The pandemic meant a lot of different things for a lot of different people. While it was important for students to stay home, it was a hard time in education that we are still healing from. Adults are mostly “back to normal,” therefore, we expect kids to have bounced back by now. We have the same standards, same curriculum, and same assessments without considering their uneven social-emotional development and academic interruptions. We need to remember that Gen Z and Gen Alpha may need extra support and time to catch up. Because summer vacation is an opportunity for many students to catch up, rest, and fill in these gaps, let’s talk about this unhealed wound.
Are teachers and parents to blame?
Absolutely not. Teachers and parents are not to blame for the lack of learning that happened in at-home environments. I had been teaching for seven years when the pandemic hit. It was some of the most difficult teaching that I have done in my entire career. The entirety of teaching in 2020 was like treading water re-learning my craft in a new environment. Parents of school aged children were faced with a similar task.
I start with this question because I want those of us who worked with children or had children during the pandemic to be kind to ourselves. In a lot of cases, we did the absolute best that we could in a tough situation. It is not our fault. Now it is about healing not blame.
Math Gaps
While the data is still emerging, as a teacher at a K-12 school I can say fundamental math gaps are one of these unhealed academic wounds. We keep pushing forward, expecting the curriculum that has “always worked” to work for this group of kids.
Consider this, the fifth-grade students of 2024 missed out on second and third grade. These are the years in which you learn to add and subtract multi-digit numbers. You learn to multiply and do long division. Of course, our students are not ready to move into algebra and improper fractions when they still are uneasy about basic math facts. The eighth-grade students of 2024 missed fifth and sixth grade; they missed the basics of adding and subtracting fractions, algebra, and order of operations. Of course, they are not able to find the surface area of a cylinder.
When we look at math instruction, we need to change how we do everything. We cannot keep assuming things are “back to normal” and that the stuff that worked in the “before times” is what is best for our students now. Too many of our students were left behind without foundational skills. If you see your student lost and having a hard time catching up, look at the skills for the grades that they “missed” during the pandemic.
Reading Gaps
While gaps in reading exist, I see fewer of these in my practice than in math. For the most part, students were able to read at home whether this was through increased access to audiobooks, programs at public libraries, or just more independent time to read. Most of my students today have favorite books or discovered a love of reading during the pandemic.
However, a gap exists in how they process these books. A lot of critical thinking skills were not developed during the pandemic. While students understand and enjoy what they are reading, they have a hard time analyzing or connecting when it comes to reading. These skills are really important to develop for high school, college, and life in general. All reading is good reading and we should all encourage our students to read for fun over the summer. By asking a few questions about their reading we can help remediate some of these gaps.
Independence and Social Emotional Learning
Research shows a massive increase in anxiety-disorders in children (Fortuna et al., 2023). The pandemic was a time of uncertainty for all students. They didn’t have extracurricular activities or opportunities to meet with friends. A lot of screen time restrictions were understandably lifted during the pandemic. During the pandemic, students did not have to organize their backpacks, remember their lunches, or keep track of their stuff for after-school activities. All of these played a role in social-emotional development.
We need to give our students grace and make sure that we are also remediating these skills. Students in a post-pandemic era may need more direct executive functioning instruction. More than anything, our students need our patience. The pandemic is a trauma they are still healing from. We need to give them opportunities to catch up and moderate our own emotions when they need a bit longer than generations past to catch up on these skills. I love Gen Z and Gen Alpha. I have so much hope for the future because of them, their energy, their perspective and compassion. They deserve our patience and understanding.
What if my student is behind?
It is okay to go back and remediate these basic skills. Your student will not be behind forever and they just need to fill in these missing building blocks at the foundation of their understanding. We need to stop shaming students because they fell behind and give them the freedom to catch up.
If your student is recovering from learning loss during the pandemic, we at BES can help. We have special deals on math tutors over this summer. This is the time to catch up and get back on track. Call us to see how we can help your child navigate their learning journey.
Sources
Fortuna, L. R., Brown, I. C., Lewis Woods, G. G., & Porche, M. V. (2023). The Impact of COVID-19 on Anxiety Disorders in Youth: Coping with Stress, Worry, and Recovering from a Pandemic. Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America, 32(3), 531–542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2023.02.002