In my previous post, I mentioned that I’ve gained some new, older students. I’ve been so surprised to see this development. After a year of online learning, I was expecting to get new students needing some kind of support with reading or math. I was expecting these students to be younger — first-graders that spent their kindergarten year online. While I still have younger learners on my schedule, it’s been jarring to have so many third- and fourth-graders on my schedule as well. I do have a theory, however, for this other strange side-effect of the pandemic.
In general, I think my influx of older students comes from many of us assuming that older students can do more independently. When I was working with all of my students online, I can remember very clearly how parents/caregivers would hover closely if they had a younger child working with me. There were there to help with any technical difficulties or to help their children get organized with the necessary materials for their session. However, I can’t say the same happened for the few older students that I worked with at that time. We assumed that an older student (a second- or third-grader) could manage themselves and focus on their learning. While students grow in independence as they get older, having a support network in place while the student is attending school virtually is important for them as well.
Another theory I have for my sudden rise in upper-elementary student enrollment is that, perhaps, parents and caregivers feel uncomfortable or intimidated by the material upper-elementary students learn. When I work with my younger students, I always reinforce the importance of building our bag of strategies and skills because things will get harder as they grow in school. The books have more pages, the essays have more paragraphs, the math equations require more steps to solve — having a good foundation from early elementary is extremely important! It’s been my observation that parents/caregivers don’t feel comfortable with their abilities to support their older elementary students’ learning.
If these two theories prove true, then it’s no wonder parents are now looking for educational support for their third-, fourth, and fifth-grade students. While we were so lucky to be able to continue learning virtually during the various lockdowns all over the world last year, it hasn’t left us without some challenges. As my grandfather’s doctor used to tell him about the side effects brought on by the medicines he was taking, “You can’t put out the fire without getting some water damage.” For the most part, the fire is out. Now, we need to clean up the water damage.
What have your experiences been since returning to in-person learning? Are you seeing your older students struggle as well? I would love for you to share you experiences with the education community!
Until next time… Happy Teaching!
PinaRose Education 