Everyday Family and Community Life and Children's Naturally Occurring Learning Opportunities

Abstract

National surveys of nearly 3300 parents (and other caregivers) of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with or at-risk for developmental delays were conducted to ascertain the sources of naturally occurring learning opportunities afforded young children in the context of family and community life. One group of parents completed a survey about family life as sources of learning opportunities (N = 1723), and another group completed a survey of community life as sources of learning opportunities (N = 1560). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that both family and community life were each made up of 11 different categories of learning opportunities. Results indicate the 22 categories provide a framework for recognizing and identifying sources of learning opportunities providing children a rich array of experiences constituting natural learning environments.