Private tutoring is an excellent support tool for students but is generally not a free service. The best tutoring programs available usually charge some type of fees. There are several grant sources and programs that parents can explore to help pay for tutoring for their child. Here are some potential options:
Title I Funding: Title I is a federal program that provides financial assistance to schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families. Schools use this funding to support academic achievement, which may include tutoring services.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): If a child has a documented learning disability, they may be eligible for support under IDEA. This can include access to tutoring services or other educational interventions.
Nonprofit Organizations: Some nonprofit organizations offer grants or scholarships for educational purposes, including tutoring. Examples include local community foundations, education-focused nonprofits, and charities.
Direct Education Grants: Federal education dollars that were provided for learning loss relief are still unused. Some states are providing grants to parents to pay for private tutoring.
School-Based Programs: Check with your child’s school to see if they offer any tutoring programs or if they can provide information on external programs that may have financial assistance options.
State and Local Programs: Some states and local governments offer educational assistance programs, including grants or subsidies for tutoring services. Check with your state’s education department or local community organizations for potential opportunities.
Community Organizations: Local community organizations, such as Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, or youth-focused nonprofits, may have programs that support educational initiatives, including tutoring.
Corporate and Business Sponsorships: Some businesses or corporations offer grants or sponsorships for educational programs. Check with local businesses to see if they have any initiatives supporting education.
Faith-Based Organizations: Religious institutions or faith-based organizations in your community may have programs or funds dedicated to supporting education, including tutoring services.
Before applying for any grants or programs, it’s important to carefully review the eligibility criteria and application requirements. Additionally, reaching out to local school officials, community organizations, and educational agencies can provide valuable insights into available resources.
For many students, the journey through grades 6-12 is marked by academic challenges, and one subject consistently stands out as the most difficult: mathematics. While some students breeze through equations and theorems effortlessly, others find themselves grappling with the complexities of the subject.
Abstract Concepts and Symbolic Language
Mathematics is a language of its own, filled with symbols, equations, and abstract concepts that can be daunting for students to grasp. Unlike subjects that rely on language for communication, math often involves understanding symbols and their relationships, requiring a shift in cognitive processes. The transition from concrete arithmetic in elementary school to more abstract algebra and geometry in later grades can be particularly challenging for many students.
Cumulative Nature of Learning
Mathematics is cumulative in nature, meaning that each concept builds upon the foundation laid by the previous ones. Students who struggle to grasp fundamental concepts may find themselves sinking further behind as they progress through the curriculum. A weak understanding of basic arithmetic, for instance, can snowball into difficulties with more advanced topics like calculus or trigonometry.
Lack of Real-World Context
In the early years of math education, students are often introduced to concepts without a clear understanding of their real-world applications. This lack of context can make it difficult for students to see the relevance of what they are learning. Connecting abstract mathematical concepts to real-life situations can help make the subject more accessible and engaging.
Fear of Failure and Negative Mindset
Math anxiety is a well-documented phenomenon that can significantly hinder a student’s ability to succeed in the subject. The fear of making mistakes or the belief that they are not “good at math” can create a negative mindset, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy where students shy away from challenging problems or avoid seeking help.
Limited Teaching Methods
In some cases, traditional teaching methods may not cater to the diverse learning styles of students. A one-size-fits-all approach may leave some learners struggling to keep up, especially when the pace of instruction moves quickly. Teachers incorporating a variety of teaching strategies, including visual aids, hands-on activities, and real-world examples, can help accommodate different learning preferences.
While mathematics may be perceived as the hardest subject in grades 6-12, it’s essential to recognize that challenges vary from student to student. By addressing the abstract nature of the subject, emphasizing real-world applications, fostering a positive mindset, and incorporating diverse teaching methods, teachers can help students change their attitude towards math and improve their outcomes.
Private tutoring is a valuable and personalized educational supplement, offering students the opportunity to receive targeted assistance in specific subjects or skills. While traditional classroom settings are essential for learning, private tutoring provides a tailored approach that caters to individual needs, unlocking the potential for academic success and personal growth. Here are numerous ways in which private tutoring can be a helpful resource for students seeking an extra edge in their educational journey.
Personalized Attention: One of the most significant advantages of private tutoring is the individualized attention that students receive. In a traditional classroom, where the student-to-teacher ratio can be high, it’s easy for some students to get lost in the shuffle. Private tutors can tailor their approach to the specific learning style, pace, and needs of each student, ensuring a more effective and personalized educational experience.
Customized Learning Plans: Private tutors create customized learning plans based on the strengths and weaknesses of the individual student. This personalized approach allows for targeted reinforcement of foundational concepts, addressing gaps in understanding and building a solid academic foundation. Tutors can adapt their teaching methods to suit the student’s preferred learning style, whether it be visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.
Improved Academic Performance: The focused attention and personalized learning plans provided by private tutors often lead to improved academic performance. Students who may have struggled with certain subjects can benefit from the additional explanations, practice, and reinforcement that private tutoring offers. This, in turn, can boost confidence and motivation.
Flexibility in Scheduling: Private tutoring offers flexibility in scheduling, accommodating the busy lives of students and their families. This flexibility allows students to receive additional support without disrupting their regular school or extracurricular activities. Whether it’s evening sessions, weekend reviews, or intensive exam preparation, private tutors can tailor their schedules to meet the unique needs of their students.
Targeted Exam Preparation: High-stakes exams, such as standardized tests or college entrance exams, can be daunting for students. Private tutors specialize in exam preparation, guiding students through the content, format, and strategies needed to excel. The focused attention on exam-specific skills helps reduce anxiety and increases the likelihood of achieving favorable results.
Building Confidence and Motivation: Success breeds confidence, and private tutoring is a powerful tool for building both. As students grasp challenging concepts and see tangible progress in their academic performance, they gain confidence in their abilities. This newfound confidence often translates into increased motivation and a more positive attitude toward learning.
Addressing Learning Differences: Every student learns differently, and some may have specific learning differences or challenges. Private tutors can identify and address these differences, providing tailored support and accommodations to help students overcome obstacles and succeed academically. This personalized approach is particularly beneficial for students with learning disabilities or attention disorders.
Encouraging a Love for Learning: Beyond academic success, private tutoring can instill a love for learning. By fostering a supportive and engaging learning environment, tutors can help students discover the joy of acquiring knowledge, cultivating a mindset that goes beyond the immediate academic goals and extends to a lifelong appreciation for learning.
Private tutoring serves as a helpful and impactful resource for students of all ages. By providing personalized attention, customized learning plans, and targeted support, private tutors empower students to overcome challenges, excel academically, and develop a lifelong passion for learning.
