A new study has found that school closures led to reading impairment in students that were listed as “disadvantaged.” The COVID-19 pandemic has just hit its two-year anniversary, and the impact it has had goes well beyond the health of individuals. It has impacted almost every aspect of life, especially for young children. One of the biggest hurdles that they had to face was the closure of in-person school and the move to virtual learning. While some thrived with online learning, other struggles and studies are being done to look at just what the impact was, and how the effects can be reversed.According to Medical Xpress, a new study has found that school closures led to reading impairment in disadvantaged children. The study was done by Yale University, and it can be read in full here. It is adding yet another problem that educators and parents must now work to resolve.RELATED: Pandemic Brought Love Of Reading Back To KidsThe researchers found that prolonged school closures led to a significant loss in reading abilities in children who are already at risk due to being disadvantaged. The biggest impact was on children who are often found to be dyslexic, and that is about 20% of the population.While this may seem alarming and may have some parents worried, the researchers also found a possible solution. They found that intensive, evidence-based intervention will most likely be beneficial at reversing the negative effects of school closures.To complete the study, researchers look at children from a charter school in grades 1 to 4. They followed them over three summers, which is equivalent to about 6 months of school time. This is about the same amount of time that students have missed school during the pandemic.

A new study has found that only half of the adolescents in the US are receiving “adequate” sex ed. Sexual education is important for all youth, even though it can be a tough conversation. Parents may know that this conversation is important, but they have a hard time sitting down with their children and speaking about it. This means that a lot of them can rely on the school system to properly inform and educate students on safe sex, STIs, and reproductive health. This information is vital to preventing teen pregnancies and protecting the health of youth, and parents want to be assured their children are receiving that.According to PsyPost, some parents may be shocked to hear that based on a survey, only half of the students in the US are getting sex ed that is considered “adequate.” This study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, and it can be read in full here.RELATED: Children Receiving Less Sex ED Than 25 Years AgoWhat they mean by adequate in this study is that it meets the minimum standards according to the national public health goals. The study also found that youth of color were less likely than White students to learn about safe sex topics.Previous studies have already shown that proper sex ed will help students understand consent, reduce abusive behavior, and will cause a lower risk of STIs or unwanted pregnancy. With that being known, we can see how important it is for youth to have these lessons and teachings.To conduct this study, researchers looked at data from two cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth, which is a household survey that is done. They focused on the answers from participants who were between the ages of 15 and 19 years old. This ended up being over 7,000 youth.

A new study has found that children may instinctively know how to complete division in math, and this may come as a bit of a surprise. School is incredibly important to children and their parents all across the country. While every student is going to have courses and subjects that they prefer and do better in, math has always been a harder subject for a lot of students. Math is one of those subjects that can appear difficult for most, and it is not just the students who have a hard time, parents can also struggle with helping their children with their homework.However, it turns out that some math may come naturally without us even knowing. According to Medical Xpress, children may “instinctively” know how to do division. This was shown through a study that was published in the journal, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, and it can be read in full here.RELATED: "Redefining" Stress Is Helping Students Cope With Math ExamsThe study showed that children may have arithmetic abilities before they even start school and learning more about this instinct could change how students are taught math and division. The study is based on something called the approximate number system (ANS), and this is a theory that everyone from an early age has the ability to compare and estimate large sets of objects.This may seem a bit confusing, but to give you an example, a child would be able to look at two pictures and know that 20 dots on a paper is more than 4 dots on paper. This would be done automatically, without any formal teaching on counting or calculations. As a child grows, the gap could get smaller, so they would then be able to just look at a picture and know that 20 dots are more than 17 dots, for example.

A new study has found that students perform better in school if they go on more cultural field trips. School is important for children and parents everywhere, and there are a lot who take the education of youth very seriously. Parents want their children to succeed, and a lot of children want to do well in school. This means that we are always looking for ways to help students achieve their best and make sure that they have the best education out there. However, sometimes the things that help can come from the most unlikely source, like field trips.According to PHYS, a study has found that sending children on “culturally enriching” field trips can help them do better in school. The study was done by Brigham Young University, and it can be read in full here.RELATED: Why You Should Take Your Kids On A Field Trip While Virtual LearningField trips have always been seen as fun for students, and they look forward to their chance to get out of the classroom and go somewhere fun. However, they can also be difficult for teachers to plan, because they need to make sure that there is learning and value involved. Some have argued about the worth of field trips, and whether they are worth a student missing a whole day out of school.There has been a notable decrease in the number of field trips, both due to the pandemic and before, but this new study is showing the true value of field trips, especially when they are considered ‘cultural.’ Examples of this type of field trip would be to the museum or art gallery. The study found that students who went on multiple field trips a year had higher test scores, performed better in class, and had an increased cultural conscientiousness over time when compared to students who did not go on as many field trips.

