What Parents Can Do To Support Their Students Outside of the Classroom

The COVID-19 pandemic was a major disruptor for the education space and, four years later, the consequences continue to impact students. In many districts, class sizes remain high, some students are still learning virtually and many students continue to fall behind academic benchmarks. 

Additional academic support for students can be challenging to navigate as grade inflation continues to muddy the waters for parents.

“A report card comes home and looks good, and a lot of parents think that means they don’t need to follow up with anyone about anything,” explained Emily Mitchell, vice president of education at Sylvan Learning, the supplemental and enrichment education franchise. “Five years ago, that was likely true, but that’s not the case anymore. The report card isn’t telling the whole story because schools are lowering expectations for each grade.”

If your child seems to be struggling with a concept, regardless of what the grade on their report card says, a neutral third-party assessment can be a great starting point to understand where the student’s skills are in comparison to what they should know at their grade level. Once a true benchmark is established, parents, students and teachers can work together to support the student in regaining some academic ground.

While there are resources in place to support students in recovering from learning loss, including school-level help and high-dosage tutoring, Mitchell says there remains a notable need for social-emotional resources.

“People are still reporting a high number of students who have social-emotional concerns. There are high levels of anxiety among children, and there are long wait times for child psychologists and other mental health clinics for kids,” she said. “Parents should check in a lot. Questions can be really revealing.”

Mitchell said that having conversations in the car can be a great way to create a lower-pressure environment and gave examples of a few questions that can start helpful conversations with your students:

• What’s one new thing you learned at school today?
• Who did you sit with at lunch?
• What was your favorite moment of the day?
• What are you most worried about this week?
• What was your biggest success today?

“You’ll be able to learn a lot. They might not have told you that they didn’t have a friend to sit with at lunch if you didn’t ask, and that’s a huge bummer,” she said. “That’s also something that you can keep an eye on or reach out to the guidance counselor for help with.”

Whether students are struggling with academic issues or social-emotional problems — or even if they seem to be fine — there is always a way that parents can become involved and better support their growth.

“Some parents aren’t understanding how far behind their students are. But even if everything really is going great, there’s always something to talk about,” said Mitchell. “Talk about the future! Continue to open up your students’ worlds so they know what’s out there and can make an informed choice as they proceed in their academic career.”

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/sylvanlearning.