ORANGE PARK, Fla. – With the new school year just around the corner, a learning center in Orange Park is helping parents get their children back into the school groove.
You might have heard of the term “summer slide” — the learning loss children face after months away from the classroom. It can make the first few weeks of school more challenging than they need to be.
“We see it every school year,” said Rafael Urquiza, owner of Sylvan Learning.
Urquiza noted that students can lose up to two months of grade-level equivalency because they aren’t exercising their brain muscle.
“One of our busiest times in school is the first progress report that comes out,” Urquiza said. “And then I have a lot of parents calling — panicking.”
No matter the learning method, whether it’s through a tablet or classic paper and a No. 2 pencil, Urquiza suggests keeping it fun – and even offering a motivational prize at the end.
“When I was at home, I would just say, ‘Hey, let’s make cookies,’” he said. “I’m gonna get them to help me make the cookies. So what does that do? ‘Hey, measure the cups. How many teaspoons?’ Multiplication. All of a sudden, they’re multiplying. They’re doing fractions.”
For parents like Angela Larson, who homeschools her two children, setting aside at least one hour a day for reading helps keep their comprehension skills sharp.
“Mom is reading, kids are reading. You can choose a book of your choice, you can listen to an audiobook,” Larson said. “You can listen and read at the same time if you want.”
Larson also has one child enrolled at Sylvan Learning and said tutoring centers are a valuable investment.
“If I have a gap in my teaching, this is totally the gap filler,” she said. “It fills that gap in such a way that my children are getting a full education experience.”
