Linking parents' play strategies with their preschoolers' STEM skills: The mediating roles of child STEM talk and self-regulated learning.

ABSTRACT: Previous studies document associations between parents' use of guided-play strategies and children's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills. We extend existing research by exploring mediating mechanisms that may account for these links. Parents played with their preschool children (N = 75; 49% girls and 51% boys; 94% White, 3% Black, 1% biracial, 1% Asian, and 1% Native American; M_age = 4.82 years) in undertaking a building challenge. Videotaped play was coded for parents' guiding STEM talk (density of math, spatial, and scientific inquiry language) and management strategy (high vs. low directiveness). Mediators included children's STEM talk during play and self-regulated learning (assessed by executive function tests and examiner's ratings of children's task o

SUBMITTER: Mannweiler MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11984624 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature