MY PERSONAL RESEARCH JOURNEY

First I wanted to start off with letting everyone know how happy I am to be working/learning with everyone.  These past two weeks have been full of so much information and advice that I am really looking forward to seeing where the next six weeks bring.

My chosen topic for this research simulation is poverty and its affect on a child’s cognitive development.  Specifically, what are the affects of a child’s home environment which falls into the socio-economic level considered at or below the poverty line when said children are all in a high quality early childhood learning environment at least part time?  This topic and question were chosen as the effects of poverty involve a complex amount of risk factors which can/will adversely affect the community population in many ways.  According to Jensen (2009), there are four primary risk factors which afflict families who are living in poverty.  The risk factors are:  emotional and social challenges; acute and chronic stressors; cognitive lags; and health and safety issues.  These risk factors can and do make everyday living a struggle for individuals in poverty.  Each of these factors builds and plays off one another.  Which simply stated means one problem created by poverty contributes to another problem, which in turn contributes to another? 

During a previous class taken (Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field) the issue of poverty was studied.  As I was doing research for this issue, it became apparent to me that I needed to research more about this particular issue within my own community and see what its affects are on the children I work with in my child care.  Working in the child care field for the last twenty-two years has given me some insight as to the state of poverty in my town as well as the surrounding areas as I work with different programs and families.  My work has also exposed me to various programs which are present to assist those in need.  However, through researching the subject of poverty in a more in-depth manner, I have gained the knowledge of just how many programs are in my community as well as the different types of poverty in general.  Now it is important for me, both professionally and personally, to bring my knowledge to the next level in order to improve the quality of my child care.  I am expecting a very informative learning experience now and in the future.

Working on this particular research simulation so far has been very interesting.  I love how everything is broken down into little sections in order to better understand the process of conducting research.  I sometimes forget that the process can be broken down in order to save so much time in the future.  I personally struggle with taking a topic and finding a way to narrow it down into a subject that is not too broad of a subject.  I tend to start big and use unnecessary time in order to narrow the topic down to a specific question which needs to be researched.

If anyone has any ideas or advice on narrowing topics down, I would appreciate the input. 

Good luck to everyone!  Once again I am happy to be working/learning with everyone.

Reference

Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind: what being poor does to kids' brains and what schools can do about it. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.