Learning Disability vs Learning Difference: What Parents Should Know
A learning disability can refer to a clinical diagnosis or, in education law, to a category like “specific learning disability” under IDEA. A learning difference is a broader, non-clinical phrase for how a child naturally learns. This distinction matters because a private diagnosis isn’t necessarily required for an IEP or Section 504 plan. Schools have […]
After-School Tutoring vs Homework Help: What’s the Difference?
Homework help is short-term support that gets tonight’s assignment done, usually from a parent, sibling, or after-school program staffer. Structured tutoring builds on a diagnosis-driven plan aimed at closing specific skill gaps over weeks or months. If your child understands the material and just needs occasional help, homework help may be enough. If difficulties keep […]
Back-to-School With ADHD: Setting Up a Successful Year
Getting through back-to-school with ADHD starts well before the first bell rings. Gradually move toward a consistent school-night sleep schedule before school begins, build one consistent spot for backpacks and forms, and plan for difficult after-school transitions before they happen. Add individualized school supports, including a 504 plan or IEP when the child qualifies, a […]
Homework Help for Kids With ADHD: A Parent’s Guide
Homework struggles with an ADHD child usually trace back to attention, planning, and follow-through challenges, not defiance or laziness. Many children with ADHD need more support with time management and task initiation than same-age peers, which can make deadlines and multi-step assignments feel overwhelming. Strategies like quiet co-working, short work bursts, and visible reminders can […]
Setting Academic Goals for the New School Year
A good academic goal for the new school year focuses on one specific skill, not a broad outcome like “get better grades.” Pick a habit your child can control, set a realistic timeframe, and check progress every week or two. Include your child in choosing the goal so they feel ownership over it. This approach […]
Beating Back-to-School Anxiety: Helping Your Child Adjust
Back-to-school anxiety is a normal reaction to a big change, and many children feel it to some degree in the first week or two. Common signs include stomachaches, trouble sleeping, and clinginess around drop-off. Simple routines, honest conversations, and a few coping tools help many children adjust within a couple of weeks, though some need […]
Kindergarten Cutoff Dates by State: When Can Your Child Start?
Kindergarten admission rules are set at the state or, in some cases, local level. Most states specify a date by which a child must turn five to be automatically eligible, and September 1 is the most common cutoff nationally. A handful of states, including Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, leave the decision to local school […]
New Flexible Tutoring Schedules Built Around Your Family
Savvy now offers 2-day and 3-day 1:1 tutoring plans alongside the existing 4-day and group options. Pricing on every plan now starts from $179 a month. All plans use the same curriculum, so the difference is frequency, not quality. There are no contracts and no early cancellation fees, so you can choose the schedule that […]
Is Your Child Ready for First Grade? Readiness Checklist
A child ready for first grade recognizes letters and sounds, counts with growing confidence, and follows two to three step directions. Just as important are social skills like sharing, managing frustration, and separating from a parent without lasting distress. This first grade readiness checklist treats readiness as a spectrum, not a pass or fail test, […]
Fifth Grade Online Tutoring: Advanced Academic Support
Fifth grade online tutoring gives your child one-on-one academic support in math, reading, writing, and study skills during one of the most demanding years of elementary school. Research from Johns Hopkins University and other studies shows that high-quality virtual tutoring programs can produce substantial learning gains, sometimes comparable to in-person tutoring when delivered consistently. Most […]
Fifth Grade Executive Function: Organization & Time Management
Fifth grade is often the year executive function — the brain’s built-in system for planning, organizing, and managing time — starts to matter more than ever. For most 10- and 11-year-olds, these skills are still actively developing. The good news is they’re also very teachable. This article explains what executive function actually is, what it […]
What Your Sixth Grader Should Know: Middle School Readiness
By the end of fifth grade, most kids know what to expect from school. Sixth grade changes that. Middle school brings new teachers, new schedules, and academic expectations that require real independence. This guide covers the reading, math, science, writing, organization, and life skills your sixth grader needs to make that transition with confidence. The […]
