COLUMBUS, Ohio — A muffled white noise coming from inside Huntington Learning Center is a loud reality the “COVID slide” is still very much a thing.
“Did you feel like you were maybe losing touch on a couple things,” 10TV Reporter Bryant Somerville asked 11-year-old Carter Haisler.
“Yeah,” Haisler said.
Haisler is going into the sixth grade this fall. Last school year with COVID, learning from home and learning online he says it was rough.
“Math has been getting really hard for me,” Haisler said. “In that situation, pretty sure I would have done better if I was in real life at school.”
Haisler’s 7-year-old brother, Cooper, said he enjoys math and reading. The brothers’ mother, Mandy said both boys were having learning issues even before COVID.
“Definitely, for sure,” she said. “But then Covid and learning from home that really kind of made it go even ten times further.”
Wanting to help bridge the gaps in education and as a way to curb the COVID slide, she enrolled both children at Huntington Learning Center, which builds a specific curriculum around a student and their individual needs.
“We currently have over 60 students here,” Center Director Maureen Wagner said.
Wagner said the biggest obstacles her team sees are reading, math and grammar.
“Parents have seen the need that [students] need to catch up and it needs to be now,” Wagner said.
A handful of school districts this summer like Columbus City Schools and Hilliard City Schools offered free programs to students to help bridge the gap between spring and fall. Huntington Learning Center is not a free service, but Haisler says getting her children back on track is priceless.
“Anytime it comes to your children you want to do what’s in the best interest of them and getting them prepared and ready, especially with this Covid Slide – getting them back on track – it’s priceless to me,” she said.
Wagner said there are things parents can do at home to help students prepare for the upcoming school year.
She said parents can start preparing their children for possible social, emotional and logistical challenges by talking positively with them about school and the new changes.
Wagner also encourages reading as a family and have discussions about what you read including the main idea and details.
She also says parents can review math facts from the previous year and use flashcards or have fun with cooking as a way to teach math. Finally, she says to reach out to your child’s school and ask for a tour of the building so they are more familiar on day one.