Research that benefits children and families!

When I think about the effects of research on children and families, I think mostly about the medical benefits to children and families because the research.  Surgeries, immunizations, chemotherapy, and many other treatments have helped so many children and families for decades and will continue to affect the coming generations.

This year I have a little girl (4 years old) who has fought and beat brain cancer! She is a bright and shining light in our classroom.  She still talks about her port (for chemo therapy) that was just taken out last spring and easily shows the scar.  She isn’t sad about it and tells people it really doesn’t hurt that bad.  She was slightly developmentally delayed in speech because of her brain tumor, treatments, and lack of interaction with children her own age because of her hospitalization, BUT she has made leaps and bounds this year already! She still has some speech errors but recently tested with in a normal range. 

Giving children the opportunity for a chance is the biggest benefit of all research! When I first started this risk vs benefit journey, I couldn’t justify any risk being small enough for my child to be subjected to research.  And then I connected all of the real world situations that we could be in – where research could help. I am now on board (with in reason).  

Topic of research -- Updated!!

Hello all! I have had the hardest time finding resources on the link between standardized testing and play based learning! I have changed my focus to Standardized Testing in Kindergarten and will update you with more soon! Thanks, Danielle...

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The topic I have chosen to research is Learning Through Play - and whether or not children perform better on standardized tests because of it.  I am having a hard time finding research that supports or negates this.  I am following up with information from the Goddard Schools here in the U.S. and will also look further into Montessori data and Reggio frameworks but would like to find specific studies.  If you have any insights, please do forward on!

I chose this because as a preschool teacher, we of course teach through play.  Some of this is continued into Kindergarten, but usually by first grade, this learning through play mantra disappears because of the rigors of the Common Core and unrealistic expectations for true learning to take place.  I would like to see some data that our efforts in learning through play extend well beyond the preschool years and help children perform better on standardized tests throughout their school careers because of the foundation work of creativity, exploration, and interest based studies we have exposed them too.

The simulation process was a great way to start to see how my research will unfold.  I am very uneasy about this process -or should I say scared! Designing research and processing the data seem way out of my realm.  Hopefully I can find some good research about learning through play and standardized testing to guide my research question and then research! Thank you!

EDUC 6163 - Building Research Competency

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