Research Around the World

The website I chose to explore is Early Childhood Australia. The website is located at http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/. The international article I The Swedish National Curriculum: Play and learning with fundamental values in focus The school system in Sweden is goal-based with a high degree of local government responsibility. The overall national goals are set out by the Swedish Parliament and the Government, in the Education Act (Parliament), and the Curriculum (Government), respectively. The curriculum should be seen as a framework and guidelines that give direction to the work of early childhood settings. Democracy is the foundation for all activities. The aim of this article is to discuss and problematise current Swedish research from the early childhood education field with a focus on play and learning in relation to three fundamental values affirmed in the Swedish National Curriculum. These values are children’s rights, gender equity, and education for sustainable development. One of the insights I learned about is the national council. They establish the strategic direction of Early Childhood Australia. They develop and endorse the position statement which govern Early Childhood Australia's advocacy work and enable members to share and debate information about issues for children. The Early Childhood Australia National Council meets annually. All branches have an equal number of votes and may be represented by up to five delegates, one of whom is a member of the National Board of Directors. I also enjoyed the link to resource themes. The theme I found to be very helpful is School Readiness and Transitions. There are a great selection of links to fact sheets and websites. For caregivers to understand and support parents and children in getting ready to start school. There is also a link to the best-selling Early Childhood Australia parent resource a book Your Child’s First Year at School: A Book for Parents. I think this is a wonderful resource for parents who do not know what to expect from the first years of school. The other noteworthy information I found on this site was about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the original inhabitants of Australia. Early Childhood Australia (ECA) acknowledges recognises their culture as part of the cultural heritage of all Australians. They put out a statement of regret and commitment to these children and families.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

I am going to share the story of my eleven year old daughter Harley, who was involved in a desensitization study with peanut.  I heard about the study through my parents who saw it on the local news.  I knew about the studies being performed, but I was unaware it was available in my immediate area.  I am choosing to share this story because it was so influential in my own life.

Recent clinical studies in food allergy at research centers such as Duke University, University of Arkansas, Mt Sinai Medical Center and Johns Hopkins have shown that a procedure called oral immunotherapy can be performed safely and effectively in people with peanut, milk and egg allergy. This experimental therapy involves consuming gradually increasing amounts of these foods over weeks and months resulting in desensitizing allergic individual to these foods. The goal in desensitizing patients is so that accidental exposures should not result in clinical symptoms. This should result in reduced worry, fear, anxiety, and improved quality of life.
  
We found out my daughter had a severe peanut allergy at the age of one.  It was so severe I chose to home school her until she entered second grade.  At that time she understood how to take care of herself and we felt it would be a safe situation.  She sat at a peanut-free table and luckily went to a very small school where everyone was aware of the situation.  We started the study reluctantly and my daughter started getting 1/1000 of peanut protein in a liquid form.  She worked up to 16 peanut M&M’s a day.  The side effects were stomach ache, weekly trips to the doctor, and daily monitoring.  We felt this was all worth it for the quality of life increase and worrying less when she was out of our care.  It made her quality of life better and she could enjoy things she was not able to prior to the study. 

Your Personal Research Journey

I chose to focus on the subject of teaching social skills in early childhood classrooms. I believe social/ emotional health and processing is essential at this age. We need to learn these skills when we are young to build on for our future. One of the biggest challenges a teacher has is supporting children who have behavior issues beyond what would be considered normal at this age. Many times behavior will become problematic until the child learns the “rules” of the classroom and what is expected. The bigger challenge comes when a teacher needs to meet the needs of a child who does not respond to positive behavior management. In the classroom a teacher needs to have a plan in place that promotes social and emotional development of all children built on the premise of positive relationships. In my Head Start classroom we use a variety of social skills programs. We use Second Steps, Talking About Touching, and Tucker the Turtle. We also use PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies) and books such as Hands are Not for Hitting. Many of the children I work with do not learn coping techniques at home and come to school unaware of how to function in a social setting. I am very interested to learn more about what research has been done in regard to this topic in early childhood, and also find new ways to teach this subject to the children I work with. Through this course so far I have realized how important it is for research to be reliable and credible. In the information age it is easy to read something and take it as truth. I will be much more skeptical in my own studies and take the time to make sure I am getting accurate information. If any of my classmates have advice or knowledge to share on this subject please share.