My Personal Research Journey

My topic for the simulation revolves around the influence of play on a child's academic development.  I am interested in finding out more about how we can link a child's learning goals to their play situations.  This also leads to me wondering about different forms of play as a link to a child's memory or to learn a certain skill.  I know that, for instance, my Kindergartners love music.  They are amazing at remembering information that is put to a song.  I also have seen that so many of their more "academic" learning goals can be learned through a first-hand experience or an inquiry-based situation.  This got me thinking about the connection between play and a child's academic development.

So far in this course I've noticed that there are many things I already knew but hadn't thought of or used in a long time.  I have appreciated the applicable nature of the course.  Often you learn about research (or some other topic) and it seems there is no connection to your work or real life experiences.  That has not been the case with this course and I have loved that.

I am interested in learning from colleagues as they go through this process.  We will be able to share both resources and also experiences.  Learning from one another through collaboration and shared information is going to be very beneficial to our overall success in the course.