Reading is not merely a skill; it’s a gateway to a world of imagination, knowledge, and empathy. As a parent, fostering a love for reading in your child is one of the greatest gifts you can provide. Here are some practical strategies to help your child develop strong reading skills and, more importantly, a passion for the written word.
Create a Reading-Friendly Environment: Cultivating a reading-friendly environment at home is the first step towards instilling a love for books. Set up a cozy reading nook with comfortable seating, good lighting, and a variety of age-appropriate books. Make sure books are easily accessible, encouraging spontaneous exploration.
Lead by Example: Children often emulate the behavior of those around them. Demonstrate the joy of reading by letting your child see you immersed in a book. Share your reading experiences and discuss the stories you love. This not only models positive reading behavior but also fosters a sense of shared interest.
Read Aloud Together: Reading aloud is a powerful tool for developing literacy skills. Start reading to your child from a young age, and as they grow, encourage them to read aloud to you. This not only improves their reading fluency but also provides an opportunity for bonding and shared enjoyment of stories.
Explore Various Genres: Introduce your child to a diverse range of genres and topics. Whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, mysteries, or fantasy, exposing them to different styles of writing expands their literary horizons. Consider their interests and incorporate books that align with their hobbies.
Visit the Library Regularly: The library is a treasure trove of books waiting to be discovered. Make regular trips to the library a family affair. Allow your child to choose books that capture their interest, fostering a sense of autonomy in their reading journey. Libraries often host storytelling sessions and other literary events, adding an extra layer of excitement.
Use Technology Wisely: Leverage technology to enhance the reading experience. Educational apps, audiobooks, and interactive e-books can complement traditional reading. However, ensure that screen time is balanced and that the focus remains on the joy of reading rather than passive consumption.
Encourage Questions and Discussions: Foster a curious mindset by encouraging your child to ask questions about the stories they read. Engage in discussions about characters, plot twists, and moral lessons. This not only enhances comprehension but also deepens their connection to the material.
Be Patient and Supportive: Every child develops reading skills at their own pace. Be patient and supportive, celebrating small victories and progress. Avoid putting undue pressure on your child, as negative associations with reading can hinder the development of a love for books.
Celebrate Reading Milestones: Acknowledge and celebrate your child’s reading milestones. Whether it’s completing a challenging book or mastering a new set of vocabulary, recognizing their achievements reinforces a positive attitude towards reading.
Connect Reading to Real-Life Experiences: Help your child see the relevance of reading in everyday life. Whether it’s following a recipe, reading street signs, or exploring information online, connecting reading to real-life experiences reinforces its practical importance.
Helping your child with reading is not just about building a fundamental skill; it’s about nurturing a lifelong love for stories and knowledge. By creating a supportive environment, modeling positive reading behavior, and exploring the vast literary landscape together, you lay the foundation for a future where reading is not a chore but a source of joy and enrichment.
The disruptions brought about by the global pandemic have led to significant learning loss for many students, emphasizing the importance of proactive and targeted efforts to support their educational recovery. As a parent, you play a pivotal role in helping your child rebuild their academic foundation and regain confidence in their learning abilities. Here are some practical strategies to assist your child in recovering from learning loss.
Identify Specific Areas of Concern: Begin by identifying the specific areas in which your child may be struggling. Assess their recent report cards, speak with their teachers, and consider seeking a professional assessment if needed. Understanding the specific challenges your child faces will allow you to tailor your support more effectively.
Establish Open Communication: Create a supportive and open communication channel with your child. Discuss their feelings about returning to school and any challenges they may be experiencing. Encourage them to express their concerns and frustrations, and assure them that you are there to provide support and guidance.
Implement a Consistent Routine: Consistency is key when helping your child recover from learning loss. Establish a daily routine that includes dedicated time for homework, study sessions, and leisure activities. Consistent routines provide a sense of stability and predictability, helping your child feel more in control of their academic responsibilities.
Utilize Educational Resources: Leverage educational resources, both online and offline, to supplement your child’s learning. Educational apps, websites, and books tailored to their grade level and areas of struggle can provide additional practice and reinforcement. Many platforms offer interactive and engaging content that makes learning enjoyable.
Encourage Active Learning: Move away from passive learning and encourage active engagement. Incorporate hands-on activities, experiments, and real-world applications of concepts to make learning more tangible and interesting. Active learning not only reinforces academic concepts but also enhances critical thinking skills.
Set Realistic Goals: Work with your child to set realistic and achievable academic goals. Break down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks, celebrating small victories along the way. This not only helps build momentum but also fosters a sense of accomplishment.
Provide Positive Reinforcement: Offer positive reinforcement and praise for your child’s efforts and progress. Focusing on their strengths and acknowledging the steps they are taking to overcome learning challenges boosts their confidence and motivation. Celebrate both academic achievements and personal growth.
Consider Professional Support: If your child’s learning loss is substantial, consider enlisting the help of a professional tutor or educator. A qualified tutor can provide targeted support, addressing specific learning gaps and tailoring their approach to your child’s individual needs. This personalized attention can accelerate the recovery process.
Promote a Growth Mindset: Encourage a growth mindset by emphasizing the idea that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort and perseverance. Teach your child that setbacks are a natural part of the learning process and an opportunity for growth. This mindset shift can positively impact their approach to challenges.
Stay Engaged with Teachers: Maintain regular communication with your child’s teachers to stay informed about their progress and any additional support they may need. Collaborate with teachers to create a cohesive plan for your child’s recovery, ensuring that everyone is working together to support their educational journey.
Recovering from learning loss requires a concerted effort from both parents and educators. By identifying specific challenges, establishing open communication, and implementing targeted strategies, you can help your child rebuild their academic foundation and rediscover a love for learning.
In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and an ever-growing reliance on innovation, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has emerged as the cornerstone of societal progress. STEM education is not merely a set of subjects; it is a dynamic and interdisciplinary approach to learning that prepares individuals for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
Fostering Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: STEM education cultivates critical thinking and problem-solving skills from an early age. By engaging in hands-on activities and real-world problem scenarios, students learn to analyze situations, think creatively, and develop solutions. These skills are not only vital in scientific and technological fields but are also transferrable to various aspects of life, empowering individuals to navigate complex challenges in any domain.
Driving Technological Innovation: The heart of STEM education lies in fostering innovation. Students immersed in STEM fields are encouraged to question, explore, and experiment. This mindset fuels technological advancements that drive progress in fields like medicine, energy, communication, and transportation. The next breakthrough in renewable energy, medical research, or artificial intelligence may very well be conceived in the mind of a STEM-educated individual.
