[buwaya]

Thats where we get to the nitty-gritty of the question - what, exactly, make Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese 3-year olds - it starts that young - outperform white, black and hispanic 3-year olds ?

Its NOT an academic tradition. In most cases we are talking about the children or grandchildren of peasants and laborers; I have been to many poor Asian immigrant homes in the US, and in most cases there ARE NO BOOKS in the house.

What we desperately need are detailed comparative time-and-motion studies of these mothers, tiger or otherwise.

[This Just In]

Your anecdotes don’t prove any point. I’m part Asian, and some of the homes I’ve spent time in feature well appointed bookshelves. This is anecdotal as well.

“Its NOT an academic tradition. In most cases we are talking about the children or grandchildren of peasants and laborers;”

Are you suggesting that peasants and laborers do not aspire to educate their children? I can tell you that you’re wrong. It is, in part, as a result of these impoverished conditions that caused these Asian families to pursue an education.

[blueplum]

I'd say, for those peasant children you mention, that the fact they are with their parent (tied to them literally) while their parent carries on everyday survival activities, focuses the child on real-world experiences more quickly than a child sent to day care to play with HeadStart blocks and crayons.