The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every facet of daily life, and for parents of school-age children, the impact has been especially obvious. Last school year was filled with many challenges for students and their families. Here’s a look at some problems your child still may be facing and tips for overcoming them as we begin a new academic year:
1) Lost motivation: Students lose motivation for many reasons, but it’s often because they are having a hard time with one or more subjects, don’t find the material interesting and don’t believe in their abilities. If this all sounds familiar, you can help turn things around by talking about what’s causing your student to feel unmotivated. Does your child feel so overwhelmed by school that he or she doesn’t even know where to begin when it comes time to do homework? Is the grit that difficult schoolwork requires lacking?
2) Avoidance and apathy: One of the biggest problems that arose during the last year for even the brightest students is the loss of interest in school and learning. Virtual learning is not a perfect fit for some students, including those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and those who need structure and learn better with peers around them. For many, extended virtual learning has led to diminished perseverance on homework.
3) Procrastination: Virtual learning upended the traditional school routine, which has presented challenges for students.
With little to no teacher oversight during at-home days, parents working outside of the home have had to trust that their children will keep themselves on task. In reality, the loss of that school structure has made it easier than ever for students to procrastinate. Taking a long time to complete homework, getting distracted and putting off work until the last possible moment have become unfortunate norms.
4) Lost confidence: Learning any subject takes effort and persistence. For all the reasons above, even students who went into the 2019–2020 school year eager to learn likely have experienced diminished confidence over the last year and a half. If learning remotely was a challenge for students and their grades suffered, this probably has taken a toll on their self-esteem and confidence. The situation has probably been worse for students who already were struggling before the pandemic.
Although these problems are serious and should not be ignored, rest assured it is possible to get your child back on track. An academic evaluation may be helpful to get to the root cause of your child’s struggles and develop an individualized program of instruction to get him or her back on track.
The Huntington Learning Center Gulfport is located at 8950 Lorraine Road, Unit E, Gulfport. Contact the center at (228) 206-2353.
