Summer Curriculum Also Helps Parents Address Concerns Over “Bridging the Academic Gap” and Next-Grade Readiness

Summer camps everywhere are back in full swing following an unusual academic year where enriched learning was lost due to the pandemic. An important bridge for kids traversing the summer learning gap, these camps keep minds engaged and learning skills sharp. However, for many parents, there is still lingering concern over their child’s next-grade readiness, particularly in reading and math.

To help parents address this year’s wider-than-usual summer learning gap, Varsity Tutors, a Nerdy company, has assembled an extraordinary lineup of Virtual Summer Camps content— including programming dedicated to “Bridging the Gap” and improving academic next-grade readiness.

“Summer learning is important in two major ways. It prevents and overcomes learning loss—a phenomenon every summer that’s been even more pronounced coming out of the COVID era. It also gives kids a chance to feed their innate curiosity about topics they find fascinating,” said Brian Galvin, Chief Academic Officer at Varsity Tutors. “At Varsity Tutors, we have summer programming to address both halves of that equation, with targeted Bridging the Gap content to get students ahead of the game for the upcoming school year, and with fun, engaging Virtual Summer Camp activities to help kids collaboratively explore subjects that remind them how much fun learning can be.”

Varsity Tutors’ Virtual Summer Camps are headlined by celebrity instructors such as Stevie Van Zandt, who is leading the TeachRock Camp, astronaut Leland Melvin, who stars in the Cosmic Adventure Camp, and Coyote Peterson, who gets adventurous at the Wildlife Creature Camp. In total, there are over a dozen expert-led camps from dinosaurs and wildlife conservation, to chess, theatre and coding.

“It’s been a great experience headlining a summer camp with Varsity Tutors,” Van Zandt said. “They understand and share the TeachRock mission of using music history as a way of making learning fun, memorable, and meaningful. Our first class about how protest music can be an instrumental factor in driving historical change got a great response and reached kids from all over the world. Our second lesson featuring the Beatles is all about teenage culture and should really resonate with both students and their parents.”

Meanwhile, Bridging the Gap classes allow K-12 students to join their peers and an expert instructor to reinforce and review the most critical math, reading, writing and science skills and concepts. Each course spans four to seven weeks, meeting several times per week, and is taught by expert instructors vetted through Varsity Tutors' platform.

“Summer has always been a busy time for learners looking to make academic gains,” Galvin said. “However, this summer is particularly important as many students and families are actively addressing the academic shortcomings that have emerged over the last year. Our summer curriculum is up to the challenge and we’ve seen a tremendous response since launch.”

About Varsity Tutors

Varsity Tutors is a Live Learning Platform that seamlessly connects learners to experts in more than 3,000 subjects. Since 2007, we've been investing in online learning technology, have built new-to-the-world capabilities, and have assembled some of the most talented educators across the U.S. to help deliver that mission. Through one-on-one instruction, small group classes, large format group classes, and adaptive self-study, the company has created a live learning destination to meet the needs of all students.

In January 2021, Varsity Tutors' parent company, Nerdy, announced a business combination with TPG Pace Tech Opportunities (NYSE: PACE), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company associated with global private equity firm TPG.

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