AP22347

Science Summary

According to the article "My Brother's Keeper: How Siblings Teach One Another about the World", researchers from Concordia University have found that younger siblings learn quite a bit from their older siblings. Nina Howe conducts this study by observing siblings in their home environment. The researchers spent six 90-minute sessions in 39 middle-class families in Canada, each with two parents sharing caretaking responsibilities in the home. The two siblings being studied were four and six. While being observed, the children were encouraged to play. These "teaching" moments happened quite often and more than the researchers expected. The teaching moments included things like counting and cleaning off a chalkboard, but some were more deep and intellectual teaching moments. The article suggests that this study can teach parents to just let their kids be kids, and not to butt in. Howe suggests that "parents should see the value in providing uninterrupted playtime between their children." Denise Boyd and Helen Bee's book also understands the importance of sibling relationships. It says that "only and first born children may get more of the kind of attention from parents that is critical to cognitive development, but sibling relationships appear to make positive contributions to children's social and emotional development" (255). This information strikes home to me since I have four younger siblings that I extended knowledge to as they grew up. It happens very naturally, as if that's just what older siblings do without even thinking about it. My older brother taught me how to brush my teeth and even helped me pull out my first loose tooth, so these finding are very accurate in my experience.

References:

Concordia University. "My Brother's Keeper: How Siblings Teach One Another about the World." //ScienceDaily//. ScienceDaily, 9 Jul. 2014. Web. 18 Jul. 2014.

Boyd, Denise, and Helen Bee. //Lifespan Development//. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.

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