Mothers support their children by “doing homework” for them

As the class moved to the home, the mothers’ responsibilities doubled, highlighting their intense daily presence as they kept up with the explanations and scrutinized the details.

Although this role enhances the partnership between home and school, overdoing it may threaten the student’s independence and building his basic skills in the long term.

Mothers confirmed to Emirates Today that they have acquired educational skills that enable them to provide effective support to their children in the virtual education journey, within the home environment, while teachers stressed the need to maintain clear boundaries that ensure that the mother’s role does not transform from a supporter to a substitute for the student, by solving assignments on behalf of the son, or performing the role of the teacher entirely within the home.

In detail, Sarah Mustafa, a mother of three children, said that she underwent intensive training courses in teaching methods and the use of digital platforms, which enabled her to follow up on her children more effectively, simplify academic concepts for them, and organize their time in a way that achieves a balance between commitment to attendance and quality of comprehension.

She added that this experience enhanced her ability to understand her children’s educational needs and deal with their individual differences, but it imposed a challenge in controlling the limits of intervention, stressing her keenness to provide support and guidance without becoming a substitute for the student in performing his tasks, which contributes to building his personality and enhancing his self-reliance within the distance learning environment.

Mayada Yassin, a mother of four children, said that the requirements of distance learning prompted mothers to adopt more flexible and innovative educational strategies, and actually returned them to the “learning seats” to acquire skills that would enable them to teach their children at various educational levels efficiently.

She explained that the experience forced mothers to develop their educational tools to keep pace with the nature of digital education and its requirements.

She explained that these strategies are based on simplifying concepts, dividing content into gradual steps, and employing applied activities to enhance focus and stimulate interaction, noting that systematic supervision of assignments and reviewing lessons have become part of her daily routine.

Samar Muhammad, a mother of two students, believes that distance learning, despite the daily pressures and challenges that accompany it, constitutes a rich educational opportunity to instill the values ​​of discipline and perseverance and enhance self-reliance in children.

She explained that this stage transformed challenges into real motivators to build a balanced personality capable of adapting to changes, and qualified to continue learning with confidence and independence in various circumstances.

She emphasized that mothers have become influential teachers who contribute effectively to the success of the distance learning experience, noting that the experience highlighted the spirit of cooperation and enhanced family interaction, which contributed to consolidating the bonds of cohesion within the home.

She added that this cohesion created a collective educational environment based on solidarity and exchange of experiences, and it reflected positively on the educational and psychological aspects of the children.

For her part, educational expert Dr. Mona Jaber warned against the intense presence of mothers, “it may sometimes turn into direct interference that limits the student’s ability to rely on himself.”

She explained that practices such as the mother answering on behalf of the student or following up on all the details may give apparent results, but weaken the child’s educational character in the long term.

Educational consultant Dr. Hikmat Al-Imam warned that this type of intervention, despite its positive intentions, empties the educational process of its true content and undermines the development of the student’s self-reliance skills. She explained that excessive support gradually turns into complete dependence, which weakens the student’s ability to think independently and make decisions, and negatively affects his achievement in the long term.

She called for establishing the concept of “directed support” based on guidance and follow-up without performing tasks on behalf of the children, in order to achieve the required balance between supporting the family and building an independent educational personality capable of self-learning.

She added, “Distance learning provided mothers with the opportunity to perform the role of teacher, but in return it imposed a double responsibility that requires balanced educational awareness, so that every mother pays attention to the importance of supporting her children without turning into a complete substitute for the teacher,” adding that “the effective role lies in guidance, motivation, and organizing time, while allowing the student the opportunity to discover his abilities and build his independence.”

She said: “Care should be taken to create a calm educational environment, enhance self-discipline, and encourage children to ask questions and interact directly with their teachers, which contributes to developing thinking skills and taking responsibility. Through this balance, the mother can perform her educational role efficiently without prejudice to the goal of the educational process, which is based on enabling the student to rely on himself and achieve sustainable academic progress.”

She stressed the importance of enhancing children’s self-reliance in performing tasks, while providing support only when needed, in addition to using positive motivation, continuous follow-up with the school, monitoring the student’s psychological state, diversifying learning methods, and instilling the values ​​of responsibility and discipline, in a way that ensures that learning is real and sustainable, away from total dependence on the family.