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This article explored the variability of parental educational mind-sets among Australian parents toward the accessible educational and learning capitals that may affect their children’s educational achievement. The participants (N= 1,917) responded to the Family Educational and Learning Capitals Questionnaire as well as their ethnic identity. Parents also reported their children’s numeracy scores in a standardized test of achievement. Six major groups were adequate for statistical analysis, including Australians, British, Chinese, Indian, Other Asian, and Other European. A multiple comparison analysis was performed on the responses by parents from the six ethnic groups to examine the differences in parent responses to access to capitals. Controlled for ethnic groups, stepwise regression analysis showed which capitals predicted numeracy achievement of their children. The results indicated that within this sample of Australian parents, there is variability across different ethnic groups in what is considered important in their children’s educational achievement and this variability is associated with differences in numeracy outcomes.

The article discusses the usage of technology in education to engage young children in science. Topics discussed include information on the children's formal learning environments; how teachers and parents engage young children in learning science; and the need to encourage the children's science engagement from preschool onwards.