Global Competitiveness: Nations with a robust emphasis on STEM education are better positioned to compete in the global economy. The workforce of the future will be dominated by jobs that require a strong foundation in STEM fields. From coding to data analysis, proficiency in STEM disciplines is becoming increasingly indispensable. Countries investing in STEM education are not only producing a skilled workforce but are also fostering an environment conducive to innovation and economic growth.
Addressing Societal Challenges: STEM education equips individuals with the tools to address pressing societal challenges. Whether it’s finding sustainable solutions to environmental issues, developing breakthroughs in healthcare, or creating technologies to bridge socio-economic gaps, STEM professionals play a pivotal role. Through STEM education, we empower future generations to contribute meaningfully to the betterment of society.
Closing the Gender Gap: Historically, there has been a gender disparity in STEM fields. Encouraging STEM education from an early age helps break down gender stereotypes and fosters an inclusive environment. By providing equal opportunities and representation, we can bridge the gender gap in STEM, ensuring that diverse perspectives contribute to scientific and technological advancements.
Adaptability in a Dynamic World: STEM education instills adaptability in individuals. In a world characterized by constant change, having a foundation in STEM disciplines prepares individuals to navigate evolving technologies and industries. This adaptability is a key attribute in the face of future uncertainties and challenges.
STEM education is not just about preparing students for specific careers; it’s about equipping them with the skills and mindset needed to thrive in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. The importance of STEM education extends beyond the classroom, influencing societies, economies, and the collective human experience. Promoting STEM education, helps lay the groundwork for a future where innovation, progress, and the pursuit of knowledge propel us toward new heights of achievement and understanding.
The announcement yesterday that schools across England are ordered to outlaw smartphones during lessons and break times, has given a boost to conversations about the topic. Gillian Keegan, Education Secretary in England, reportedly “believes that mobile phones pose a serious challenge in terms of distraction, disruptive behaviour, and bullying, according to an insider. ‘It is one of the biggest issues that children and teachers have to grapple with so she will set out a way forward to empower teachers to ban mobiles from classrooms.’”
School districts all over Europe have grappled with the problem, agreeing that “the presence of smartphones in the classroom – and constant notifications from apps – has been blamed for causing disruption, as well as fuelling cyber-bullying and thefts. In June, Finland became the latest country to ban phones in class in a bid to reverse a decline in exam results ”
In July of this year, UNESCO reported that “Smartphones should be banned from schools to tackle classroom disruption, improve learning and help protect children from cyberbullying.” The UN agency said there is evidence that excessive mobile phone use is linked to reduced educational performance. Additionally, high levels of screen time have a negative effect on children’s emotional stability.
Based on its analysis of 200 education systems around the world, UNESCO estimated one in four countries had banned smartphones in school, either through law or guidance. These included France, which introduced its policy in 2018, and the Netherlands, which will bring in restrictions from 2024.
The Washington Post reported in May that “schools in Ohio, Colorado, Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California and others banned the devices in class to curb student obsession, learning disruption, disciplinary incidents and mental health worries.”
How can schools implement and enforce a cell phone ban?
Level 1: Students can take their phone out during class, but only to use it for class purposes.
Level 2: Students can hold on to their phone but are not supposed to take it out of their pocket or backpack at all during class time.
Level 3: Phone caddies in classrooms: Students put their phone into a wall pocket or storage unit at the start of each class, and then pick it up at the end of that class.
Level 4: Lockable pouches (such as those made by Yondr). Students are required to put their phone into their own personal pouch when they arrive at school, which is then locked with a magnetic pin (like the anti-theft tags used in clothing stores). Students keep the pouch with them but cannot unlock it until the end of the school day, when they are given access to a magnetic unlocking device.
Level 5:Phone lockers. Students lock their phone into a secure unit with many small compartments when they arrive at school. They keep their key and get access to the phone lockers again only when they leave school.
Levels 1 and 2 are the hardest to monitor and rely on student impulse control. Levels 3, 4, and 5 remove the responsibility from teachers and students, and ensure there is no phone disruption during class time. Levels 4 and 5 restrict cell phone use for the entire day.
Although most school systems have had some sort of ban, or restrictions on student cell phone use, enforcement has been lax and difficult. Teachers have complained about the extra burden of being the “phone cop”. With academic performance down in many districts, some are blaming it on social media distractions and constant connection to the internet and would like to ban the phones but don’t know how to implement such a ban.
Critics of restrictions on cell phones say they are necessary for emergencies. Students say they use them to check in with parents or coaches, and use them to check on grades or assignments. Some say they use them to listen to music, which helps them concentrate. Allowing students to bring their phones to school, but surrender them until the end of the school day can partially satisfy those objections. In a Pittsburgh suburb, though, students got around the phone surrender by giving up an old phone and keeping their current phone hidden.
In Virginia Beach, “a new regulation this school year forbids cellphone use during instructional hours or in a school setting. Middle-schoolers now must keep phones stowed in their lockers. High school students may carry phones — and use them during lunch or between classes — but not in class.”
Teachers in Kansas have raised concerns during contract negotiations, asking their districts to ban cellphones in class. Wichita high school teacher Mike Harris said that since students now have district-provided Chromebooks they can use in class, “they don’t need their cellphones to learn.”
In Danbury, CN, Kristy Zaleta, principal of Rogers Park Middle School, has switched to a compromise plan where phones are off limits except during the transition periods between classes, and during lunch. Any other time, and the phones are taken away. The result? “There’s a calmer sense,” she said. “It definitely feels like the air has changed.” The previous year, she said, “almost broke us.”
How are things going in schools with a cell phone ban?
School superintendent Bill Wilson, of the Brush, CO school district said that nearly all of their discipline issues last year were related to phones. Social media posts and texts during school hours led to conflicts, bullying, or other issues. This year, no phones allowed in classrooms, and he said he sees more interaction between teachers and students, more focus, less conflict in hallways. And only a handful of students are second-time offenders. “The majority of our students, when we surveyed them, were thankful for it because it has reduced the stress in their life,” Wilson said. “They’re not worried about what their friends are saying, at least not during school time.” Several parents were critical early on, he said, but most have been accepting.
More research needs to be done to provide high quality experimental evidence as to the benefits phone-free schools provide, but “It helped me a lot,” one student at San Mateo High School in California told NBC News after her school started using lockable pouches. “Before, I would usually just like curl over in the side of my desk, and, like, check my phone and text everyone. But now there’s no other thing for us to look at or do except for talk to our teacher or pay attention.”
For a deeper dive into the current state of cell phone addiction, please read this fabulous essay in The Atlantic by Jonathan Haidt, Get Phones Out of Schools Now.
Math has a reputation for being a difficult subject, and this perception among students isn’t helpful. Since math is a subject that builds on skills learned from grade level to grade level, if a student starts lagging behind early, it becomes more difficult to catch up when the math gets harder.
