Summer Learning Loss? No Problem. Personalized & Enjoyable Tutoring Lessons Can Bring Your Child Back To Speed.
Coming back from summer break is a big adjustment for any student. After a few months away from the classroom, students return out of practice and often experience summer learning loss. This setback does not mean that your child’s semester back is doomed to fail. Working with a tutor that offers personalized and enjoyable tutoring lessons can bring your student right back up to speed. Whether they need support establishing strong steady habits, or guidance while reviewing the skills they learned before summer break, a great tutor can help your child start the school year strong.
What Is Summer Learning Loss?
Summer learning loss happens when students forget what they learned during the school year over the summer break. It is common for students to return to the classroom in the fall in need of review. Many students start the school year expecting to refocus or reinforce the skills they mastered the year before. For some students, the need to review what they learned last year is more substantial. This more extreme need for review can be a problem, especially when teachers may not have the time to help every student catch up. Studies have shown that during the summer months children can lose up to 40% of the knowledge that they gained throughout the previous school year. Losing the progress they made the year before is a big deal, and making up for summer learning loss will take commitment and focus. Fortunately, there are great ways for students to tackle summer learning loss outside of their classrooms by working with a tutor.
How Do Tutors Get Students Back On Track?
Working with a tutor is a great way to bring your child back up to speed. It is important that you find a tutor who is willing to create a personalized study plan in order to get rid of any bad habits a student might have developed over the summer.
Start by evaluating your student’s study habits. Students should also focus on building up their focus and developing endurance in the classroom again. Your child’s biggest priority should be practicing the skills they learned in the last school year before leaving campus for summer break.
Helping Students Eliminate Procrastination
One major habit that many students fall into during the first couple of weeks of the school year is procrastination. Time management skills need to be assessed, and after a long break away from the classroom, it can be difficult to gauge how much time it is necessary to allot to each assignment in order to make deadlines. If your student is struggling to stay on top of their homework, or manage their time while balancing a busy schedule, consider working with a tutor who specializes in time management skills. Sometimes learning just a few tools to create a routine or stay on task can make a huge difference.
Helping Students Regain Focus And Endurance In The Classroom
Another difficulty students may show signs of in the first couple of weeks of school is an inability to focus for long periods of time. After a long time away from the classroom, it can be exhausting and difficult to sit through many hours of lecturing, participation, discussions, and work. If your child is struggling to retain information in the first couple of weeks of school, they are not alone. Some students find that it is really helpful to return to school using a tutor to ensure that they are working effectively and building their focus back up.
Helping Students Review What They Forgot Over The Summer Months
The largest issue to tackle with summer learning loss is relearning the skills taught before the summer break. There are many students who forget what they learned the previous year over the summer and return to the classroom in need of a massive review. Your child can navigate the skills, concepts, and subjects they have forgotten over the summer by working with a tutor. Feeling prepared and ready to learn new information is important. If your student is starting the school year feeling insecure in their abilities, consider working with a tutor who can support them in gaining confidence and experience at the beginning of the school year.
Working with a tutor is a great way to identify weaknesses and figure out the amount of practice and review your child needs to get back on track. Walking back into the first math, English, history, or science class of the school year may feel intimidating and overwhelming if a student is experiencing summer learning loss. It is common to feel stuck writing the first essay of the year or unfocused studying before taking the first couple of exams. Solving the first math problem of the year, or working in a lab for the first time after several months over summer vacation can feel foreign. All of these things are normal, but if your child finds themselves feeling ill-equipped, then working with a tutor can refresh their memory and improve their performance.
Waiting to refresh your memory and regain skills is a risky approach to take. It is important for students to act quickly if they feel like their performance might suffer in the first weeks of school. It can be hard to recover from a few bad grades, and working to come back from their early mistakes is not a fun way to start the school year. If you want your student to start out on the right foot, avoid letting summer learning loss impact their grades, and encourage them to study and review their skills early in the year.
Diving back into an intense school schedule will bring your student’s weaknesses to light right away. If you find that your child starts the fall semester having forgotten a lot of what they have learned, take initiative, and make the effort with a tutor to develop a plan.
Preventing Summer Learning Loss
Students can get ahead of these overwhelming feelings by working with a personal tutor before the school year even starts. Preventing summer learning loss does not mean your student has to sacrifice all of their free time in the summer. Having a tutor means they can streamline and optimize their efforts and retain enough free time to enjoy and replenish themselves outside of schoolwork. As your child approaches the summer break, consider how they can schedule consistent practice work and review throughout the months off.
Students should work on the skills they will use in the classroom, like writing, reading comprehension, and problem-solving, regularly. They can develop strong summer learning habits early in their break from school. Your child can also work with a tutor throughout the summer months to maintain strong study habits. Students can avoid summer learning loss by building on the knowledge they already have while reinforcing the skills they honed throughout the school year.
If your child is unable to focus on preventing summer learning loss, it is a good idea to check in with their skills and habits a few weeks before school starts, so they have time to review before classes begin.
Working With A Tutor Before The School Year Starts
Starting the school year early with a tutor is a great plan to tackle summer learning loss without taking time away from the new semester’s curriculum.
- Identify the Skills Your Student Has Forgotten
Focus on finding the skills your child has forgotten and encourage them to begin practice problems with a tutor in the weeks leading up to the first day of school. If your child is worried about summer learning loss, preventative work can make a huge difference in their attitude, motivation, and confidence in returning to the classroom.
- Work On Applying Skills Through Practice Questions
Practice work is a great use of time. Sometimes students are rusty in using the skills they had previously perfected. Once your student is able to identify the skills they need to review, they can practice applying those skills with a tutor. The foundational skills learned in the previous year are important for the more complicated skills they will encounter in their new classes. Without daily practice, it is easy to forget how to apply those skills. Students can review the basics before the next semester by applying them to practice questions with a tutor before the semester starts.
If your student is looking to repair the effects of summer learning loss, eliminate bad study habits, and practice basic skills, then working with a tutor is a great idea. Students can prepare for the upcoming semester, or prevent summer learning loss before it starts by participating in tutoring sessions outside of the classroom. Finding the right tutor is important: prioritize finding someone who is able to develop a personalized and enjoyable tutoring lesson to bring your child back to speed. Summer learning loss is common, and coming back from setbacks that occur over the summer is manageable.
If you are looking for the perfect tutor to suit your student’s needs, Tutorly’s tutors are highly trained, experienced, empathetic, and focused on helping your child reach their goals. Our one-on-one tutors offer virtual meetings that are convenient for students with busy schedules or upcoming deadlines. Students gain confidence through private tutoring sessions with a tutor that offers one hundred percent of their attention to their needs. Whether students want help identifying their weaknesses or personalized tools to manage their time early in the school year, a Tutorly tutor can help them get on track!