Too Much Help From Mom May Backfire

This week's article summary is Too Much Help From Mom May Backfire.

As the research study cited in the article focused solely on how mothers helped their kids with homework, I am guessing that fathers should heed the same advice: helping your child with homework occasionally when needed is beneficial while hovering over and in the extreme completing homework for your child is deleterious.

Our goal as teachers is the same as parents in that we want our students/children to become empowered, autonomous, and independent. As the adults in our children/students’ lives, we ensure their physical and emotional safety and establish basic parameters for their behavior. But then we need to give them the space to find their way, knowing that there will be some obstacles along the way. It’s overcoming these obstacles that builds self-confidence and self-assurance.

One of the toughest challenges being a parent is to remain on the sidelines when our child is floundering, but as this research shows, all parents need to be experienced guides to offer advice and support when needed while avoiding being the rescuing savior.

Joe

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Parent support can help keep students on track academically, but a new international study suggests a light touch can be more helpful for students in the long run.

Researchers analyzed children's and their mothers' interactions around homework in relation to the children's academic progress from grades 2 to 4. The study focused on mothers rather than fathers.

They found that children benefitted from their mothers helping with homework, but the type of help mattered. Children whose mothers provided homework help when asked—but also gave students opportunities to work independently—both persisted at tasks longer and did better in school over time. By contrast, moms who gave very concrete help—for example, sitting down every night to go over every assignment, even if the child had not asked for help—had children who were less persistent over time.

One possible explanation is that when the mother gives her child an opportunity to do homework autonomously, the mother also sends out a message that she believes in the child's skills and capabilities. This, in turn, makes the child believe in him- or herself, and in his or her skills and capabilities.

The researchers also found that the parents' and children's behavior reinforced one another. The more often students disengaged from homework, the more likely moms were to handhold them through it, while mothers whose children stuck out homework longer gave them more autonomy in future assignments.