Good news: over a third of Illinois’ population is fully vaccinated as are nearly three quarters of Northbrook residents. This is no small thing. 

Bad news: COVID-19 has negatively impacted student learning and grades on a grand scale. As parents, you know all too well that remote learning and even the hybrid approach are just not the same for your children as being in school face-to-face with teachers and peers. 

Good news: the summer is a golden opportunity for your kids to receive tutoring to catch up and sharpen their learning skills to kick off the 2021/2022 school year successfully. 

Many students are in the same boat, and in this blog post, we shine a light on the impact of the pandemic on student learning and grades. 

Dating back to the second semester in 2020, which seems like an eternity ago in pandemic years, school felt like a car that needed a new engine. It started and stopped, it started and stopped, in that in-person school suddenly converted to full remote learning then a hybrid, followed by in-person, then rinse and repeat. 

Needless to say, this hasn’t been good for learning or socialization, the two key markers for school success. A recent Reuters story reported a spike in students failing classes in the country’s largest school districts, including Chicago Public Schools. 

Last summer, Illinois Policy had this to say:

“For most children and their families, remote learning is a poor substitute for in-person instruction. A Brookings Institution study in May 2020 showed ‘deeply concerning’ estimates the effect of the COVID-19 school closures on student achievement could mean, compared to a typical school year, students would have retained merely 70% of gains over the previous year in reading and less than 50% of the gains in math, with students in lower grades possibly falling a year behind in math.”

Schools have done all they could to make things work, but remote learning has had too many pitfalls. 

Many students skip assignments, classes, or entire days of school. With parents working from home, internet bandwidth is pushed to its limits causing connection problems, making it difficult for students to receive a full period of instruction, complete, and submit assignments. On top of that, it’s been challenging for students, especially younger ones and those with learning disabilities, to toggle from screen to screen and application to application.  

Toward the end of 2020, Lurie Children’s Hospital revealed that emergency room doctors were seeing a 50% increase in mental health visits with several children presenting with symptoms of anxiety and depression. The stress that kids are experiencing during COVID cannot be overstated, and when anyone is stressed, it’s almost impossible to learn. 

All is far from lost because things are looking way up. Many schools on the North Shore have returned to in-person at full capacity with the plan to remain fully open come fall. The timing could not be better to seek tutoring support. In the short-term, students can cover instructional ground over the summer, and in the long-term, ongoing tutoring will build confidence and set them up for success. 

For the last year-and-a-half, children learned how to survive a pandemic; now they can be students again.  

Club Z! Tutoring of Chicago North Shore specializes in providing individualized, in-home and virtual tutoring for students k - 12 in Northbrook, Glenview, Wilmette, Winnetka, Northfield, Kenilworth, and surrounding cities. If you want your child to work on developing skills that will translate to improved grades and self-esteem, contact us today at: bbalatsos@clubztutoring.com. You can also reach us at 847-440-3440 and by visiting clubztutoringnorthshore.com.