Week 5 BRC

For this week's assignment, I chose to look into the website for Early Childhood Australia at www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au to look into what kinds of issues are current for the early childhood professionals in Australia.  There were many issues discussed on the website but as I was looking at the "Voice" which is the site's newsletter, I noticed that at the end of the publication for this past January, they showed a discussion that was posted on Facebook about how to celebrate Australia Day in the early childhood setting.  Apparently, the holiday they celebrate in Australia called Australia Day, is a source of pride for some residents of Australia but for the Aboriginal people it is a source of pain.  The discussion shown was about how to balance the celebration of the holiday while still being sensitive to the indigenous population at the same time.

This is a great example of a dilemma that we face regularly as early childhood professionals.  We often face the challenge of balancing priorities for our very culturally diverse classes.  This just happens to be a good example of how international issues can be different but the similar.

This website also contains articles published in the AJEC or the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood.  This journal contains articles that have subjects that seem very similar to articles here in the US.  I suppose the similarities in issues shows how even though our cultures are different and our upbringing may be different, young children are very similar, even the same for the most part.  Kids are kids, whether they are here in our country or in another.

BRC Week 3

After considering both assignments for this week, I chose the second one.  If I were able to conduct research about anything, I would choose the effects of a behavior modification program on young children diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorders.  Maybe ages 2-5.  I would want to test whether having a behavior program for these children, would improve the behaviors that result with them being diagnosed with Autism.  I have a nephew who has been diagnosed with an Autistic spectrum disorder but when he is with me and my family, he does not exhibit the kind of behaviors he does at home.  Now, being a preschool teacher of nine kids at a time, I tend to run a tight ship at home and do not tolerate much unnecessary crying or fussing and he does great at my house.

I feel like this is not a coincidence.  I am not saying I am the best and that is why he doesn't act up at my house, but I am wondering if as a preschool teacher, I have developed skills that encourage better choices for him and result in better behavior.  I am a behaviorist at heart and I would love to test this out on a large scale somehow.  Wouldn't it be great to be able to give parents of children with an autistic spectrum disorder a set of skills that may help that child regulate his own behavior?  I would love to see the results of research like that!!

Building Research Competencies wk2

This class is going to stretch me to learn about research.  I will learn about the steps that are taken to conduct quality research and the way to tell the difference between types of sources and different kinds of methodology when it comes to research.  I am excited to learn more because I know I will be a better resource for the families I work with if I knowledgeable about current, accurate research results.

As I continue with my journey to get this degree, I realize that I have a lot to learn.  Part of this course is to create my own research simulation about a topic of my choice.  In week one I expressed an interest in learning more about a parents interaction with infants and how that effects language development in those children.  I realize that this topic is too broad and in order to focus the topic more, I am choosing to focus specifically on the impact of prompting on a child's language development. I am not sure if this topic is suitable for research but it seems like it may be.

The reason I chose this topic was because it has always interested me how some two-year-olds talk a mile a minute, and others look at you like they have no idea what you are saying.  Is it natural for all children to begin to talk at different times?  Is it simply a result of their environment?  I have three children and they all spoke at about the same time.  By 9 months they were using one word at a time and by two they were little chatterboxes!  I always wonder if they would have talked at a different time if they did not grow up in my home.  I did prompt them a lot to speak and after a little while, I no longer accepted pointing or grunting :)

Please let me know what you all think.  I am really interested to hear from you as other professionals who work with children every day.  Thank you!