Parents play a pivotal role in introducing their children to science, but little is known about the nature of an early science-related home learning environment. This study examines different aspects of the home learning environment and their associations with children's science knowledge. Mediation analyses of a sample of 257 five-year-old preschool children and their parents show that (1) parental engagement in science-related learning activities with their children is associated with children's science knowledge, (2) structural family characteristics as well as parental interest in science are associated with the frequency of these activities, and (3) associations of structural family characteristics and parental interest in science with children's knowledge are mediated by science-related activities. The results emphasize the important role of parents in children's early science education.

父母在向孩子介绍科学方面起着举足轻重的作用，但对于早期与科学相关的家庭学习环境的本质知之甚少。这项研究考察了家庭学习环境的各个方面，以及它们与儿童科学知识的关系。对257名五岁学龄前儿童及其父母进行的抽样分析表明：（1）父母与子女一起进行与科学相关的学习活动与孩子的科学知识有关；（2）家庭结构特征以及父母的父母对科学的兴趣与这些活动的频率有关，（3）与家庭相关的结构特征和父母对科学与儿童知识的兴趣之间的联系是由与科学有关的活动所介导的。