{"ID":2848917,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24070","arxiv_id":"2510.24070","title":"Building AI Literacy at Home: How Families Navigate Children's Self-Directed Learning with AI","abstract":"As generative AI becomes embedded in children's learning spaces, families face new challenges in guiding its use. Middle childhood (ages 7-13) is a critical stage where children seek autonomy even as parental influence remains strong. Using self-directed learning (SDL) as a lens, we examine how parents perceive and support children's developing AI literacy through focus groups with 13 parent-child pairs. Parents described evolving phases of engagement driven by screen time, self-motivation, and growing knowledge. While many framed AI primarily as a study tool, few considered its non-educational roles or risks, such as privacy and infrastructural embedding. Parents also noted gaps in their own AI understanding, often turning to joint exploration and engagement as a form of co-learning. Our findings reveal how families co-construct children's AI literacy, exposing tensions between practical expectations and critical literacies, and provide design implications that foster SDL while balancing autonomy and oversight.","short_abstract":"As generative AI becomes embedded in children's learning spaces, families face new challenges in guiding its use. Middle childhood (ages 7-13) is a critical stage where children seek autonomy even as parental influence remains strong. Using self-directed learning (SDL) as a lens, we examine how parents perceive and sup...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24070","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.24070v1","authors":"[\"Jingyi Xie\",\"Chuhao Wu\",\"Ge Wang\",\"Rui Yu\",\"He Zhang\",\"Ronald Metoyer\",\"Si Chen\"]","published":"2025-10-28T05:06:03Z","proceeding":"cs.HC","tasks":"[\"cs.HC\"]","methods":"[\"LoRA\"]","has_code":false}