Grade one is a critical time for learning to read and some experts are worried that time out of the classroom for COVID shutdowns has caused serious delays in acquiring this essential skill. Preliminary findings from a Toronto District School Board analysis found that in October 2020, kids who were in in-person school were three percentage points behind where grade 1 kids were in October 2019 on diagnostic reading assessments. Kids in virtual school fared even worse?in January 2021 those grade 1 kids were 9 percentage points behind grade 1 kids in January 2020. With all of Ontario doing remote schooling from mid-April until the end of June, those gaps are likely wider now. 
Meanwhile in Alberta, an analysis by University of Alberta faculty of education professor George Georgiou found kids in grades 1 to 3 in a sampling of school districts who were already showing reading difficulties were now six months behind where they should have been.  For kids who struggle with reading, there?s a critical window in the early grades to solidify skills, so waiting for the teacher to catch them up might not be the best approach. You can make reading over the summer fun by keeping sessions short and sweet?just a few minutes a day will go a long way towards gaining these skills. And remember?all reading is reading, whether it?s a graphic novel, a Pokemon card or the back of a cereal box. 
We spoke to Liisa Freure, a former elementary teacher and reading expert who tutors kids struggling ...