Looking back on the Pandemic four years ago, every one of us had to shift our life experiences. We had more family time but less live social time, and most children had online school for about a year. At first, we were told that we could tackle the Pandemic with a few months of isolation. However, complete isolation was impossible, and the virus spread, causing fear. After about a year of isolation with much of the world and our social lives shut down, we finally had vaccines. After a few months of relaxation, we discovered that we could still get Covid, and people were cautious again, wearing masks for up to two years.

While those two years seemed like the new normal, life eventually evolved to what it was pre-pandemic – mostly. More people are working from home, and screen time for meetings and part of our social lives remained.

When children went back to school, teachers complained that their social skills were lacking. Their year of online learning was substandard, causing many children to be significantly behind where they should have been. Schools received Pandemic funding, which they used for extra personal attention and tutoring.

So where are we now? During this past academic year, I regularly heard from parents that their children had major gaps resulting from the year they missed. Some students missed a crucial course like Algebra, and then didn’t have the skills to do the next level of math. Other students missed a year of writing and never learned important grammatical concepts, like when to use apostrophes and commas, or the difference between a complete sentence and a fragment. Some students never learned about the three branches of government in the United States and then moved on to the next class, still never understanding about our government’s checks and balances.

Pre-school children also missed crucial skills. The New York Times reported last month that some Kindergarten students did not have the strength to hold pencils since they were just swiping tablets for a year. Other young students struggled with social skills. Some teachers complained that children did not engage in imaginative play with other children the way they used to. [The Youngest Pandemic Children are now in School, and Struggling]

Now that we have just begun a new academic year, it is time to look these gaps in the eye and fill them in. I recommend serious parent monitoring. This is what is looks like:

Homework

Monitor homework assignments and check your child’s work intermittently. Explain the purpose of looking for gaps in knowledge that need to be filled in.

Writing

If your child is writing essays as homework or classwork, see if you can take a look at them. If your child missed crucial writing instruction, a parent can help fill in the gaps by working on these skills. Some teachers grade essays without supplying enough feedback about grammar, transitions, word choice, or paragraph development. The best way to become a better writer is to receive feedback and implement this feedback on the next writing sample. This is where a parent or tutor can help fill in writing gaps.

Reading

Reading is very much connected with writing because by reading regularly, one can internalize rules of grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, which will emerge in one’s own writing. We recommend that students read for pleasure on a regular basis to become more fluent readers and better writers. Graphic novels are fun, but children need to read actual books and articles as well.

Math

If your child is having difficulty with math, find out where the roadblock is. It very well may be a gap from years ago that can be cleared up now to improve mathematical understanding going forward. A parent or tutor can remediate and also use online resources such as the Khan Academy, which describes how to do any math problem.

History and Current Events

Years ago, teachers discussed current events in class and asked students to bring in articles to discuss. Because politics has become so polarized and controversial, Current Events in school has fallen away. Parents can help their children be informed about the news and politics by discussing the news at home. Current events often connect with history, which informs what is going on today. By discussing major historical events at home and monitoring what your child is learning in school, you can fill in gaps they may have from their missing year. Many of our children learn about news from social media, which isn’t always accurate. It is helpful to discuss different points of view, even if you don’t agree, at home.

Checking in with Teachers

Teachers have many students to keep up with, which makes it difficult for them to contact parents about every red flag. You can check in regularly with your child’s teachers about their academic progress to try to locate gaps in any areas. Then you can address these gaps head-on.

Four years after the Pandemic began, I think it is finally time to catch up, and parents are uniquely motivated and qualified to take the lead.

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By Cheryl Gedzelman, President, Tutoring For Success