PARENTS AND SIBLINGS AS EARLY RESOURCES FOR YOUNG CHILDRENS LEARNING IN MEXICAN-DESCENT FAMILIES

This study explored the ways in which both parents and older siblings are important resources for young children's learning in the home cont ext. Parents from 50 Mexican-descent families were interviewed in thei r homes and were asked questions regarding the kinds of causal questio ns their children ask and the different skills their children learn fr om one another: Parents reported that their children ask questions abo ut complex phenomena in important domains such as biology, physics, an d behavior; and parents generally feel good about, and encourage, thes e questions Parents also indicated that their children learn different skills from one Mother; younger siblings learn mostly academic skills from older siblings and older siblings learn mostly social skills fro m younger siblings. Both children are reported to learn mostly through observation and imitation of one another: Findings are discussed in r elation to the issues of ''match'' between homes and schools as comple mentary contexts for young children's learning.