Conversations with mothers and siblings: young children's semantic and conceptual development

Science in stories: Implications for Latine children's science learning through home-based language practices

There is growing interest in stories as potentially powerful tools for science learning. In this mini-review article, we discuss theory and evidence indicating that, especially for young children, listening to and sharing stories with adult caregivers at home can make scientific ideas and inquiry practices meaningful and accessible. We review recent research offering evidence that stories presented in books can advance children's science learning. Nonetheless, most of this work focuses on middle-class European-American U. S. children and involves narrative story books. Given the national imperative to increase Latine representation in STEM education and career pursuits in the U. S., we argue that it is vital that we broaden the definition of stories to include oral narrative storytelling and other conversational routines that Latine families engage in at home. Cultural communities with firmly rooted oral traditions, such as those from Latin American heritage, rely frequently on oral storytelling rather than book reading to convey world and community knowledge to young children. Therefore, we advocate for a strengths-based approach that considers Latine families' everyday practices around science and storytelling on their own terms instead of contrasting them with European-American middle-class practices. We offer support for the view that for young children in Latine communities, culturally relevant oral practices, including personal narrative storytelling, can engender significant opportunities for family science learning at home.

Parents scaffold flexible imitation during early childhood

Children use imitation flexibly to acquire the instrumental skills and conventions of their social groups. This study (N=69 parent and 3- to 6-year-old child dyads) examined the impact of instrumental versus conventional language on (a) children's imitative flexibility in the context of parent-child interaction and (b) how parents scaffold children's imitation. Children in dyads presented with conventional language imitated with higher fidelity than children in dyads presented with instrumental language. Parents in dyads presented with conventional language also provided their children with more instruction to imitate and engaged in more encouragement, demonstration, and monitoring than parents in dyads presented with instrumental language. The relation between language cue and children's imitative fidelity was mediated by parent scaffolding behavior. The results provide evidence that caregivers support the development of flexible imitation during early childhood by adjusting their scaffolding according to the goal of the behavior.

Normative Scripts for Object Labeling during a Play Activity: Mother-Child and Sibling Conversations in Mexican-Descent Families

This study compared patterns of mother and sibling object labeling as potential word learning resources for young children. Maternal labeling was also compared based on mothers’education level and target children’s age and gender. Target children (2- to 3-year-olds) from 40 Mexican-descent families engaged in a videotaped play activity with their mothers and siblings (4- to 6-year-olds). Mothers provided names for objects (referential labeling) as often as they mentioned objects as part of the ongoing activity (labeling in action). Siblings focused on referential labeling proportionately more than did mothers and did so as a demonstration of their knowledge of object labels, whereas mothers used this labeling style as a collaborative discussion. There were no differences in mothers’ labeling styles based on education level; however, there were interesting variations based on target child age and gender. Results suggest that there are diverse conversational motivations and normative scripts for object labeling within mother-child and sibling conversations.

Young children’s arithmetic strategies in social context: How parents contribute to children’s strategy development while playing games

We examined the relationship between parents’ behaviour and children’s use of simple arithmetic strategies while playing a board game in contrast to solving arithmetic problems. In a microgenetic study spanning 3 weeks, 5-year-old children who were just beginning kindergarten played a modified game of “Chutes and Ladders” with one of their parents, computing their moves from the throw of dice. Children also solved math problems (math context) given to them by their parents at the end of each session. Children’s arithmetic strategies and a variety of parental behaviours (prompt, prompt after error, affirmation, disaffirmation, cognitive directives, provide answer) were coded for children’s game moves and the math context. As in past research, children used multiple and variable strategies, both when computing their moves during the game and in solving the math problems. Parents displayed different patterns of behaviours during the game and math contexts and showed different relationships among behaviours and strategies as a function of context, reflecting their sensitivity to the cognitive demands on their children of the different tasks. The results were interpreted in terms of the need to integrate contemporary strategy development theory with a sociocultural perspective and to recognise the dynamic nature of parent–child interactions with respect to the social construction of cognitive strategies.

Does input influence uptake? Links between maternal talk, processing speed and vocabulary size in Spanish-learning children

It is well established that variation in caregivers' speech is associated with language outcomes, yet little is known about the learning principles that mediate these effects. This longitudinal study (n = 27) explores whether Spanish-learning children's early experiences with language predict efficiency in real-time comprehension and vocabulary learning. Measures of mothers' speech at 18 months were examined in relation to children's speech processing efficiency and reported vocabulary at 18 and 24 months. Children of mothers who provided more input at 18 months knew more words and were faster in word recognition at 24 months. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that the influences of caregiver speech on speed of word recognition and vocabulary were largely overlapping. This study provides the first evidence that input shapes children's lexical processing efficiency and that vocabulary growth and increasing facility in spoken word comprehension work together to support the uptake of the information that rich input affords the young language learner.

Playmates and teachers: reciprocal and complementary interactions between siblings

Associations between siblings' reciprocal (i.e., play) and complementary (i.e., teaching) interactions in 70 sibling dyads (1st-born siblings' mean age=81.6 months, range=59-119 months; 2nd-born siblings' mean age = 56.1 months, range = 5-79 months) were examined. Dyads participated in 2 sessions (play, teaching) and completed a sibling relationship quality measure. Findings revealed modest associations across play and teaching sessions; for example, greater learner involvement in the teaching task was associated with more collaboration and less negative affect during play. In addition, the 2nd-born's teaching style was related to perceptions of relationship quality. Results indicate that reciprocal and complementary types of interactions may provide important contexts for development of individual differences in dyadic and individual behaviors and may afford opportunities for siblings to influence one another's development.

Longitudinal direct and indirect pathways linking older sibling competence to the development of younger sibling competence

A 4-wave longitudinal model tested direct and indirect links between older sibling (OS; M = 11.7 years) and younger sibling (YS; M = 9.2 years) competence in 152 rural African American families. Data were collected at 1-year intervals. At each wave, different teachers assessed OS competence, YS competence, and YS self-regulation. Mothers reported their own psychological functioning; mothers and YSs reported parenting practices toward the YS. OS competence was stable across time and was linked with positive changes in mothers' psychological functioning from Wave 1 to Wave 2. Mothers' Wave 2 psychological functioning was associated with involved-supportive parenting of the YS at Wave 3. OS Wave 2 competence and Wave 3 parenting were indirectly linked with Wave 4 YS competence, through Wave 3 YS self-regulation. Structural equation modeling controlled for Wave 1 YS competence; thus, the model accounted for change in YS competence across 3 years.

Sibling relationship quality: its causes and consequences

Current work on children's individual characteristics and family processes that contribute to variation in sibling relationship quality is reviewed. Findings from these studies are summarized in a heuristic model that specifies hypothesized links among family processes, intrapersonal characteristics, and variations in sibling relationship quality. The model is designed to provide researchers with a host of hypotheses to test and refine in future studies. The contributions that sibling relationships may make to cognitive and psychosocial development are then reviewed, with a suggestion that sibling relationships comprised of a balance of both prosocial and conflicted interactions create experiences that are most likely to nurture children's social, cognitive, and psychosocial development.