Foundations of Early Childhood

  My interviewees included older male, a young female and my friend who is French. Their definitions included the common references of race, religion, family traditions, and language. Mixing were family relationships, work, emotions, and economic status (Edwards, 2010) . Joe, African American male 59, defined culture as a way of life for any group of people and diversity as differences among a group of people. Shay, female, Bi-racial, 5, defined culture as” The way I take care of my Papi and love everyone in my family”. Cristel, female, French, 31, states “Culture involves a person’s race, religion, and their way of life, language and family traditions. The various groups of people and their customs and beliefs are characteristics included in diversity”. Culture is complex, as it defines and influences our social identities. To fully understand one’s culture it is necessary to lay aside any presumptuous attitudes about a person’s race, socio-economic status, sex...

My Family Culture A description of the three items you would choose  Choosing three items to take on a journey that will most likely be permanent presents a difficult challenge. Other than my family what items are needed for this journey to the unknown? The three items I chose were: My Bible Photos of family during family gatherings My bean pot and beans (to plant) How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you I would take my Bible to insure our family is able to maintain a connection to the cornerstone of our culture, our faith in God. The photos of family celebrating happy and sad times to help with  feeling connected to my extended  family. The bean pot was my son’s idea, when I shared this assignment with him his reply was “You have to take some beans, because you don’t know what kind of food will be available. Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item ...

In the beginning I had my doubts about understanding the formal research process. While I am an avid reader of early childhood research, I had no aspirations to become a researcher. But I discovered the research process although intimidating, is also fascinating. Learning the procedures of conducting a research study led me to a deeper understanding of how to prepare a research study. Selecting a topic, a subtopic, a design method presenting an opportunity to delve further into how research evolves. My challenges were with mixed designs methods, how, where and when should I employ the mixed method? The dependent independent, and extraneous variables within a study may necessitate the use of this method.   Research has over the course of time enhanced the practices and policies of early childhood research. Early theorist’s findings have led to the current research studies and the improvement in educating the young child. Children were once thought of and treated as minia...

European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) publishes The European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (EECERJ) is one of the most prestigious early childhood journals in the world featuring peer reviewed, scholarly articles based on research which is interested in research which has application. “EECERJ aims to provide a forum for the publication of original research in early childhood education in Europe. With this as its principal focus, it should be emphasised that its definition of education embraces care and that its approach is multidisciplinary, embracing all related fields including psychology, sociology, child health and social work”   (European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA):, 2012) . One topic I found interest was the emphasis on children’s outdoor play. In the most read column there were several research studies concerning the benefit of play and children’s healthy development and learning. There are articles...

The increased focus on early learning standards has resulted in a decline in the amount of time preschoolers’ engage in physical activity. A recent study indicates physical activity in the form of exercise increases preschoolers’ cognitive function. The study examined the impact of acute exercise on preschoolers’ cognitive function. Preschoolers engage in physical activities such as, planned movement programs, recess, physical and center-based activities throughout the day (Palmer, 2013). During the study preschoolers participated in planned movement programs that were part of the curriculum. They were provided opportunities to exercise while developing movement patterns that promote motor skill development. For thirty minutes the preschoolers engaged in a variety of  Activities targeting various motor skills such as, hopping from target to target, throwing, dribbling a ball, were found to enhance executive function more than running, jumping in place, or crawling (Palmer, 201...

`           I have chosen to research poverty’s influence in infant’s stress/anxiety. Stress, both maternal and after birth effects infants development. While stress is a normal occurrence in our daily lives toxic stress during infancy has long-term effects. The child can become hypervigilant or emotionally flat, the results of over production of stress hormones  (Berger, 2012) . There are multiple causes of stress/anxiety in infants one in particular is poverty. I am interested in learning more about how poverty affects the infant prenatal and after birth. I have located several resources on poverty’s impact on both maternal and infant stress. I have a tendency to get absorbed in reading once I find something of interest, so I must focus and stay on task. Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

During the past 7 weeks I have gleaned a vast amount of information from the websites, newsletters, podcasts, and colleagues’ posts about issues affecting the well-being of children here and internationally.   Many of the barriers faced by families in the U.S. are shared by those in the international community. Access, availability, and cost are major issues experienced by both communities.   The issue of inequity for girls, children suffering from poverty, and children in conflict and crisis are the consequences I found to be of particular interest. Eradicating the issues will serve to better the lives of all children. One area of improvement is that of the early childhood profession as a creditable medium of learning for young children. The profession is still viewed as one that anyone can step into and do. Even with increased requirements for education, there is usually is not an increase in pay.