A study has found that lonely preteens and teenagers are at a higher risk of poor educational outcomes. Being a preteen and a teenager can be difficult, and this is something that can be taken for granted by adults. Adults can look at the younger generations and think that they have nothing to be stressed about yet, or they say things like, ‘just wait until you are an adult.’ However, this age group is going through a distinct stage of development, and they are trying to navigate how to be an independent person. Even though they may appear to have a robust social life, they could also be dealing with some loneliness.According to Medical Xpress, a study was done that shows that lonely teenagers are at a greater risk of poor educational outcomes. School is always important, but it may be even more so for this age group who are starting to think about college and their future careers.RELATED: Why Teens Suffer From High School Burnout & How To Help Them CopeThis study was done by King’s College London, and it can be read in full here. The study found that those who experienced loneliness when they were 12 years old were more likely to leave school with lower grades than those who did not experience loneliness.That was not all they found. They also found that those who experienced loneliness were also more likely to have more negative outcomes in life. They were more likely to struggle with their mental health, increased risk of self-harm, compulsive video game use, and unhealthy lifestyle choices. This can set them up to struggle later in life if interventions are not put in place to help them.To complete the study, they looked at 2232 participants that were recruited for another study that was aimed at looking at a wide variety of outcomes when they reached age 18.

The SATs are changing, and there are some things that parents should know if they have a teenager who is about to take the test. The SATs are almost a rite of passage for youth in the US, and there is a lot of pressure placed on them to do well on this test so that they can get into a good college, and succeed with the rest of their lives. This pressure can impact their mental health and could make them do poorly on the test that they have been studying so hard for. With parents wanting to make sure that their children are as calm as possible, and that they are able to do well, they may have been looking for some changes to be made.According to Today and Forbes, there are changes coming to the SATs, and there are some key things that parents and youth should be aware of. These changes were announced by the College Board, and they will take place for high school students in 2023 and 2024.RELATED: No SATs Means More College ApplicantsPriscilla Rodriguez is the company’s Vice President of College Readiness Assessments, and she stated that the test will be easier to take, easier to administer, more secure, and more relevant to students.

A new study has found that sleep routines for children can help them succeed at school. For a lot of parents out there, school is very important, and they want their child to excel at school. They see school as a gateway for the rest of their lives, and this means academically and socially. However, doing well at school is about a lot more than just studying often and completing all of your assignments on time. It is important to look at a child’s whole environment when it comes to how they will perform in school, and sleep continues to be a big part of it.Sleep is vital for a child’s growth and development, and we know that a child who does not get enough sleep can have a hard time focusing in class. According to Medical Xpress, this is being confirmed again by a recent study that found that having a solid sleep routine can help children do well in school.RELATED: Later School Start Time Can Prevent Sleep Deprivation In ParentsThis study was done by the University of South Australia, and it can be read in full here. Dr. Stephanie Centofanti and Dr. Alex Agostini were the lead researchers on the study, and they stated that it is important that children have a solid sleep routine, and if they don’t yet, now may be the time to implement one.They said that it can take a while for a new sleep routine to really take hold, so it is best to start now. They also highlighted the importance of this after holidays and summer breaks. These are times when children’s sleep is typically thrown off, but it is important to get it back on track as soon as possible. They also offered their advice on how to do this, and the best way to do it is to go slow. Push their bedtime forward slowly each night, by just 5 or 10 minutes, until you get it to a time that is appropriate.

A new study is showing that redefining the meaning of stress could be the key to helping students do better in school, specifically on math exams. School is always going to be a stressful time for students, and this stress may increase as a child gets older. When a teenager is in high school, they start to worry about their college applications and a lot of this weighs on the types of grades they get. While every student has their own strengths and weaknesses, subjects like math continue to be one that is often struggled with, and overwhelming stress can make it even harder for students to do their best.According to PsyPost, a study is showing that redefining stress, when used as a coping tool, can improve a student’s performance on math exams. This study was published in the journal, Social Psychological and Personality Science, and it can be read in full here.RELATED: Making Math Fun For Kids For Parents Who've Lost Hope In Pretending It IsThe study found that students who read about the benefits of stress before they took a math exam, performed better and reported that they had lower levels of stress. Researchers are stating that stress is not always inherently bad, and it is time that our youth are taught more about the benefits of stress.Jeremy Jamieson was one of the researchers, and he said that stress is not bad, but the way a person reacts to stress is what can cause a negative outcome. Most youths spend a lot of time and energy trying to avoid stress altogether, and that is not realistic, so the focus needs to shift on teaching youth how to embrace stress and how to better cope with it. The research suggests that rethinking the demands, and how a person reacts to it, can allow a person to calm down and focus better on the task ahead of them.