 |
Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 13, Issue 2, Article13 (Dec., 2012) |
This paper discusses the importance and implications of parental involvement in children’s science learning in informal contexts. It also describes the development of the Primary Science Parent’s Guide based on the sociocultural and constructivist theories to propose how science activities can be designed and facilitated by parents to enhance their children’s science learning at home or in other informal settings. However, this paper does not advocate that parents replace the science teachers’ role in school. Instead, it contends that parents can play a complementary role to support the science teachers to enhance the science learning experience for their children at home and in other informal settings.
There are important implications for parents and children when they engage in science learning in informal settings. First, when parents provide their children with valuable experiential learning experiences outside the school, they can help their children recognise that science is meaningful because it is connected to their everyday lives in many ways. Second, when parents show enthusiasm and role-model as active learners by learning and doing science with their children, they not only can help their children acquire science knowledge and skills but can also cultivate in them the positive attitudes and values essential for their future learning as well as their character development. Last but not least, when parents and children share joy, laughter and fun during the process of learning and doing science, the quality time spent together not only promotes a collaborative parent-child relationship but also strengthens the family bond between parents and children.
As noted by Crowley et al. (2001), “the most important outcome of everyday parent-child scientific thinking may be that children develop an early interest in science, value science as a cultural practice, and form an identity as someone who is competent in science.” With the guidance and support from their parents through purposely designed learning activities, children can develop understandings of how science works in their everyday lives when they make meaningful connections between their prior knowledge and experiences in their construction of new knowledge.
The author wishes to express her gratitude to Marshall Cavendish International (Singapore) Pte Ltd for granting her permission to reproduce some parts of the I-Science Parent’s Guide (Primary 3 to 6) for the writing of this paper.
