They were the kids most disrupted by the pandemic, the ones who were still learning to write their names and tie their shoes when schools shut down in the spring of 2020.
Now, they’re the big kids at elementary schools across the United States. Many still need profound help overcoming the effects of the pandemic.
To catch up, schools have deployed a wide range of strategies. And among some incoming fourth-graders, there are encouraging signs of gains. But as this generation progresses, many will need extra reading support that schools are not as accustomed to providing for older students.
Teacher here. We had the opportunity to radically re-form schools during and after the pandemic. School systems instead chose to double-down on shit that hadn’t worked well before the pandemic.
What I’ve noticed with my partners 13 year old is how little is actually taught. During covid, he got daily lesson plans for home teaching which took a couple of hours at most. He’s been back in person now for 2 years. He gets no homework. He doesn’t seem to be taught or retain any kind of knowledge, yet his grades are ‘good’. Like, he can hardly tell you what countries make up North America, let alone where stares are or anything actually meaningful like history of… Anything. It seems to me the bar has just been lowered. We keep waiting for this to flip, or school to get ‘hard’ but it doesn’t seem to be.
What state are you in?
My daughter, much to our chagrin (especially her librarian mother) hates reading books. We think it’s because of her ADHD. But we have made damn sure her reading skills are up to par. And they are. I wish more parents would take an active role in their child’s education.
