Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

While completing research for this week's blog about the benefits of research in regards to families and children.  I found an article titled "New Study On Homosexual Parents Tops All Previous Research" by Peter Spriggs. This article raises questions as to whether or not children who are raised by same sex parent are affected negatively in compassion to children who are raised by married mother and father. This topic has often been discussed amongst my colleagues and myself however there was no proof that either side was correct. While reading this article and identifying the conclusion of the research the article stated that "The myths that children of homosexual parents are "no different" from other children and suffer "no harm" from being raised by homosexual parents have been shattered forever." I find this to be a positive research article because it verifies children do not suffer from having same sex parents. Children deserve to be love whether it is in a traditional home or homosexual parent. If we are putting the children first as a child advocate if there is not harm done to the children having homosexual parent then it is our responsibility to promote love.

 

Reference:

New Study On Homosexual Parents Tops All Previous Research (2015) by Peter Spriggs

http://www.frc.org/issuebrief/new-study-on-homosexual-parents-tops-all-previous-research

My Personal Research Journey

The topic I chose was to learn more about is curriculum and assessment guidelines as it relates to early childhood education programs. Why I chose this topic is because not every early childhood education program has the same curriculum and are assessed the same, which cause me to want to research in depth to find out why and what is being done to insure that all children are being assessed accordingly and have a curriculum that is conductive to their success as an early learner. Emphasis is most often times placed on how teachers teach, while is still feel this is an important piece to receiving a quality education, we as advocate for children must not forget what we are teaching our children. Standardized test have been apart of assessing children for years, I am now pleased to see that steps are being made to performance-based assessments that more accurately reflect children's learning. Based on the research of ECLKC (1992):

 National organizations call for schooling to place greater emphasis on:

• Active, hands-on learning
• Conceptual learning that leads to understanding along with acquisition of basic skills
• Meaningful, relevant learning experiences
• Interactive teaching and cooperative learning
• A broad range of relevant content, integrated across traditional subject matter divisions

Curriculum development should take into account the many sources of curriculum:

• Child development knowledge
• Individual characteristics of children
• Knowledge base of various disciplines
• Values of our culture
• Parents' desires
• Knowledge children need to function competently in our society (Spodek, 1988; 1977; in press)

I found these suggestions and practices to be very helpful when building an appropriate curriculum of quality, as well as an effective approach to assessing children. While researching this topic I see their I more to learn and if my colleagues have more insight regarding this topic please feel free to share.

Research:

 

 

What Does Research Say About Early Childhood Education (1992)

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/Curriculum/Planning/edudev_art_00421_081806.html