership capacity in child development research and policy among individuals and institutions in low- and middle-income countries in order to increase the number and influence of diverse perspectives that are contributing to the global movement on behalf of young children”.

The Global Children’s Initiative is currently focusing on early childhood development, children in crisis and conflict situations and mental health in children. They plan to: “educate the leadership of key international agencies, publish and disseminate papers to establish a

strong scientific framework for global work, and conduct systematic communications research to identify the most effective ways to translate the science of child development for global policymakers. They plan to: generate and apply new knowledge that addresses the health and developmental needs of young children in a variety of settings” and assess “quality in early childhood environments and programs in diverse global contexts. They are going to pilot “outcomes linked to malaria control strategies in Zambia; and expand effective interventions to improve preschool quality in Chile”.

With regard to children’s mental health, they are: “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)”. They are currently working with the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health to assess the well-being of children in natural crises. They are looking at children of post-earthquake Chile and Haiti and addressing the acute malnutrition.

Finally, they will focus 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”.

I was very encouraged while researching this website. I had no idea the extent of the global initiative to raise awareness of issues related to early childhood.

Center on the Developing Child. (2011). Harvard University. Retrieved from  http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

Sharing Web Resources

As a professional, early childhood educator, I am always on the lookout for information relative to my profession. One such organization that provides this kind of support is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The NAEYC can be found by visiting www.naeyc.org.

The NAEYC offers a variety of support for teachers of young learners. Periodicals include: Young Children and Teaching Young Children. In these magazines and/or e-magazines, teachers will find a variety of helpful topics and issues that relate to the early childhood classroom.  These publications are offered in English, as well as Spanish. The site offers information on all topics related to early childhood educators such as: accreditation, professional development conferences, current public policy, books and related materials, quality early learning programs, educational links, current research and even has its own radio program.

In this recent publication, Teaching Young Children/Preschool, the NAEYC explores the topics of engaging families in programs; easing children’s transitions; powerful interactions; supporting your child’s learning; play as it relates to language, literacy and social/emotional development; periodicals in the classroom; and teaching young children to think optimistically (2010). Specific information that is particularly relevant and of interest to me was “Powerful Interactions Begin with You” and “Revisiting Learning Centers: What children do and learn”. In the article on interacting with children, the authors address building and deepening relationships with children in the classroom. Dombro, et al., state that “Meaningful and lasting learning depends on a strong personal relationship between teachers and learners” (2010, p. 12). Getting down on the child’s level, speaking in a pleasing voice, asking them questions, using interesting language, using their name often, using mirror talk, spending one-on-one time, being supportive and showing care and respect all build this meaningful relationship. Mirror talk is complimenting or stating what the child is doing specifically. Instead of just saying “good job”, the teacher might say “You have added a lot more blocks to your high tower since the last time I look at it, Rachel!” (2010, p. 13). The article also focuses on supporting dual language learners. This is of particular interest to me since I work in a school of over 95% Hispanic/Latino children. I find myself using expression like “good job” often in my classroom. As a result of this article, I am going to challenge myself to use mirror talk this week.

Another article that caught my attention was an article on how play builds a child’s understanding of science and math, language and literacy, and social/emotional skills. Colker focuses on using the block center as the foundation for teaching and discovering basic math concepts, such as: shapes, colors, patterns, size, etc. while also deepening the child’s language and vocabulary (NAEYC, 2010, pg. 16). Building this vocabulary will then translate into strengthening literacy for the child by connecting the child personally with books about structures and shapes.

I found no controversial articles on the website or in the periodical. However, as mentioned above, my thinking was challenged by the article on meaning relationships with children. Early childhood education is becoming increasingly important at the state and federal levels and the NAEYC website keeps me informed about: federal developments; state trends, workforce initiatives and offers me ways to be an effective advocate of early childhood education.

I didn’t discover any new insights from this particular issue of Teaching Young Children/Preschool, but did deepen my understanding of my relationship with children and how it affects and influences their ability to learn and grow, cognitively, socially and emotionally.

I highly recommend this site as a source of support for early childhood educators and parents of young children.

Colker, L. (October/November, 2010). Revisiting learning centers: what children do and learn. NAEYC. Teaching young children/preschool. (4)1, 16-17.

Dombro, A., Jablon, J., & Stetson, C. (October/November, 2010). Powerful interactions begin with you. NAEYC. Teaching young children/preschool. (4)1, 12-14.

NAEYC. Teaching young children/preschool. (October/November, 2010). (4)1. Retrieved March 26, 2011 from http://www.naeyc.org/