A recent article from the Christian Science Monitor discussed the still lingering effects of the pandemic and school shutdowns on student performance in math. “Across the country, schools are scrambling to catch up students in math as post-pandemic test scores reveal the depth of missing skills. On average, students’ math knowledge is about half a school year behind where it should be, according to education analysts.”
Coupled with that, many schools are also grading more leniently because of the pandemic learning loss, and there are now many students graduating and entering college without the basic math skills they should have. Paul Vallas, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools recently said, “Higher grades are being awarded for less achievement in our schools, which helps hide our students’ struggles since the pandemic. Combine that with teachers unions pushing for fewer accountability measures, and the needed push for academic excellence withers.”
Colleges and universities are reporting that students are “struggling to grasp fractions and exponents. More students are being placed into pre-college math, starting a semester or more behind for their majors, even if they get credit for the lower-level classes.”
George Mason University in northern Virginia has started a Math Boot Camp “because of alarming numbers of students arriving with gaps in their math skills.”
Jessica Babcock, a Temple University math professor, said the problem was clear to her as she graded quizzes in her intermediate algebra class. One problem on the quiz was to subtract 8 from negative 6. “I graded a whole bunch of papers in a row. No two papers had the same answer, and none of them were correct,” she said. “It was a striking moment of, like, wow — this is significant and deep.”
Start early to fix the problem
Progress is possible in upper grades, said Sarah Powell, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin whose research focuses on teaching math. But she said it’s easy for students to feel frustrated and lean into the idea that they’re not a “math person.”
“As the math gets harder, more students struggle,” she said. “And so we need to provide earlier intervention for students, or we also need to think in middle school and high school, how are we supporting students?”
Boot camps, math coaches, summer programs, after-school programs, adding instructional hours and tutoring are all ways to help students build a solid math foundation. Utilizing a variety of interventions, parents can identify which ones are the most beneficial.
TutorUp can help
Parents interested in one-on-one math tutoring for their student, working with a certified teacher with classroom teaching experience may find the right tutor with TutorUp.
Whether your kids have enjoyed a quiet summer sleeping in and whiling away the days, or they’ve had a busy time with activities, travel, work, or other pursuits, it’s all about to end. School is starting, or has already started in some districts, and those lazy days of summer are over.
There’s a lot of activity around the start of a new school year, and kids of all ages are concerned about having the right supplies, maybe getting some new clothes and shoes, maybe they’re starting in a new school. Are they going to be in classes with their friends? What will their new teacher(s) be like?
What’s clear is that they have a lot on their minds. There’s excitement and also anxiety, and what they’re least likely to be focusing on is academics. Not surprising.
Getting focused
The sooner you can get past the back-to-school rush of activity and get into a new routine, the better. Summer learning loss is a reality, and teachers know they will be spending a good amount of time just getting everyone back to where they were at the end of the previous school year. Helping your child get focused will make the transition time shorter.
Address anxieties
You know how difficult it is to focus when you’re anxious or nervous, and the same is true for kids. It’s not realistic to expect that they will just effortlessly ease into the new semester and be able to focus on academics. Finding out what their worries are and helping them address those is the most helpful way to clear their minds. Even things that seem like small problems, like where the new bus stop is or what time do they have lunch, can cause stomach-churning anxiety.
Remove obstacles
If you’re a list-maker, this is a skill you can teach a child of any age. Sit down with your child and make two lists. One is for every tangible thing they feel they need or want in order to be comfortable starting school. This could be clothes, specific school supplies, a new haircut, a drive schedule for drop off and pickup, after school accommodations, lunch money, etc. Once you’re sure each item is addressed, you can check it off the list and your child can stop worrying about it.
The second list is for intangibles. What is your child concerned about? What’s happening among their peers? Sometimes just being able to verbalize what is making them anxious, sharing it with you and writing it down, helps minimize it. Reducing the number of unknowns helps reduce the worry.
Provide support
Structure and routine are proven to be calming, and help create an atmosphere where learning can take place. The sooner you can establish the new school year daily schedule, the better. Some children do better with homework right after school and others do better after dinner. Knowing your own child’s capabilities is important. Scheduling in some free time is just as important as setting aside time for homework.
As a family, you may have many different after school activities like sports, church, errands, etc. and it is challenging to get all this done, get everyone fed, and get homework done by bedtime. As much as possible, make sure your child’s to-do list for each day is cleared off by bedtime, so they can get a good night’s rest and start the next day ready to go.
Whatever your after-school childcare looks like, make sure that any care providers clearly communicate with you and with your child, and that your preferences for your child’s activities are known.
Back to learning
The goal of all this preparation is to help your child succeed in school and that means academic success too. Staying informed about what your child is studying and how they are progressing is essential. Many schools provide a mid-term report on your child’s progress and this may be your first opportunity to discover if your child is doing well academically and socially, just keeping up, or has fallen behind. Parent/teacher conferences are helpful, but many teachers are open to email or chat conversations with parents as well. Take advantage of these opportunities to track your child’s progress.
Helping your child with homework, and making sure that you (and they) know what all their assignments are, what the due dates are, how work is to be turned in, and what the teacher’s expectations are is a great way for you to stay aware of how they are doing.
When your child needs some extra support
If you find that your child is struggling with a certain subject or a project, one option for helping them is to provide tutoring support. There are learning centers that provide tutoring, group learning, or private in-person tutoring, or any number of individuals, college students, or other resources that can provide some form of tutoring support.
TutorUp provides online one-on-one personalized tutoring for students K-12 in all academic subjects. All of our tutors are certified teachers with classroom teaching experience who have been background-checked and passed our onboarding process. We are partnered with ZOOM to provide live, face-to-face tutoring sessions. To browse our tutors, or for more information, click here. And good luck with the new school year!
Taking a break from school can be a good thing for students, especially if the prior school year was a tough one. However, a three-month break from academic activity has a proven negative effect. By some measurements, children lose an average of 1 month and up to 2 months of learning in the time off during the summer.
Researchers from the University of Missouri first began measuring math computation and spelling skills in a 1996 study where they wanted to determine the effect of having two to three months off from learning in the summer. They amalgamated the results of 39 different studies. The results were compelling. “The meta-analysis indicated that the summer loss equaled about one month on a grade-level equivalent scale, or one tenth of a standard deviation relative to spring test scores. The effect of summer break was more detrimental for math than for reading and most detrimental for math computation and spelling.”
More recently, and following pandemic learning loss, studies have found that students in grades 1-8 lose 17% to 34% of the prior year’s learning over summer break. And significantly, the study showed that kids who fall behind one summer, tend to stay behind and even widen the gap as time goes on.
