The pandemic babies who were toddlers, and preschoolers are now school aged showing signs of learning loss, speech delays, behavioral problems and more. Ms. Denean Bressi serves as the Director of Special Education and Student Services at the Susquenita School District.

Bressi expressed the students were affected in many ways depending on age level. The students that were in kindergarten and preschool growth were stifled a little more than the older students.

“It had a lot of impact. From the perspective of not only the students that were in school and then left, but the ones who never begun school. First of all, a lot of times the kids, we find that kids after the pandemic weren’t seeking out their peers to play with. They were much more isolated. They didn’t have functioning skills. They weren’t able to take turns.”

According to Bressi, the early years are critical for brain development. The kids who started school since covid, on average are two years behind grade level.

“When you have a child that is in third grade who very well may have lost a year, year and a half of education because of the pandemic, they’re still being graded or tested or expected to achieve at that third-grade level, even though they miss those skills.”

However, because their brains are developing at a rapid rate, there’s still time for those pandemic babies to catch up.

“Kids are resilient. The brain is resilient. There’s so much growth that occurs in these time frames that yes, they can. The key is to catch it early, to give them those remediations early. And they can make it up. We’re beginning to see that. But it’s a slow process.”

Listen to the podcast to hear more of the conversation.