Purpose: The researchers conducted a collective case study to investigate how families engaged in making activities related to aerospace engineering in six pop-up makerspace programs held in libraries and one museum. The purpose of this paper is to support families' engagement in design tasks and engineering thinking, three types of discussion…

Research Findings: This study examined the characteristics of mothers' and fathers' scaffoldings that facilitate Chinese children's initiative-taking in different types of problem-solving activities. A sample of 96 Chinese children together with their mothers and fathers participated in this study. All children completed a worksheet, a game, and…

This study is a collaborative project between university researchers and museum practitioners investigating ways to advance STEM learning opportunities for young children and their families in museums. The focus of the work is on how the knowledge resources that are available to families (e.g., prior knowledge, information provided by the museum…

Background: This paper is a qualitative evaluation of a small-scale pilot study that attempted to generate parental involvement in children's learning. It used problem-solving mathematics homework in order to raise the children's self-efficacy, or, put another way, the child's belief that success lies in their own hands. Purpose: Homework is often…

The study examines two years of an educational program for children aged three to four, based on the use of digital cameras. It assesses the program's effects on the children and adults involved in the project, and explores how they help the youngsters acquire visual literacy. Operating under the assumption that formal curricula usually…

This annotated list of seventeen educational games, developed for teaching about young children and/or parenting skills, recommends the use of simulation games as tools in the teaching of child development to adults. Advantages of simulation games over other educational techniques are discussed. The board game of "Mandala," a child-rearing game,…

Parents can encourage their children to become better mathematical thinkers. The article describes how to assist children with problem solving and presents activities that develop specific skills (estimating, counting, sorting, volume, fractions, multiplication, money, story problems, patterning, averaging, computation, magic squares, plane…

Adults can encourage young children to assimilate and use information through inventing, creating, experimenting, and other activities. This guide, part of the "Seeds for Success" series, provides ideas for parents on being their children's first and most important teacher by means of nearly 100 simple activity ideas designed for use with 3- to…

These brochures provide simple, specific activities parents can use during the summer to enhance their children's academic and social skills. The brochure for grades K-3 provides activities in the areas of reading, writing, math, and science. The brochure for grades 4-5 provides activities in the areas of reading, writing, math, and social…

This five-session research-based program trains parents in various skills through a series of experiential learning activities. An introductory chapter reviews the problem initiating the study, the purpose, importance, assumption, limitations, and plan of the study, along with a definition of terms. Next, a literature review examines materials…

Recent research points to the inborn abilities of infants and shows how early experiences influence cognitive skills. This book presents activities for parents and their infants--building on activities babies instinctively love--to develop their unique abilities. The book is organized around six intellectual skills: (1) problem solving; (2)…

An experiment was performed to determine whether the mothers of 20 inner-city black preschoolers could successfully train their children in interpersonal problem-solving skills. The skills acquired by the mother-trained children were compared with those of 113 teacher-trained and 106 non-trained 4-year-olds, equated on initial IQ scores and school…

This instructional packet is one of a series of five modules that emphasize a systematic decision-making model for common problematic situations. The steps of the model are identifying the problem, gathering information, developing and assessing alternatives, implementing a solution, and evaluating and modifying the solution. Aimed at adult basic…

This manual was developed for use in a 17-session family literacy program for incarcerated fathers and their children. The activities in the first eight sessions, which are designed to be completed before the children's first visit, are based on a mix of children's literature and reading materials dealing with child development and parenting. In…

This resource guide provides those teaching the Parenting core course area of the Ohio Work and Family Life Program an overview of the course content, teacher background information, learning activities, and assessment ideas. It has one teaching module for each process competency and each content competency in the Parenting and Process Competency…