“Math, reading and history scores from the past three years show that students learned far less during the pandemic than was typical in previous years. By the spring of 2022, according to our calculations, the average student was half a year behind in math and a third of a year behind in reading,” according to Dr. Tom Kane, professor education and economics at Harvard, and Dr. Sean Reardon, professor of education and sociology at Stanford. When you add summer learning loss to the picture, it becomes more alarming.
Current statistics about summer slide:
Kids in grades 3-5 lose about 20% of their school year gains in reading and 27% of their gains in math. (Source: Scholastic)
Students lose about a month’s worth of learning on average over the summer. (Source: Sage Journals)
In the summer between fifth and sixth grade, 84% of students experience summer slide in math. (Source: Kappan)
The more kids learn during the school year, the more they’re likely to lose over the summer. (Source: Kappan)
It can take 2 months in the fall for students to recover from summer learning loss
Things you can do to help mitigate summer learning loss:
Set aside 30 minutes per day for some type of academic activity
Create learning experiences by visiting museums, zoos, and other nature experiences
Keep plenty of art supplies on hand and encourage creativity
Limit screen time
Consider summer tutoring
Your child might benefit from tutoring over the summer, even if it’s just a couple of 30-minute sessions per week. This is particularly true in subjects that your child may have struggled with during the previous school year. Teachers say that it takes a month or more in the fall, just trying to get students back to the skill levels they had before summer break. Spending some time one-on-one with a certified, classroom-experienced teacher over the summer, could be a total game-changer for your child. TutorUp can help.
Math and reading scores for American 13-year-olds plunge to lowest levels in decades
If you thought that students were recovering from learning loss suffered during Covid, you’ll be disappointed to know that the setbacks are persisting.
Wednesday, June 21, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released test results from the most recent testing of 8,700 middle school students in each subject last October through December. The exam is designed to measure basic skills in math and reading. Most questions are multiple choice.
Average math scores fell by 9 points. The math scores are now at the lowest levels since 1990.
Reading scores fell by 4 points between 2020 and 2023. These scores are the lowest since 2004.
When asked about their reading habits, only 14% of the students say they read for pleasure daily, which is down from 27% in 2012. And almost a third say they never or hardly ever read for fun. Absenteeism has also increased, doubling since 2020, and this is troubling, given there is an established connection between absenteeism and test scores.
These latest results are alarming for a number of reasons. More than two years after most students returned to in-person class, there are still “worrisome signs about student achievement,” said Peggy G. Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the federal Education Department.
“The ‘green shoots’ of academic recovery that we had hoped to see have not materialized,” Carr said in a statement.
These lingering effects of the pandemic setback are in spite of the billions of dollars that have been spent to help students catch up, including the expansion of tutoring programs, summer classes and other efforts. Commissioner Carr said “The strongest advice I have is that we need to keep at it. It is a long road ahead of us.”
Concerned about falling test scores? Personal, private, individualized tutoring can help
Many students struggling with Math or Reading are able to make significant progress with individualized tutoring. In a classroom or group setting, it’s very difficult for students who may need some extra help to get personal attention. If you think your child is struggling, and could benefit from spending tutoring time with a certified teacher, classroom-experienced, in a private online one-on-one setting, we can help.
This downward trend in test scores was accelerated by the pandemic
National test scores were released on May 3, 2023 showing a steep drop in student test scores in U.S. History, and a modest drop in civics. The Department of Education administers these tests to eighth graders every year. About 40 percent of eighth graders scored “below basic” in U.S. History on this most recent test. This is a drop from 34 percent in 2018, and 29 percent in 2014.
Only 13 percent of eighth graders were considered proficient, which is down from 18 percent nearly a decade ago.
The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test includes both simple and complex questions. Scores on the civics portion of the test showed the first decline since the test began being administered in the late 1990s. It’s possible that reduced reading comprehension affected the history test results.
Instructional time for social studies has been declining over recent years, as schools have focused much more on the academic losses in reading and math.
“It doesn’t bode well for the future of this country and for the future of democracy if we don’t start doing more instruction in social studies,” said Kristin Dutcher Mann, a history professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, who helps train middle and high school social studies teachers. At one point, she said, older elementary school students in her community received an hour of social studies each day. Now, she said, “they will be lucky if they get 30 minutes for social studies twice a week.”
Concerned about falling test scores? Personal, private, individualized tutoring can help
Many students struggling with Social Studies, History, or Civics are able to make significant progress with individualized tutoring. In a classroom or group setting, it’s very difficult for students who may need some extra help to get personal attention. If you think your child is struggling, and could benefit from spending tutoring time with a certified teacher, classroom-experienced, in a private online one-on-one setting, we can help.
New York State lowers the bar for students in Math and English
It’s become obvious that there is a downward trend in national standardized test scores, and some states and districts are deciding to lower the bar. In March, a scoring committee that reports to the Board of Regents in New York has said that, taking into account the drop in test scores for students in grades three through eight, they need to set new performance standards. The committee is proposing new scoring methodology.
This comes after some shocking drops in test scores in New York. For example, in Schenectady, not one single eighth grader who took the math test scored as proficient. So now, the committee wants the Board of Regents to reconsider what the lowest score a student can get to reach achievement level will be.
“Yes, there’s learning loss between 2019 and 2022, but in some ways we don’t want to keep going backwards,” said Marianne Perie, Technical Advisory Committee Co-Chair. “We’re at this new normal. So for New York we are saying the new baseline is (the test results from) 2022.”
Some educators and parents point to the tests themselves as the problem, suggesting adaptive tests, which offer easier or harder questions based on what the student gets right, as well as alternatives to testing. Board of Regents member Frances Wills questioned the tests, saying public confidence in education has declined since state testing for students in third through eighth grades began. Others argue that the changes will undermine the credibility of the tests.
Other States Take a Different Approach
After the NAEP test results came out, New Mexico lawmakers pushed to boost instructional time in public schools to combat the fall in student test scores. Rather than lower expectations, New Mexico is planning to increase classroom hours beginning with the 2023/24 school year.
House Bill 130 passed through the New Mexico state House without opposition and was signed into law by New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on March 16. “The more time in the classroom, better results,” she said.
The bill increases learning time in public schools to 1,140 hours and has added professional development time for teachers. Districts will have some flexibility in when to add the hours.
Concerned about falling test scores? Personal, private, individualized tutoring can help
Many students struggling with Math, English, Reading, Social Studies, History, or Civics are able to make significant progress with individualized tutoring. In a classroom or group setting, it’s very difficult for students who may need some extra help to get personal attention. If you think your child is struggling, and could benefit from spending tutoring time with a certified teacher, classroom-experienced, in a private online one-on-one setting, we can help.
