Published: February 26, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has been interrupting American life for a full year now, and exhaustion with the restrictions set in long ago. But it isn’t just the restrictions and lockdowns that are so frustrating — it is also the constantly changes around what is allowed and what isn’t.
Education is a prime example of this, and the one that most parents of school-aged children are having the hardest time with: when New York City announced at the beginning of January that schools would once again be moving classes online, it didn’t take long for hashtags criticizing the decision to start circulating online.
While opinion remains divided as to how New York State should strike the right balance between public safety and the needs of students, parents, and teachers, it is clear that the coming semester will be a rocky one. Even outside of New York City proper, suburban counties like Westchester are locked in a delicate dance around school closures and re-openings based on COVID-19 outbreaks.
This is why it is all the more important for parents to start exploring alternative ways of making sure their children don’t fall behind in their schooling due to zoom fatigue or lack of stimulation. Currently, one of the biggest issues with the state of education in New York is that students are having a much harder time accessing the learning supports that play such a big role in helping those who are struggling in their classes.
Because after-school study groups and educational extracurriculars have been curtailed, kids who need a more hands-on approach in order to master difficult subjects have been left to fend for themselves — which is why certified online tutors can be such a big help.
If you want to make sure that the chaos of this school year doesn’t do long-term damage to your children’s education, here are some of the ways private tutors are helping New York families get through the pandemic, and some of the things you should look for in a private tutor.
Tutoring: An Essential Learning Supplement for New York Students
Over the past months, school closures in New York have been followed by New York school reopenings and the promise of a return to something like normalcy. With the latest round of school closures, many students are finding it exceptionally difficult to get back into the rhythm of distance learning.
This is in part because remote learning requires a greater degree of discipline from students, one that has been severely eroded by coronavirus fatigue. Tutoring doesn’t require the same degree of mental effort because the tutors work on a one-on-one basis, meeting students where they are emotionally and psychologically.
Unlike a teacher trying to engage a twenty-person class over zoom, a tutor can:
- Check in with a student about their wellbeing and the personal learning challenges they are facing
- Provide affirmation and coaching
- Discuss lessons and concepts in a back-and-forth way, so that the student can work through problems in their own words
- Help develop personalized learning strategies that build off students’ strengths and account for areas of weakness
- Act not as an authority figure but as a knowledgeable peer who empathizes with the student’s unique challenges and helps them work through course material in their own way and at their own pace
For most students, learning is most effective when it is a dialogical process. Exploring ideas, trying to find words to explain difficult concepts, having space to make mistakes — these things are all much easier when the student has a knowledgeable interlocutor to help them.
One of the reasons tutoring in Westchester NY can be such an important supplement to regular classes is that it puts the student and their needs at the center of the educational process, empowering them to focus on their unique challenges.
Find a Tutoring Service that Fits Your Life
The challenges of pandemic schooling have been aggravated by the fact that many parents don’t have the time to monitor their children’s schooling.
Working from home is already a stressful experience, and when you’re juggling your own zoom calls with cooking, housework, and shopping, you aren’t always able to check in to make sure your kids are paying attention to their lessons.
Finding a tutor who is flexible enough to work around your schedule and the schedules of your children is essential, which is why Prep Academy Tutors has expanded service options to help families get the educational support they need.
Before the pandemic began, our approach was built around offering home tutoring services that give children the freedom to learn in a safe and comfortable environment, and we continue to offer this service when and where it is appropriate to do so. In situations where safety measures make in-home tutoring impossible, out tutors offer personalized, in-depth lessons online.
We also provide our students with the option of learning pods so that children who prefer a more engaging and social learning environment can study alongside their friends and peers.
With pandemic life already a complicated balancing act between work, life maintenance, and self-care, we believe effective tutoring should not create added stress for students or parents, which is why our tutors do everything they can to tailor their approach to your scheduling needs.
Children and teenagers cannot afford to lose an entire year of their education to unengaging zoom lectures and experiments in remote learning that many experts believe are ineffective ways of delivering education outcomes.
For New York students to keep up during this difficult time, it is essential that they have hands-on help from tutors who can provide stimulating instruction, homework help, personalized feedback, and support that can actually empower them to keep learning.
Whether you’re looking for a private English tutor or the best math tutor Westchester NY has to offer, get in touch with Prep Academy Tutors to learn more about the services we offer today.