How Sylvan Learning Has Helped To Fill in the Gaps of Missing Education and Keeping Children on Track Both With School Work and Socialization

Every parent knows their child’s unique and wonderful way of learning about the world, but in the public school system, underfunding and overcrowding demand a one-size-fits-all approach. This cookie-cutter strategy can create gaps in education that can happen to any student at any level anywhere.

But since the pandemic hit, those gaps have become canyons. Thirty kids competing for one teacher’s attention always makes it difficult to reach every student. Remote and hybrid learning, with all its technical challenges, falls far short of even that low bar.

That’s why now it’s more important than ever for parents to recognize the weak spots in childrens’ education and address them. At Sylvan Learning, the majority of our students come to us about one to two years behind. While we also excel with on-grade-level students, we're known for our remedial help.

Personalized learning support

Sylvan offers support for the whole family when a student lags behind and gives them exactly what they’re missing in a larger class: personalized attention and instruction.

For students who need extra time or to work at a slower pace, Sylvan works wonders. In a classroom the teacher needs to keep moving, so they move forward to the next topic whether or not your child has acquired the skill. So when skill gaps start happening, they really snowball.

Math is taught sequentially -- each skill builds on the previous skill. If a child is behind in their math skills, they won’t understand the next step. Reading is taught to master fluency and comprehension. Students are expected to read accurately, soothly, at a reasonable speed, and to understand what they’ve read. If a child is behind in reading, they can spend too long sounding out words, or read the words without really understanding what they’ve read. Any one of those problems could see a child lose ground or even get held back a year.

That’s why, since the pandemic hit, I’ve been sending my own children to Sylvan’s in-person School Support program. Sylvan also offers online classes in every subject, as well as test prep programs to support kids wherever their particular gaps crop up.

Education gaps and solutions

Gaps in education are a really common worry right now for all parents because the medium of education has changed so much. For parents forced to work at home while their child struggles with school, Sylvan can help — and it’s especially urgent to seek help for younger children.

Younger students have a harder time with remote learning than older students do. From a child development perspective, it’s hard to connect between what’s on the screen and what they are actually learning.

Some students are managing, and other students are not. But the vast majority of students are not thriving right now. Studies show learning to read on paper is much easier than on a screen. Studies also show special needs children benefit greatly from having a teacher near them and in person. Being removed from that has been detrimental to our children, but there are steps we can take to further their intellectual and social growth.

Remote learning has also caused children to fall behind in their social development. They’re missing more than their friends; they’re missing opportunities to practice things like conversation skills, conflict resolution, compromise, cooperative learning, and friendship building. Ask any parent of students in remote schooling, and they’ll tell you how much their kids miss those social interactions.

For that problem, Sylvan has an answer that also alleviates the nightmare of work-from-home parents needing to constantly monitor their learn-from-home children.

School support services

My own kids, for example, are in the same school, one grade apart. Because of their young ages, I need to check on them at the beginning of each class to make sure they’re logged in and on track. Two children on different bell schedules means I have to check on them at least 18 times a day -- while also trying to do my full-time job.

To students and parents like me, Sylvan offers a School Support service that brings an in-person, certified teacher into the student’s corner as they tackle the challenge of distance learning.

Sylvan is doing in-person classes in places where we can, and that’s almost everywhere. We social distance, wear masks and run at half capacity.

I trust the program enough to put my own sons in Sylvan’s School Support, and I do it because they make sure the boys are in their classes, help with questions, and guide them through the school day. It’s providing structure for my children and saving me from the nightmare most working parents have now. And, because there are other students in the center with them, they get some of the social interaction they’ve been missing.

The pandemic has put a huge strain on working families and has been particularly difficult for children who thrive on structured, social activities in school. But just because the world is waiting for an end to the pandemic doesn’t mean parents have to accept gaps in their children’s education.

With more than 40 years of experience and more than 750 points of presence throughout North America, Sylvan Learning is the leading provider of personal learning for students in grades K-12. Sylvan is transforming how students learn, inspiring them to succeed in school and in life. Sylvan’s proven tutoring approach blends amazing teachers with SylvanSync™ technology on the iPad® for an engaging learning experience.

Sylvan also leads the way with Sylvan EDGE—STEM and accelerated courses and Sylvan Prep —college and test prep courses. Sylvan supports families through every stage of the academic journey. For more information, visit www.