Sam’s mom and dad stood on the sidelines with a handful of his classmates’ parents as field day winded down. The conversation turned to how some parents felt their kids had caught up after COVID, while others were unsure."My boy still can’t wait his turn on anything." "Our daughter just won’t pick up a book on her own." "The twins have caught up like it never happened." "I was a helicopter parent before, now I have overcorrected toward neglect." It went on. Most families I work with sound like this, wondering if catching up has, or ever might, happened.

Last spring, researchers released their Education Recovery Scorecard under the sobering title: “Parents Don’t Understand How Far Behind Their Kids Are in School.” They set opposing findings against each other: A Pew survey of parents in........

© Psychology Today