Another Year of Lost Ground For Many

You are probably aware of summer reading and learning loss – the notorious “summer slide,” where learning momentum is slowed.  This applies to the high percentage of children who don’t love reading and who don’t read independently over summer. It takes those children to October to get back to where they were in  June.  This summer reading slide explains about half of the reading gap between good and struggling readers (Kim 2011).

But this was not a normal year.

For healthy learners, yes, learning momentum continued.  They are motivated and already somewhat independent learners, so the interruptions in their schooling last year did not slow their momentum at home.  They have been completing their assignments happily, focusing on their school Zoom calls and reading up a storm.

However these last two years have been challenging for many children.  Particularly for students who are not willing, independent readers. No question, not necessarily lost years, but unproductive years at the very least.

In addition to the lack of reading and learning time lost, these children had limited access to professional help: Teachers, tutors and/or specialists who need to see a child one-on-one in person to reliably recognize difficulties were not accessible, and remote guidance is not as effective as in person. 

It has added up to a difficult learning period for many children.  They are coming into this summer already behind their peers. And unless something changes they are about to lose more ground over the summer before school starts.

Turn Around Your Child’s Reading This Summer

If your child is behind, this is not a summer to sit on your hands. As of now we should all expect the next school year to be back to normal and your child needs to be ready. That means taking action this summer to make a dent on the reading gap created during by the Covid-related school disruption.

This may sound overwhelming, but it is possible!  Reading interventions like Gemm Learning have two important benefits:. They can:

1. Accelerate your child’s reading level
2. Change the trajectory of future reading progress

While Gemm Learning is proud of the reading gains children achieve using the Fast ForWord program –  typically 2+ years in about 6 months – the more profound and important gain is the impact we have can have on your child’s reading trajectory.  We do this by making reading easier – better reading fluency and comprehension – that leads to a better attitude toward reading, and therefore more reading.

Check out our customer testimonials here – they show how effective our program can be with a relatively short commitment. The question is, can you carve out the time this summer to give your child a better chance of success in the new school year?

Our Reading Programs

Fast ForWord is a series of reading programs that starts by strengthening cognitive and pre-reading skills – language processing, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary.  It exercises all these skills until they are where they need to be for decoding and reading comprehension.  Fast ForWord then progresses to reading-specific skills, building reading fluency and reading comprehension step by step, all at the student’s pace.

Another option is Reading Plus – a comprehensive reading practice program with vocabulary, eye-tracking and other tools to help reading fluency and comprehension.

Students work in 30-minute sessions, 4-5 times a week – with remote monitoring and coaching when needed.  If your child has missed a lot of school in the last year, you may want to consider longer sessions for at least part of the summer.

If your child is one of the many who have fallen behind, please call 877-914-4366 and ask one of our consultants about your options.