Part 2: Relax yourself!

Preparing for (and dealing with) the academic slide of learning loss and having fallen behind due to the pandemic

It is easy in these difficult times to feel overwhelmed and anxious. If you have school-aged children, those feelings can be compounded by the effects of distance learning and the “academic slide” they may have experienced over the last year and a half. You may be very worried that your children have fallen far behind, especially if they have learning differences. With or without an IEP or other type of personalized learning plan that requires specialized instruction, it can feel like there isn’t enough time to recover after this learning loss. Getting and keeping perspective under this pressure is key to your child’s health and happiness.

Keeping perspective – “fallen behind” what?

You may feel pressured to make sure your child “catches up.” Be very careful with this concept! It is important to remember EVERYBODY has “fallen behind.” Everyone experienced the shutdown and the retreat to our homes and a different way of life. Everyone is trying to navigate their way back to some sort of “new normal.” If you are worried about your children being behind, they will most definitely feel that spoken or unspoken pressure from you, whether you intend them to or not.

The added pressure of the school setting – demystifying “academic slide”

Schools may also inadvertently put this extra pressure on your children. Having a clear understanding of the teacher’s goals is the first step. If you are still concerned, following that with a good, in-depth conversation about how realistic these goals are for your child is also crucial.  That conversation could include understanding and discussing:

• The specifics of these goals
• Your child’s progress toward them
• Any modifications or tools to help close the gap

Following these steps will help giving your child the confidence to succeed when back in the classroom. It is very important that your child doesn’t feel like they’ve fallen behind, or been left behind.

Remember, your child’s teacher and the school itself are all readjusting to a return to in-person instruction, too, with all its joys and pitfalls during the ongoing pandemic. There will be leaps of progress, peppered in between with minor setbacks. Everyone is having a turn on this “academic slide”! The sooner everyone can recognize this is a work in progress and can adapt as much as possible, the better.

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What’s most important – defining “learning loss”

Try to keep in mind that the time frame of when a child masters a concept can be a little more flexible than it might appear. Other than something like an AP course with a culminating exam in a certain schedule, there should be some adjustment to the curriculum to acknowledge the time lost with the pandemic and the learning “loss” that ensued.

In the meantime, try to keep yourself calm and practice good self-care techniques so you can be at your best for your children, even under these stressful conditions.

Together, you and your child can address the “new normal” the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown at you.  This includes worrying that your child has fallen behind, experiencing learning loss, or feeling like you all are on an academic slide.  Whatever you call it, you can recover with the right mindset and the right tools.

In Part 3, we’ll explore how parents can ease the worry around back-to-school issues.

More resources:

Relaxation Techniques (Harvard Health)

Back to School: Tips to Navigate the New “Normal” Part 1: Know your child and adapt accordingly