Online Kindergarten Tutoring: Building School Readiness
Quick Answer: Online kindergarten tutoring can effectively build school readiness when sessions are brief (20-30 minutes), led by qualified early childhood educators, and balanced with extensive hands-on activities. The most successful programs combine structured online instruction with parent-guided offline learning, respecting both developmental needs and the importance of play-based exploration for five-year-olds. Watching your kindergartener […]
What Your Fourth Grader Should Know: Academic Independence
Quick Answer: Fourth grade academic independence means children can follow multi-step directions with some scaffolding, manage materials with visual supports like checklists, and work for short periods without constant adult supervision. However, this independence develops gradually throughout the year and requires explicit teaching of organizational skills, not just increased expectations. Most fourth graders still need […]
What Your Second Grader Should Know: Key Academic Skills
Quick Answer: By the end of second grade, your child should read grade-level text fluently, write multi-paragraph pieces in different formats, and fluently add and subtract within 100 while understanding place value to 1,000. Second graders also develop important social-emotional skills like following multi-step directions, managing emotions, and focusing on tasks for 20-30 minutes. Second […]
Is My Kindergartener Behind? 25-Point Assessment Checklist
Quick Answer: A kindergarten readiness checklist helps you assess your child’s development across five key areas: social-emotional skills, communication, early literacy, math concepts, and self-care. Most five-year-olds should separate from parents without excessive distress, speak in complete sentences, recognize their name in print, count to 10, and manage basic self-care like using the bathroom independently. […]
What Your Third Grader Should Know: The Big Academic Shift
Quick Answer: Third grade marks a critical academic shift where children transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Your third grader should master independent reading comprehension, multiplication and division, multi-step word problems, and begin developing critical thinking skills across all subjects. This year also brings increased homework demands, standardized testing, and expectations for […]
What Your First Grader Should Know: Academic Milestones
Quick Answer: By the end of first grade, children should read 100-150 sight words, decode simple sentences, and understand story elements. They should add and subtract within 20, count to 100, tell time to the half-hour, and write clear sentences with proper punctuation. First graders develop independence, follow multi-step directions, and work cooperatively with peers […]
What Should Kindergarteners Know: Complete Learning Guide
Quick Answer: Kindergarteners should know their ABCs, recognize numbers 0-20, count to 100, write their name, and identify basic shapes and colors. Beyond academics, they need complete bathroom independence, ability to follow 2-3 step directions, manage their belongings, and interact appropriately with peers. Social-emotional readiness, including separating from parents and asking for help, matters just […]
What Should My Child Know by Grade: Elementary Learning Guide for K-6
Quick Answer: Children develop at different rates, but general milestones include letter recognition and basic counting in kindergarten, reading simple books and adding within 20 in first grade, and transitioning from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” by third grade. Each grade builds foundational skills in reading, math, and critical thinking, with sixth grade […]
Summer Reading Loss Statistics: The Seasonal Slide Affecting 52% of Students
Every summer, students lose critical reading skills, with 52% showing measurable reading declines during the break.1 Reading losses (also called the “Summer Slide”) average -0.171 points per month for early elementary students,2 while students lose 20% of their school-year reading gains in grades 3 to 53. Our team analyzed data from multiple peer-reviewed longitudinal studies […]
What Parents Need to Know About the Summer Slide: How to Prevent Learning Loss Over Break
“The summer slide is a phenomenon in which students lose some of the learning they achieved in the previous school year over the summer break.” — Scientific American As summer approaches, many families look forward to a well-earned break. Vacations, camps, and lazy days are part of a joyful childhood—but there’s one summer tradition most […]
Everything To Know About Savvy Learning
Savvy’s delightful online tutoring program offers 1:1 or group classes of up to 4 learners with 1 coach in reading or math. Classes are held Monday through Thursday for 25 minutes each session.
