SOUTHERN COLORADO — As the school year winds down, students and parents are starting to shift their focus to summer, but educators are warning parents to keep the school supplies near; even during the summer, because COVID learning loss is a real issue.
According to a recent study byHorace Mann, more than half of public school K-12 teachers in the U.S., said the pandemic resulted in a "significant" learning loss for students, both academically and from a social-emotional standpoint. This year, because experts are predicting a COVID learning slide, something much more severe than a typical summer learning slide, educators are urging parents to get ahead of any future failing grades.
"A better thing to do is to begin by asking, what have you been learning during this time? what are the, the things that you have questions about, that you want to grow and learn about?" asked Bill Penuel, a staff member at the CU Boulder School of Education.
Make sure you look into what areas your child needs help, and the subjects that interest them. One way parents can combat learning loss is by looking acceleration academies. These are made up of small groups of eight to 12 students. They would get 50 rigorous tutoring sessions over two weeks, which would aim to give them back 6 months of learning. There is also high-intensity tutoring, which is 50 minutes of daily tutoring, by paraprofessionals for a year. There are also summer school options, camps, and programs your child can participate in.
"If I'm worried about a student that's struggling, maybe with the concept of grouping and multiplications, we can continue working on that over the summer, so that they just have that boost and that confidence heading into the next grade level," said Kate Canine, the director of Professional Learning at Poudre Schools.
Parents can also do simple things at home like encourage summer reading, daily writing, and find educational online programs that can keep your child engaged.
For online summer school resources, click here.
For more summer camp options, click here.
For more ideas on activities to do at home, click here.
