Preventing the “Summer Slide”
by Danielle Alexander
After a school year of either no face-to-face instruction, less-than-normal face-to-face instruction, on and off face-to-face instruction and/or socially distanced and masked face-to-face instruction, no one can argue with the fact that the pandemic has affected our children, especially our youngest ones who are not yet old enough to sit still during a virtual lesson or work on skills by themselves.
Curious about the lack of formal schooling and its effect on children, I caught up with kindergarten teacher Candice Abro to hear about her experiences with her students this last school year, as well as Cyndi Barash, owner and operator of One-on-One Tutoring, to learn about how consistent learning activities throughout the summer months could help children bridge the gap— one that is likely much wider than in years past.
Relearning how to work independently and without technology
As a teacher, the most challenging part of virtual schooling for Abro was the fact that she could not provide her five- and six-year-old students with the physical, hands-on support they needed, nor did she have full control when it was time for them to practice skills on their own. She said that while learning online, many of her students had a parent nearby, and although Abro appreciated their support, she said that sometimes parents would just give their son or daughter the answer, which took away from critical thinking skills.
“When we came back in-person, I noticed many gaps in student learning, and [a lot] had to do with skills that students need to work on independently,” Abro explained. “[It’s important to] give students a direction, give them time (set a timer) and walk away, so they can work on their own.”
Abro said her students’ fine motor skills, or the ability to make movements using the small muscles in their hands and wrists, were definitely lacking when they returned to in-person school and needed to be restrengthened. According to healthline.com, fine motor skills are crucial because the ability to use the smaller muscles in the hands allows children to perform self-care tasks, such as brushing their teeth, eating, writing, cutting with scissors and getting dressed without assistance.
Abro also noticed that many of her students did not remember or know how to play or take turns playing because they have been so used to being on an iPad or tablet: “Children at this age should be doing as many hands-on and tech-free learning activities as possible,” she said. She recommends parents encourage and regularly play board and card games with their children this summer, as well as give their children opportunities to play alone and grow their imagination as play helps with so many academic skills.
Getting caught up and avoiding the “summer slide”
Abro has always encouraged and even worked with students over the summer to prevent the so-called summer slide; however, given this last year, she said it would be a great idea to get your child in an in-person routine this summer, whether that be tutoring to strengthen academic skills or a summer camp, class, or even playdates to improve in social areas.
Barash, who started tutoring face-to-face with students again in June 2020, said parents have been very relieved to have this support in-place for their children throughout the school year, many planning to continue during the summer months.
“This has been a very challenging year for most students and parents,” she said. “There were many districts that continued to teach virtually for a duration of the school year, and this was a disadvantage to the students and definitely affected them, especially with having already lost the end of the last school year due to the pandemic.”
Like Abro, Barash and her team of certified teachers with graduate degrees in education have also been observing a lack of critical thinking and fine motor skills and, as a result, are constantly practicing these skills with students, so that when they return to school in the fall, they are where they should be.
“We encourage them to infer, become independent learners, ask questions, as well as problem solve, and we have tools that we use to work on their fine motor skills,” she said. “Summer is a great opportunity and extremely beneficial to continue learning and ensure that there isn’t a gap in their academics.”
If you are interested in enrolling your child in tutoring or another in-person program this summer, reach out to your child’s teacher to see what they suggest your son or daughter needs practice on, so they can be as successful as possible in the fall.
Danielle Alexander is the owner of Edify LLC, a tutoring, editing, and freelance writing business.