Teaching a child is hard. Even if a child is neurotypical, there are still many challenges parents will face every single day. When your child has a learning disability, it’s even more difficult, and learning disabilities are more common than you might think. As of 2019, 6.7 million students from ages 3-21 in US public schools were served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. While the act covers many types of disabilities, 33 percent of those students are specifically served for learning disabilities. And these numbers only account for those who qualify for service and are enrolled in public school.
Thankfully, there are options for helping you and your child. One of the most common and most effective ways to help children with learning disabilities is with technology. Whether it’s word processors like Microsoft Word or a simple tape recorder, these methods have been a huge aid to so many kids. With the advent of smartphones and apps, there are more ways than ever to use technology to help your child better learn and process information. With how expensive some of these apps can be and with how many there are, it can be difficult figuring out which one is best. That’s why I’ve compiled this list of 20 apps that can be useful for kids and parents of kids with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. If you give some of these a try, I hope they prove useful. Be sure to bookmark this page so you can read it later too!
Apps to Help Your Child Develop a Love of Reading and Writing
Learning to read can be difficult for kids, especially if they have dyslexia or another learning disability. The worst part is that books alone may not give your child the support they need. Books can use unusual sentence structures, might not define complex words, among other challenges. Fortunately, Reading Machine can help with these issues. Reading Machine helps struggling young readers make sense of what they’re reading with text-to-speech, phonics support, and an excellent dictionary of common English words. The app includes over 125 books for beginning readers. It also provides you with recommended reading lists based on your child’s interests and skill level. You can pick up Reading Machine for free on the Apple App Store.
Text-to-speech is one of the most effective ways to aid children with dyslexia who are learning to read. Hearing the words spoken as they read helps them better understand their book, and it can keep them engaged even when traditional reading can get a little dull. There are dozens of text-to-speech apps on the market, but Voice Dream Reader is one of the best. Its suite of features is excellent and includes a scanner for reading printed work and alternate Reading Styles. In particular, the Finger Reading style is great for beginning readers, as it lets them control the reading by running a finger under each word. There is also Spoken Word, which allows your child to listen to books and articles as they read, and an auto-scrolling, full-screen mode that helps eliminate any distractions they might encounter on their device of choice.
That said, the app is a bit more complex than some of the others on this list. It was made for all ages which means it will be up to you to set it up for them and make sure it’s working properly. The good side of this is that your child won’t ever get too old for Voice Dream Reader. The app can be just as useful to them at age 5 as age 35. With a huge suite of features and content, Voice Dream Reader is an excellent app for children with dyslexia that can help them well into adulthood. You can download it on the Apple App Store today. Sadly, there is no free trial for this app.
Learning how to handwrite can be a frustrating process for your child, especially when they’re stuck tracing letters and numbers over and over again. Writing Wizard hopes to help by offering kids a fun, accessible way to learn how to write by hand. The app has a lot of features for beginning writers including 13 different fonts, worksheets, and interactive games to make the process more engaging. It also includes shapes and numbers for your child to learn as well. My personal favorite feature, however, is the ability to fully customize the letters to fit your child’s specific needs. This can include changing their size or simplifying more complex letters. While the app is available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, a free version is only available from the Google Play Store. It includes all shapes, 8 letters, 8 numbers, and 8 words.
A major hurdle in teaching kids to read is sentence structure. English can be a bit of a mess to understand, especially for beginning readers. However, Rainbow Sentences is here to help. By using aids such as color-coded words, text-to-speech, and picture-based sentence lessons, the app helps your child learn how to construct English sentences in an easy-to-understand way. It even lets kids record themselves reciting the sentences and play the recordings back to enhance the process. If your child is struggling with putting together complete sentences, I recommend Rainbow Sentences. You can find Rainbow Sentences on the Apple App Store. While there is no free trial, Rainbow Sentences isn’t as pricey as some of the others on this list.
Targeted to older users than other apps on this list, Ghotit Real Writer is a text editor for users with dyslexia and dysgraphia. Because of its complexity, I don’t recommend it for beginning writers. That said, it packs a number of useful features, such as text correction and word prediction, into an easy-to-use interface. More advanced children and adults can get a lot out of these features, especially the word prediction feature. The app also includes dictionaries for US, UK, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and South African varieties of English. Unfortunately, the app loses quite a bit of functionality without an Internet connection. If you want to try Ghotit Real Writer, you can download it on the Apple App Store for iPads, from its website for Macs, and it’s also available for Windows. While the price is steep, the Windows version offers a free trial.
It is a rare child who enjoys math. Addition and subtraction can be a drag, even if your child understands it just fine. With Prodigy Math Game, your child gets to learn the basics of math in a colorful, engaging video game. Making it a game can increase your child’s motivation and give them a better feeling of progression than they might get with normal teaching. For US users, the math questions in Prodigy Math Game stay in line with classroom lessons and are aligned with Common Core standards as well as Texas’ own TEKS standards. You can also monitor your child’s progress in the game to make sure they’re staying engaged both with the app and actually learning math. If you’re interested, Math Prodigy Game is available for free on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
7. Mod Math: Giving Your Child an Excellent Math Companion
Much like sentence structure, math problems and notation can be frustrating for beginners. If your child is struggling with this part of math, Mod Math is here to help. From simple addition and subtraction to algebra, the app lets your child plot out their equations with an easy-to-use custom keypad and digital graph paper. Your child can also share their work directly with their teachers from the app if their teacher has an account. You can even import equations from other documents for easy access. While Mod Math is free on the Apple App Store, it does contain microtransactions. If, for example, you want to use percentages, you’ll need to buy their Mod Math Pro service or buy the percentage symbol by itself. The cost is low, but it’s still disappointing to have to pay for such basic features.
8. Todo Math: Teaching Your Child Math With Simple, Fun Exercises
Part of the issue with teaching math is that the equations and problems can feel a little dry, especially for kids. This lowers engagement and, by extension, hurts their ability to remember the lessons. Apps like Todo Math are designed to help with this. Based on Common Core standards from the US, Todo Math provides your child with thousands of colorful, interactive exercises to help them better understand math. These exercises cover a variety of concepts from counting to telling time on a clock and are appropriate for kids from Pre-K to the 2nd Grade. The sheer amount of content is Todo Math’s greatest strength with daily missions and other challenges. These make sure your child stays engaged with learning for as long as possible. The app’s pay structure is its greatest weakness. The app places a limit on how many activities free users can do per day. The price for a subscription is also steep and only available in yearly or bi-yearly payments. Even with these drawbacks, the content in Todo Math is very good, and you can find it at no cost on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Dexteria’s entire family of apps is excellent, especially for children with autism. However, I’m highlighting their Get in Touch With Math app as an excellent learning aid for any child with disabilities. The exercises are simple, engaging, and great for teaching the basics of math. These exercises also test your child’s visual memory and fine motor skills. This is great for giving your child a sense of play even when just dragging their finger along a touchscreen. While you can’t try it for free, Dexteria Dots – Get in Touch With Math is available on the Apple App Store for a fairly low price.
