Venturing into the Unknown: What Are Your Options for the New School Year?
When ringing in the New Year back in January — the beginning of a new decade and the end of the twenty-teens — it’s safe to assume that most of us never anticipated what this year would bring. As we were all humming along in our ordinary lives, a new and deadly virus was beginning its steady, relentless march throughout the world. As infections began to mount and death counts became alarming, it was obvious that we would all need to hunker down to try to halt the spread, “flatten the curve,” and make sure our health care system wasn’t overwhelmed. Thus, governments made the difficult decision to shut down businesses, schools and all non-essential work. And months later, here we are, with some businesses cautiously reopening but many of us still venturing in the unknown.
Students of all ages, from preschool through college and graduate school, were suddenly learning at home rather than at school, shifting from in-person classes to remote assignments, Zoom classes and online exams. Students no longer had one-on-one interaction with their teachers — no more office hours or opportunities to get individualized help with their school work. Students also were isolated at home with their families, unable to see friends or be with their peers at school. Finally and most importantly, remote learning resulted in a learning loss for many students. It was particularly difficult to keep up academically while adjusting to this new form of learning and also dealing with the stress of all the life changes the pandemic has caused.
Many students fell behind either in one or two subjects or just overall. Learning via a Zoom classroom, online study packets or with parents serving as surrogate teachers had its drawbacks. Some students simply weren’t able to focus on or understand the material being taught. Others suffered from less one-on-one interaction with their teachers or the ability to study/learn with their peers. Parents taking on the role of teachers often resulted in frustration and short tempers from both the students and their parents. As for the teachers, they too had a learning curve to conquer. Maintaining control over a classroom via Zoom is very different than doing so in person. Finding ways to effectively convey the lessons and keeping students’ interest was a constant challenge.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if we knew our kids would be returning to the classroom in the fall. But as the COVID-19 numbers continue to grow even as the economy carefully reopens, there is no guarantee that schools will open their doors to a full campus of students just a mere two months from now. It seems safe to assume that the school year will still be impacted by the virus, whether that means staggered school attendance, a hybrid of in-person and remote education, or yet another semester of remote learning. So what’s a family to do?
Regardless of what you decide for your family, Synergy Academics can help. As always, our one-on-one tutoring is an excellent way to keep your students on track and help them with courses or subjects in which they are struggling. Our professional tutors can carefully review material at your student’s pace, ensuring that he or she fully understands the lesson. Tutors will also help students complete their homework, prepare for exams, and work on longer term projects, reports or essays. Furthermore, our tutors are not only excellent instructors, they will also be encouraging cheerleaders to your students, helping to boost their confidence so they can maximize their academic success. This is especially important as students cope with remote learning where they aren’t able to get individual feedback and input from their teachers.
With the uncertainty surrounding whether local schools, both public and private, will reopen, some families are considering homeschooling their children and/or having them take online courses. If this sounds like you, Synergy Academics is here for your students as well. We have tutors available for half days or full days to implement homeschool lessons and/or assist them with online classes.
All of our one-on-one tutoring and educational services are available either remotely (via Zoom or other similar apps) or at our academic tutoring center in West Hills, where we have gone above and beyond CDC recommendations to ensure safety for our staff and students. These precautions include: temperature checks and standard questions about health upon entering the facility; masks required for all staff, students and other visitors; acrylic partitions on desks to provide a physical barrier between students and tutors; limited number of students in the center at one time to maintain social distancing; thorough cleaning of all work areas between students; hand sanitizer available throughout the facility.
Knowing what a stressful and unprecedented time this has been for families, we hope that Synergy Academics can be a positive resource for you and your students to ensure they are maximizing their academic potential regardless of what school looks like in the coming year.
