Latine caregivers’ storytelling with their preschoolers about science, nature, and identity

Family storytelling can support the development of children’s cognitive skills and sense of identity. The current study explored Latine caregivers’ storytelling as a resource for promoting their young children’s science learning. One-hundred and fifteen U.S. Latine caregivers were video recorded sharing a nature- or science-related story with their 3- to 5-year-old children and reporting why they shared that story. Most caregivers told autobiographical narratives, including reminiscing stories about shared events and caregiver memories from their own childhood. Others told fiction stories (i.e. invented stories, retellings of popular children’s stories) and fictionalized personal stories. Stories covered many science topics, including animals, outdoor recreation, natural environments, and plants and farming. Although STEM learning is often presented as acultural and objective, many caregivers chose to tell nature- and science-related stories that connected to child and family identity development.