Respondents have higher expectations for their children than their parents had of them. Most respondents expected their children to achieve a college diploma or university degree.
Another difference is reading behavior. Four respondents recalled being read to regularly when they were growing up; 17 respondents said they read to their children every day. Everyone in this study said they have a large number of books at home.
Television watching is a common activity at home and while 11 parents watched TV regularly and six parents watched programs with their children, five parents said they only watch television after their children have gone to bed. Most frequently watched programs were drama, documentaries and reality television shows.
The mother of an 11 month old girl said her child does not watch TV. Twenty children watch up to five fours of television per day with preschool programs and youth cartoons being the programs most frequently watched.
Of the 19 people who access the internet at home, nine respondents use it mostly for product research and six use it for email and chat groups.
Twelve respondents said their children access the internet mostly for email and chat groups and to play recreational games.
Other types of modeling included writing (16 respondents) and singing and rhyming activities (21 respondents).
Six people said they and/or their children access material from the public library and eight others had library cards but did not use it or rarely used it. Eleven of 14 parents with school aged children said their children access material from their school library.
Parents today are more likely to take their children on social and cultural outings than they experienced when they were growing up. Respondents mentioned visiting the TELUS World of Science, art gallery, museum, zoo, Ukrainian Cultural Village and other festivals in Edmonton.