Parents are expected to help with homework in the early school years, as they are assumed to make homework time more effective by guiding their child through the challenges. However, parents vary in the ways in which they give support; this affects the usefulness of the homework process on their child’s learning. What’s unclear is what might cause this variation.

This research explored: What aspects of parents might affect how they help during homework? Is it to do with their personality, their ability to empathise, or their expectations for their child? Is it also affected by the child: their temperament, their attitudes towards schoolwork? Or alternatively, is it down to the quality of the parent-child relationship: the warmth between them, the consistency of parenting and discipline?