Researchers at Pennsylvania State Teachers College have found that helping parents with homework not only contributes to higher academic achievement, but can even interfere with it. Article published Journal of Childhood Education Research.
The psychologists used data from ECLS-K primary school children beginning in 1998 to create a statistical model that takes into account parents’ socioeconomic status and education. It turned out that regardless of the parents’ education or the child’s beginner level, parental assistance with homework did not affect students’ performance in math and reading.
One possible reason for this is the wrong approach: parents do not have a pedagogical education and only do homework instead of children, not allowing them to consolidate the skills they learned at school. In addition, daily involvement of parents in the education process can increase stress in children and prevent the formation of responsibility for their lives.
The authors emphasize that their findings cannot be applied to homeschooling, which many families have transitioned to during the pandemic, as parent involvement has become almost mandatory.