Early strengths in science: Young children's conversations about nature in Latine families

Abstract

Young children's science understanding begins in everyday observations and conversations with their parents. While research on STEM learning in Latine children often suggests deficits, we used diary report methods to identify conversations as indicators of 3–5-year-old children's early strengths in science. Twenty-one Latine families from coastal California, with parent schooling averaging 9 years (range 0–16), reported family conversations about nature for 2 weeks. Families reported on average 6.95 conversations (range 1–14). Frequent topics were animals (26%), plants (21%), weather (17%), and astronomy (16%). Partial correlations (controlling for age and parent schooling) revealed that children's question-initiated conversations correlated with families' science-related home activities, and conversations about animals and astronomy. Three case studies illustrate rich conversations where children and parents engaged in science practices during everyday talk. Our study provides evidence of Latine children's early interest in a broad array of science topics and their parents' support of their interests.