Have you lost sleep worrying about your child’s academic future? Rest assured that you are not alone!

The past year and a half have left many parents scrambling, anxious about their children, and questioning the traditional brick-and-mortar school system.

As the pandemic surged and families adapted to the “new normal,” the educational system had faced unprecedented challenges. Schools fought to mitigate learning disruptions by providing remote education; parents adjusted to having their children at home, where they attended classes through computer screens. Many parents found that the online curriculum was severely lacking, making it difficult for their children to progress or even keep up.

Consequently, parents watched as their children fell through the cracks and were left further and further behind. Although most schools have reopened across the United States, the Delta variant continues to threaten communities and strain families and the educational system.

Pandemic-related learning gapswill likely take more than a single academic year to fix, but with the right tools and approach, you can help your child not only catch up but thrive. Yes — your child can fall in love with learning with the help of qualified teachers, an engaging program, and your continuous support.

It’s more important than ever that children have a complete and well-rounded support system in place. If your child is struggling with learning gaps and has fallen behind, consider these four strategies to help ease her way back.

1. Help Find You Child’s Learning Gaps

Since learning gaps are reflected differently in each child, the best way to close them is by caring for the student’s specific needs. “One-size-fits-all” should not be part of your vocabulary when it comes to your child’s education and goals.

Good teachers will use multiple types of assessments to understand where their students are struggling and how they can offer them the best tools and support. As a parent, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with your child’s curriculum so you can observe as they work and help address any noted strengths and weaknesses. Many subjects, such as math, build off the previous lessons, making it difficult for a child to progress or even keep up with her classmates and coursework when they have gaps. As the class moves ahead, they fall further behind exponentially.

In these cases, it’s necessary to backtrack with your child and address these weak areas, or “learning gaps,” so your child can continue building her skills with confidence. Keep in close contact with her tutors and instructors to ensure you’re all on the same page and working together in your child’s benefit!

2. Take the Time Work Through Your Child’s Learning Gaps

Personalization is the key to helping your child overcome learning gaps and unlocking their full potential.

Children thrive when they’re taught according to their pace and preferred learning style. When a teacher, parent, or tutor makes a child their primary focus, they can address gaps in their education and help deliver coursework in a way that gets the very best out of them.

Every child has a different learning style or modality:

Visual Learner – sensitive and insightful

Auditory Learner – expressive and communicative

Kinesthetic Learner – uses hand and body movement

We invite you to take our free learning style assessment. We hope this tool will help illuminate your children’’s strengths and weaknesses, so you can help them overcome any learning gaps and ensure their academic and personal development stays on track.

3. Never Underestimate the Value of Reading

Reading significantly benefits a child’s education as well as her social and cognitive development. Children can build phonetic skills while reading silently or aloud with someone else and developing language comprehension/reading fluency.

So, spend time reading with your child every day. Choose books that excite and challenge them. This will not only give you insight into areas that may need improvement, but it will enrich your time together and allow your child to learn in an exciting, engaging way.

At Groza, we passionately believe every child should have the chance to reach the highest level of education and confidence. Opening their imagination and traveling through a book’s pages is simply one way to get there!

4. Practical Ways to Help Your Struggling Child

This historic time hasn’t been easy on families. Children have been cut off from friends and family members while their worlds were upended. They were faced with uncertainty, unpredictability, and a new way of living day-to-day.

Whether your child attends traditional or private schooling, you can continue to ease her struggles by:

• instilling confidence and encouraging a growth mindset,
• reading books they enjoy and that challenge them,
• stimulating active learning outside of her coursework,
• discussing age-appropriate current events,
• maintaining open communication channels with her instructors and tutors,
• providing positive feedback and reinforcement,
• and taking an active role in her schooling and academic goals.

You’ve Got This — and Groza Learning Center is Here to Help!

Too many students stumble along in the educational system while losing self-confidence and never reaching their very best. At Groza, we empower our students with a love of learning through engaging and exciting educational experiences. As our students progress, we carefully monitor their unique learning plans and patterns, paying special attention to how they effectively engage and what inspires them.

Don’t settle on your child’s future — we invite you to call our team today at (310) 454-3731 or click here to schedule a free consultation.