10. Fuzzy Numbers: Helping Your Child Learn Early Math Skills With Creative Puzzles
Math can be particularly difficult for younger children, but an app like Fuzzy Numbers can help make it easier. The app is designed for Pre-K children and comes packed with a number of fun and educational puzzles to teach your child early math skills. The interface and look of the app are simple and colorful which can be a big help in keeping your child interested in the app. Its biggest issue is its length. If your child is particularly motivated, they can finish all 6 available puzzles in under an hour, according to some users. Although it’s a little short, the available content is well-done and great for teaching younger kids. You can download Fuzzy Numbers from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, but there is no free trial.
Everyone has trouble keeping track of their schedule sometimes. This is especially true when you or your child are in school. All of the assignments and tests can be overwhelming, especially as they move to higher levels of education. That’s why myHomework offers a clean, easy-to-use way for students to remember all those important dates. The app offers a lot of scheduling options, including the ability to outline your child’s schedule based on their class periods. While you can download myHomework for free on the Apple App Store, the free version includes ads that can be distracting for some. You can buy a yearly subscription to myHomework to remove the ads. The subscription also unlocks more features such as the ability to sync your schedule up with other devices.
12. AudioNote: Giving Your Child a Notepad and a Voice Recorder All in One
Many students use voice recorders in class to help them take notes, but they often have trouble remembering when they wrote down a certain note and why. With AudioNote, this problem disappears. Because it’s both a notepad and voice recorder, AudioNote can playback your note-taking alongside the recorded audio to provide the context of your notes. Each note your child takes comes with a link that can take them to the exact place in the recording where they took that note. If your child doesn’t take any notes at the time of recording, they can also take notes over the audio later. With so many useful features and a simple interface, AudioNote is one of the best voice recording apps out there. If you’re interested, you can pick it up on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store for a one-time payment. The Google Play version is cheaper than the Apple version, but I couldn’t figure out why.
13. Choiceworks: Letting You Build a Daily Routine for Your Child
Teaching your child to maintain a daily routine can be one of the most valuable things you can do for them. It can help them stay consistent later in life with school and builds independence. It’s also one of the more difficult lessons to teach, especially when you have your own schedule to keep up with. Choiceworks can help you and your child build this essential skill together.
With Choiceworks, you can use a collection of audio and visual cues to craft your child’s routine, as well as rewards for when they finish. For example, if your child wants to read a book before bedtime, you can set up Choiceworks to remind them that they need to brush their teeth first. The app is also completely customizable. You can record yourself telling your child what and how to do the tasks you’ve given them or take photos to use as visual cues instead of the default images. In addition to schedules, the app comes with three more imageboards: Waiting, Feelings, and Feelings Scale. These can help your child build patience and emotional regulation, even when you’re not at home.
You can download Choiceworks from the Apple App Store, but you can’t try it for free. There is also a companion app, called Choiceworks Calendar for helping your child keep track of dates and schedules as well. This app is also not free.
14. Bear In Mind: Making It Easier Than Ever to Keep Your Child On-Task
Sometimes, your child doesn’t need anything too complex in a scheduling app. They just need somewhere to write their to-do lists and set up reminders. If your child is looking for a simple reminder app, Bear In Mind is one of the best out there. The app’s interface is easy to use and highly customizable, with the ability to import images and pick from 35 different sounds and music for alarms. Best of all, Bear In Mind is fully functional offline, making it useful even when your child doesn’t have a signal. You can try Bear In Mind on the Apple App Store, but there is no free trial.
15. Chore Pad: Keeping Your Child More Engaged With Their Chores
Few people enjoy doing chores, and making sure your kids stay on top of theirs can be frustrating. However, Chore Pad’s colorful interface and rewards system are great for making chores more fun than ever. When your kids complete chores, they get stars which can be exchanged for rewards you set up for them. This can turn chores into a game, which can keep your child more engaged. If you use multiple Apple devices, you can also use Dropbox to sync Chore Pad across all of them. You can grab Chore Pad on the Apple App Store. There’s also a free lite version that limits the number of users to 1 and the number of assigned chores to 4.
Apps That Can Enhance Your Child’s Communication Skills
16. First Phrases: Building Your Child’s Communication Confidence
When your child learns to speak for the first time, part of the difficulty is stringing words into phrases and sentences. First Phrases come packed with a huge collection of simple phrases and sentences for your child to learn. When using the app, an animal appears on-screen along with an illustrated phrase to say, such as “Eat the cookie.” if your child repeats that phrase, the animal will do what they said. It’s a simple and fun way to build your child’s confidence in communication. That said, the app will take up a large amount of space on your device. So make sure you have room for it before giving it a try. First Phrases is only available on the Apple App Store, but you can download an iPhone version and an iPad version. Both versions cost the same.
Auditory processing skills can be difficult to learn for some children. Thanks to Fun With Directions, your child has a game to help them better understand these valuable skills. The app starts with simple directions like “pet the dog” and gets more complex as your child progresses. This slowly helps your child build their ability to follow directions and process what they’re seeing and hearing. The app’s lessons will grow with your child. That said, the app is designed for younger children, and the directions might not be challenging enough after a certain point. You can only find Fun With Directions on the Apple App Store. That said, the app has both an iPhone version and an iPad version. If you’re not sure about spending money on the app, you can try the Lite version for iPhone for a lower price.
18. Articulation Station: Educating Your Child at Multiple Levels of Communication
There are plenty of apps that can help your child learn at the word level or even the full sentence level. However, Articulation Station is one of the few apps designed to teach your child how to better communicate on not just the word or sentence level but the full story level. There’s a lot to love about it. This means the app can help your child grow from short, simple sentences to telling their own short stories. The app’s activities are vibrant, colorful, and engage your child on the auditory and visual levels. These activities include flashcards, matching games, and even full stories with comprehension questions.
That said, the app’s pricing model can be a deterrent for some users. While you can download Articulation Station at no cost from the Apple App Store, the app will ask you to pay for some specific content. This includes certain sounds your child might struggle with such as “ch” or “th” sounds. You can either buy each sound program individually or pay for its Pro version to unlock all content. If you purchase a few sound programs before paying for Pro, the app does offer you a discount equal to how much you paid for those programs.
