Saturday, September 17, 2011

My Research Journey

My simulation topic is, What is the relationship between homelessness and vocabulary children have as they begin child care?
I chose this topic because I noticed when children entered care and the teachers asked them questions about items in the classroom they either knew what the teacher was talking about, had some idea or didn't have a clue.  The children were in homeless families and I wondered if being homeless and transient, the educational level of their parents and the time in care made a difference in the aquisition and retention of the vocabulary words they learned.


 One of my insights is a topic may seem simple when first formed but as you delve deeper, the topic becomes more complex resulting in more questions and more contemplation.  Another insight is the questions we ask may have been asked differently which means we may be "re-inventing the wheel".  Being able to use search engines helps in finding out if the reseach has been exhaustive or whether more research is needed on a topic.


I would appreciate any help you may have on my topic.  I would like to ask those of you who work directly with children in a classroom setting what vocabulary words you thought children would know when they entered your program, but didn't.  I would like to use them in my research.

2 comments:

  1. Hi! Stephanie I really have enjoyed your post througout the course but on this topic a have the same problems but more so with children living in low-income homes. I know it's their environment they are growing up in and also parents and young childen raising children don't communicate to their kids like they use to so certain words they should know by ages four do not know. We don't have elder's anymore to help raise our children sharing their knowledge and experiences in life.

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  2. Wow- What an awesome topic. I can see where this topic could get quite deep and extreamly involved. I will look back through my vocabulary tests and see what words I can come up with for your research. Good luck.

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