Research that benefits Children and Families

If I was conducting research that benefited children and families, I would conduct an observation based research of the interaction of fathers and their children. I would conduct this research because I have seen throughout my years teaching in the early childhood field the lack of involvement many fathers have in their child's day to day life. Observing them will help answer questions such as;
1. Do children that have fathers that are involved or not involved in their life perform better at school?
2. Do children that have fathers that are involved or not involved in their day to day life behave better?
3. How do fathers communicate with their children at home?
4. Do children have better relationships overall with fathers that live with them or without them?


The positive contribution would be to give fathers the information to show how their lack of involvement with their child can hurt them. I would also give these fathers information on how to become involved on a day to day basis.

There are many fathers that for different reasons do not even know the name of their child's teacher. I think that all they need is to have an understanding of the importance of day to day interactions with their child. Giving them resources will point them in the right direction.

Personal research journey

Developmentally appropriate pratice is the topic I chose. This is a topic that I have read about for years. Teachers need to understand why and how to teach children. Being able to have a curriculum that is developmenatlly appropriate for every age is extremley important in the field of early childhood education.

My personal expierence with developmentally approrpriate practice has been an interesting one. I have found that depending on which school you teach for and what curriculum they follow they standards seem to change. It is usually decided by a school board as to what curriculum to follow. These differences have left me to question what is developmentally appropriate since there are many different opinions. Constructing the research chart helped me understand the organization I will need to complete this and how much information is out there. I just hope I dont become ovewhelmed by the amount of information I may need to go through.

I would like to learn more about research that focus' on play, I am using this term in the broad sense. When I talk about play I am referring to pretend play, outside play, center play. I have read many articles that argue there needs to be more academic time and less play.( Although I dont agree with this I plan on reading all the informtion with an open mind).  How can a teacher make sure that all of these activites are developmentally appropriate for the differen age groups. I am also interested in learning more about developmentally appropriate practice for infants and toddlers. There are many centers that simply provide care for this age group, I would like to learn more about what these children need.

I am still in the process of looking for resources and would love any advice anyone can give on finding resources online. Are there any particular websites that are helpful? 
Thank you in advance for any advice or tips you can give. I will post any good sites I may find.