19. Avaz AAC: Offering Your Child Support in As Many Languages As Possible
Most of the apps on this list are primarily targeted toward English speakers. This means they aren’t quite as useful on an international level or for multilingual households. If you’re looking for a speech app with more language variety, Avaz AAC is a great place to start. Developed in India, the app features 6 Indian regional languages including Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. On top of that, the app also offers 4 more languages: American English, Australian English, French, and Sinhala. And those are just the languages on this specific app. Avaz also offers regional versions of this app for countries like Switzerland, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
On top of this language support, Avaz AAC is a top-quality speech app. It comes equipped with an excellent dictionary, as well as a large number of voice clips. Your child can also use the Symbolstix image library to help communicate even better. It’s highly customizable and usable for all ages. There’s also an alert button to let your child tell you when they need your full attention and a mistake button for when they need to tell you they made a mistake. Additionally, the app features a training module for new users and their caregivers to make the process as easy as possible. You can try Avaz AAC for free on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. The app is only fully functional for 14 days, however. After the 14-day free trial is up, you won’t be able to access the symbols or voice clips without a subscription to Avaz. The subscription comes in monthly and yearly payment models, or as a one-time payment for lifetime access.
20. MyTalkMobile: Giving Your Child More Communication Options Than Ever
There are many speech apps on the market, and finding the right one for your child can be a difficult process. One of the most important things a good speech app needs is usability. For that, MyTalkMobile is one of the best out there. The app allows your child to communicate in several ways including video, photos, web images, sound, text, and text-to-speech. This flexibility in methods will help your child communicate better than ever. Its mobile authoring mode lets your child create personalized content; so they can communicate exactly what they mean. However, this mode is only available for free for a 14-day trial. After that, you’ll need to pay for its Pro Version, which has a steep cost. You can download MyTalkMobile for free on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
How to Choose the Right App for Your Child
All these apps are great, but they won’t be any help if you don’t know which one is right for your child. Fortunately, I found a paper written by experts in the field of special education that has excellent criteria for picking the right app for your child. I especially want to highlight their suggestion to make sure your child is involved in choosing the app. Ultimately, these apps are for your child, and if they aren’t interested in the app, it won’t help no matter how effective it might be for other children. So, show them screenshots from the app, explain what it’s supposed to do if they’re old enough to understand, and see which apps catch their eye and which they skip over.
Another thing to look out for is making sure your child stays moving throughout the day. While these apps can be useful, spending too much time with them or with any kind of screen will often hurt more than help your child, especially if they are earlier in their development. Use movement and play in combination with these apps to keep them engaged in the learning process.
Finally, make sure to turn off your child’s screens at least one hour before bedtime. The blue light from these screens can disrupt sleep patterns and prevent your child from getting a good night’s sleep. Good, restful sleep can be one of the most important factors in keeping your child healthy, happy, and engaged in their education. If possible, it might even be a good idea to turn off your own screen around the same time to set a good example for your child.
Help Your Child with Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities Learn and Grow With These Apps
There are so many unique challenges to parenting a child with learning disabilities, but there are also so many resources to turn to that can help you do the best job possible. These apps are just some of the ways you can help your child. There are websites, databases, and other resources where you can learn more about your child’s disability and learn ways to be an even better parent for your child. While I was never diagnosed with a learning disability, I was diagnosed with ADHD, which can also affect learning. I can’t imagine how big of a help it would have been if my parents had access to resources like these when I was a child. Many of these apps offer free trials or free versions to help you see if they’re right for you, and I urge you to give some of them a chance.
WRITTEN BY
Zephin Livingston Zephin Livingston is a freelance writer with years of experience in multiple fields including cybersecurity, tech, cultural criticism, and media literacy.
We already know that eating healthy is good for growth and development, but did you know that it’s also associated with higher academic achievement?
Studies on children and adolescents (ages 5-18) have long focused on breakfast consumption and how it affects academic achievement. These studies have shown a positive association when children eat more fruit, vegetables, and micronutrients including folate and iron. Lowering the consumption of junk foods has also been associated with higher academic achievement.
Similar studies have not typically focused on college-age students. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information however, seven recent studies reviewed the impact of diet on college student performance in school. While a number of factors and health behaviors can have an effect on academic achievement, college students’ eating habits have received much less attention than factors like sleep deprivation, poor mental health status, and alcohol use. Not surprisingly, the studies found that consuming a regular breakfast, eating 2-3 meals per day, and consuming more servings of fruit had a positive correlation between GPA and dietary intake/behavior.
Eating Habits of Students with Higher Grades
In 2019, the CDC published the results of a national Youth Risk Behavior Survey which showed that students with higher academic grades were more likely to engage in healthy dietary behaviors than students with lower grades. While this does not prove causation, these associations still have significance.
They found that students with higher grades were more likely to eat breakfast on all 7 days of the week; eat fruit or drink 100% fruit juice one or more times per day; eat vegetables one or more times per day; and were not drinking soda or pop. Interestingly, there was not an association between drinking milk and academic grades.
Can Some Eating Habits Actually Hinder Learning?
According to Neuroscience News, consuming refined sugars and saturated fats can have detrimental effects on the brain. “High-fat and processed-food diets are also associated with lower cognitive function and memory in humans and animal models as well as a higher incidence of neurodegenerative diseases. However, researchers still don’t know if these effects are due to these foods or to the weight gain and insulin resistance that develop with long-term consumption of these diets.”
Early Nutrition Shapes the Brain
Stony Brook University researchers conducted a study that showed there is a strong relationship between what we eat early in life, as babies or young children, and what our food preferences will be as adults. The study also found that what we eat early in life suggests a link between taste and brain function in health and disease. Arianna Maffei, PhD, Senior Author and Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Stony Brook University explained, “Expanding our knowledge of the developmental neural circuits for tastes – as studies like this do – will contribute to our understanding of food choices, eating disorders, and diseases associated with brain disorders.”
There’s a Link Between Food, Mood, and Learning
An Australian study found that young people with the unhealthiest diets were nearly 80% more likely to suffer from depression. These children also exhibited more emotional and behavioral problems than children with healthy eating habits. Research from the National Institutes of Health and from the British Journal of Nutrition showed that what children eat can improve mental health, enhance cognitive skills like concentration and memory, and improve academic performance.
Accessing Healthy Food – The Economic Link
Nutrition is key to brain development, however access to healthy food can be a challenge to those with lower incomes. Diets high in vegetables and healthy proteins cost more than diets rich in processed foods and refined grains. This cost disparity has been increasing since the mid 2000s.
In addition, many people in the United States have limited access to supermarkets and other sources of more healthy foods. These areas are often called “food deserts” and can cause families to turn to fast food or convenience store items.
This lack of nutrition can lead to stunted mental and physical development in young children. Children with diets lacking in fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy proteins tend to have lower test scores and can also end up missing school or having to repeat grades.
