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After one of the most stressful school years in living memory, plenty of parents are happy to not have to think about their children’s schooling for a couple of months. With the pandemic winding down in Canada and the United States, many people are content to spend the summer soaking up the sun and enjoying outdoor activities again. But while play time, family time, and leisure are essential for young kids, there are good reasons not to drop education from the schedule entirely during the school break. Summer tutoring can play a vital role in helping children retain what they have learned over the previous year, and in the wake of the academic upheavals kids of all ages have experienced during the pandemic, the hands-on support tutors provide is more important than ever. Here’s why. 1. Summer Learning Loss is a Serious Problem Even at the best of times, a “learning slide” occurs during the summer months, with some studies suggesting that students lose as much as a month’s worth of information over the break, with literacy and math skills being particularly impacted. This summer learning loss has a wide range of negative effects. In addition to leaving students less equipped to take on the challenges of a new school year, the learning slide can also leave students feeling less confident in their abilities, and more likely to become discouraged when taking on new material. 2. The Pandemic Has Made Learning Loss Worse Though summer learning loss is a perennial problem, research into the subject has found that hits some students harder than others. Students who performed well in the previous year were less likely to experience significant learning loss, while those who had done poorly experienced greater regress. It is no secret that the 2020-2021 school year saw decreased performance across the board, as students struggled to adapt to distance learning and had to deal with significant learning barriers when in-class learning was allowed. This means that students who were struggling during the pandemic will have retained less, and will face greater hurdles in the upcoming academic year. 3. Tutoring Helps Keep Knowledge Fresh Learning, especially during the elementary years, is based on exposure and practice. Reading, writing, and math are skills that need to be developed over time, and when students don’t engage in these tasks on a daily basis, they regress. Even one tutoring session a week can help kids remember and practice what they already know, helping to keep their brains active and their skills sharp. Local tutoring companies offer a variety of tutoring options, both online and in-person, for individuals and groups, giving students a chance to go over what learned in the classroom the previous year. The past sixteen months have forced children, parents, and teachers to get creative about learning, and the while it has been a rocky road, many learning outcomes were still achieved. If you want to make sure your kids can start the coming year strong, summer tutoring is the best way to make sure they don’t lose any of that hard-won progress.
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