Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA):

• What are some of the current international research topics?

Malawi

Coordinating the Development and Implementation of the 2003 – 2013 National Action Plan (NAP) for Children in Malawi

Nigeria

Assessment of the Caring Practices in Two Motherless Babies’ Homes in Abia State, Nigeria and the Development and Delivery of a Nutrition Training Program to the Staff of These Homes to Improve Nutrition of Children in Their Care

• What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

Some surprising facts/insights i gained about the early childhood after exploring this website was a topic called  A "Generative curriculum" approach which is a learner-focused approach - drawing as much as possible on the learner's experiences in their personal and professional lives;

an ecological approach - placing individuals, programs and policies into an interactive and dynamic context and seeking to plan activities and interventions to maximize resonating impact throughout the larger ecology;

a capacity building approach - aiming to strategically strengthen the capacities of participants to effectively fulfill their mandates in their professional position and to be accountable to their constituents and the broader ECD community in their countries. Although most education activities claim this as a general 'purpose', the ECDVU program addresses capacity development in a specific, strategic manner and many more( http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/generative.php). Through the generative curriculum the school is about to help and work professioanlly to help reach the childs best potential.

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?
The Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) works with nominees of participating countries to enhance the country's social and economic development through addressing the needs of their youngest citizens and the families and communities which nurture them.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

I chose to share a positive example of the effects of research on children and/or families which is the attachment theory, as many educators know in all early childhood centers or home day care centers children go through the attachment stage. Attachment is an emotional bond to another person in which most children show to their parents.  Job Bowlby is the first attachment theorist, describing attachment as a lasting psychological connectedness between human beings. The attachment theory is a positive example because it allows parents to understand the components of attachment such as safe haven, secure base, and separation distress these are the stages that their child/children goes through when something new is occurring  such as going to daycare for the first time. Without this research on children, educators would not no whats going on with children, as they cry loudly for their parents or guardians. I am happy Job Bowlby conducted this study, its makes my life much easier, and with several trainings i attended in the past i know what and how to comfort children.

Research Topic

This week i am learning more about a topic that brings passion and hope to my heart . During week 1, i was thinking about a topic that i thought was crucial for children's development as well as something that Teachers need more training on. I decided for the research stimulation question i decided to research more on the topic of Parental/ Family  involvement  on student success. This subject really hit home for me because as i stated before i find it profound when parents don't have a clue on whats going on in their child's school education instead they use early childhood professionals as babysitters instead of educators. I would like to study more on the statistics about the success rate of families that are involved with the children's education, not saying parents who are not involved  with the education of their children will fail, but as we all know there are parents who can care less about the development of their child and there are parents who are busy but take the time out for the education of their children.