Friday, May 13, 2016

My Research Journey

The topic I have chosen for the research simulation is “To what extent does parental involvement influence cognitive development in five year olds?” I have chosen this topic as I have heard in previous courses that parental involvement in early childhood education is a positive influence on the child’s academic development. I figured this would be a prime opportunity to confirm that this theory is true. With the different strategies we followed last week to ensure that articles and researches posted online are credible and of a high-quality I would now take a second look at the papers and articles I read that were related to parental involvement in early childhood education.
  In my work with children I have experienced parents that were closely involved with their children’s school life and others who were not as hands on so I would like to see what kind of difference the involvement makes if any.  It seemed apparent to me that the children of parents who were more hands on in their education did well in school, but now I can put this theory to the test. If any of you have any advice as to how I can assess that this study is working I would really appreciate it. I am still a little unsure how I will ascertain to what extent the parental involvement is making a difference if any at all.

I wish all of you success in your simulations, and please be sure to let me know if there is any way that I can be of assistance.  

6 comments:

  1. Dellarece,
    This is a very good topic to research. I never gave parent involvement influencing children cognitive developmental skills any in-depth thought until attending Walden University. Now that you have brought this topic up I will start monitoring more closely the children who parents are actively involve versus the children who parents are not that involve. I must say, I have noticed in my many years of being an early educator the children who parents were heavily involved in their early childhood education, their cognitive skills seem to make a big difference.
    Thanks for stimulating my brain, and if I observe anything different, I will love to share.
    Have a great week
    ~Jamillah

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have always wanted to learn more about this topic as well. In my experience in both predominately upper class children and predominately lower class children I have noticed more parent involvement in the lower class children I have taught. Although their parents are hard working sometimes with two jobs or more , they still made sure to involve themselves immensely in their childs education. On the other hand, the upper class childrens parents i believed perceived early childhood education as more of a bonus to having a babysitter for the day. Many times parents would not show up for conferences or even deem their childrens work as mere trash and insignificant. These parents would not fully get involved until the children were of Pre-K age group and higher. It was amazing to me to see the contrast but something I would like to explore more. I look forward to hearing about your finding.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Dellarece,

    This is an excellent topic to research. I think parental involvement has a major influence on cognitive development. The reason I say that is because I have an 8 year old, and I am very involved at her school and in her homework studies. She gets to the point where she wants to do mediocre work, but when I push her I see a big difference in her work. If I stopped caring or being involved in what's going on with her, she would probably fall by the waste side. I am looking forward to hearing about your findings.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would conduct a survey of four different types of parents and their children. Interview a parent that is involved in their child's education and making good grades, then interview a parent who is also involved in their child's education and making average to failing grades. Next, try to interview a parent who is not involved and the child is making good grades versus a parent who is not involved making average to failing grades. It will be interesting to see the results even though the selection of parents is so small.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a great topic of choice. Parent involvement makes a huge difference in the performance of children in school. The one problem I find with this is the parents doing the work for their children instead of helping. I found myself giving answers to my son instead of allowing him to figure it out. I had to learn how to teach him to use his problem solving skills which frustrated both of us at times but we got through it. Good luck with your research.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Our topics relate to each other in a way! My topic is children understanding others' feelings and emotions. I have found that parental response to emotions can greatly effect how they perceive others' emotions. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete