teaching by modeling

The Tiger mom article provoked me to think about how much modeling a behavior for a child can help that child adopt the same behavior.  American families often have common values, yet with varying degrees of importance.  Growing up, my family always valued intelligence.  It was very evident growing up that my family valued learning and enjoyed the mental stimulation of challenging academic tasks.  My family did not talk about celebrit gossip at the dinner table, we talked about the latest scientific discoveries or the most intriguing facts we soaked in to our braisn while reading National Geographic.  I love this trait about my family and I am also aware that not every family talks about science at dinner! Other families value being successful in the workplace more so than academic success.  For my family, work was always a means to an end rather than the chief focus of our lives.  My parents worked because he needed to make money to support our family and he NEVER placed work above us.  My parents never gave us over to babysitters-one worked day and one worked nights.  My brothers and i always had a parent around and now, as a young adult, I share those same values.  I value intelligence and family over work.  I will never be a workaholic because no one in my family places work at the top of the latter of values.  I wonder if other people feel the same way? Meaning that I wonder if many others share the values modeled by their parents?