Center Street School STEM Fair
April 9th, 2018
This past Wednesday, March 28, 2018, was the annual Center Street School STEM fair in El Segundo. During the science fair children of all ages had the wonderful opportunity to be able to reap the benefits of the magnificent world of science.
Science is an ever evolving subject and I believe when it is incorporated in schools in a fun way, students are more willing to learn. As a fresh out of college biology fanatic I decided to volunteer at the Center Street School STEM fair with Study Hut in order to teach young children about the world of STEM. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math, and as someone who has enjoyed learning in a college setting where laboratory classes are crucial, I believe that using the hands on approach is one of the best ways for young children to learn. The Center Street School STEM Fair had many different stations where future scientists could create mini science projects. My team and I took over the physics section of the Center Street School STEM fair and taught the elementary students how to create mini electrical circuits. These electrical circuits were created using dark graphite pencils, a porous piece of paper, a 9 V or 3 V battery as well as light bulbs, which contained positive and negative electrodes. Elementary students had to draw on the paper two tracks. These tracks could be squiggly lines, straight lines or even their own crazy designs. But they needed to ensure that they never touched on either end… just got really close so that the battery could connect to one end and the light bulb could connect on the other. Many of the children were able to light their lightbulb on the first try! The joy that these children had when the light bulb lit up was inexplicable. These children started screaming from excitement and clapping their hands! One girl even jumped up and started doing a little dance when her light bulb glowed blue. The Center Street School STEM Fair was a wonderful experience for myself and the rest of the volunteers. All children should have the ability to explore the different subjects that call for their hearts and, and the Center Street School STEM Fair is an excellent opportunity for young curious minds to explore the boundless world of STEM education.
AVID SAT Prep
April 5th, 2018AVID SAT Prep in Redondo Beach
Study Hut has been collaborating with the AVID program providing AVID SAT Prep for 6 years. AVID takes place every week with six tutors from our Redondo Beach Location that are hand picked to facilitate the AVID tutorials. AVID SAT prep and test prep training is conducted by the owners of Study Hut Tutoring, and helps students improve upon their test prep skills. The AVID sophomores begin with pre AVID SAT prep and AVID juniors dive deeper with full AVID SAT prep.
During the AVID classes, each student comes prepared with their tutorial form filled out with their question or information that they want to review or understand better. Each student has a chance to get up and present their question to their small groups and then the tutor will help answer any questions needed while the other students take notes and participate in the discussion. Each student gets about 5-6 minutes for their individual question which makes the hour go by quickly once each student has presented.
We are able to track students progress and the students get points for their achievements, being engaging and participating in the group lessons. Another awesome collaboration we have going on with Peninsula is that a Study Hut manager along side a teacher lead ACT/SAT training as well.
There are about 25 students that are taught by one manager and one teacher that receive instruction and receive homework assignments to complete and to help track their growth. The sophomores receive test prep once per month and the juniors receive test prep help once per week. We use an online system that we use in office that helps track progress and makes for a smooth class and easy way to generate the information needed. The manager will help with the Math portion of the test prep and the teacher will help with the English portion of the test prep. We are very excited for the school year and to see many familiar faces around campus!
After School Tutoring
March 21st, 2018After school tutoring is very helpful. It is even more helpful is you are busy with sports. In this article we will discuss how, like sports, in this case baseball, after school tutoring is very beneficial to help with the mental components of the rigors of school.
Baseball is a beautiful game. Name another sport where as long as a player is successful three out of every ten at-bats they are considered an all-star. Often times, however, young players take this concept into their academics. A three out of ten on a math test is “Bad News Bears” in terms of eligibility. And sadly, grades aren’t like batting averages or ERA’s.
In the long-term scheme of things, students are actually what matters. High school athletes don’t have it easy. In fact, they have incredibly packed schedules that challenge them physically and mentally. Not only do they have class, homework and family obligations, but they have to make time for practices, games and workouts. All this leads to added stress, and unfortunately added shortcuts. Many student-athletes, such as baseball players, feel like they don’t have enough time in the day and neglect their studies. Study Hut exists for students of all types, including the busy baseball player. It’s tutors recognize how taxing student-athletes’ schedules can be considering many of them were once in their cleats. Study Hut is as versatile as a star utility baseball player, as it’s open from 12 P.M. to 10 P.M., making time for even the busiest schedules. Tutors address a student’s needs from individual subject matter to overall organization. They value teamwork first and foremost, as success in both the classroom and on the field rely on a number of people. Think of a tutor as an scholastic coach. Although a player can try and learn a skill on their own, it’s a coach’s job is to help them master it. Practice is key. Without it, the greats of the game would have never found their way to Cooperstown. Step out onto the diamond that is Study Hut where each session is an hour-long practice toward higher academia.
When to Start Tutoring
March 19th, 2018When to start tutoring…something parents ponder as their child matriculates. Parents are often curious about when the ideal age is to start one-on-one academic tutoring. The truth is, the right age to begin tutoring has more to do with the specific needs of the student as opposed to turning a certain age. At the Study Hut, we have tutors that specialize in working with students of all ages, from kindergarteners to graduate students. When we are evaluating a child’s educational needs, our goal is to focus in on the student’s unique situation and provide customized individual tutoring.
So while we see each student as unique, academic needs in general tend to fall into three categories. Some students are doing OK in all of their classes with the exception of one subject where they need help. In this case, the student can benefit from extra one-on-one instruction, assistance completing homework, and individualized attention while preparing for tests and quizzes in that class.
Others are dealing with challenges in multiple subjects. In this case it is especially important to disregard the student’s age and simply get them the support they need as soon as the problem is identified. Students can gain tremendously from working with a tutor to learn basic study skills such as organization or how to effectively study. These techniques are often not taught in school, yet they are the very tools kids need to be academically successful. Poor grades at any age can cause students to feel frustrated and over time can lead to self-identifying as a “bad student”. This is a difficult scenario to reverse.
The third type of need we encounter is when someone is preparing for entrance to a private school or college. This often involves studying for a standardized test and potentially writing essays for the application. If a student is preparing for the ISEE or HSPT it is recommended to start studying at least six months before the test date, if not sooner. Tenth grade is a good time for students taking the ACT or SAT to come in to the Study Hut for a free practice test.
Just as we would never recommend a “one-size-fits-all” approach to tutoring, we do not have a standardized rule of thumb for what a good age is to begin tutoring. If you are dealing with a child who is struggling academically, whether it is in elementary, middle, or high school: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Homework Help
March 8th, 2018What does my child gain from getting homework help from a tutor?
While some of the students here at The Hut have specific subjects that they come in for help with, many of them, especially middle school and early high school students, come in for general homework help. Many of these students are already doing well in their classes, so it would be easy to question what benefit they get from “simply” doing their homework with a tutor.
However, as many of our tutors can attest, even students who are completing their homework on time, turning their work in, and passing their tests are often still making mistakes in their homework habits that can come back to hurt them later on. For example, one student was getting all of the correct answers on her math homework and doing well on her math tests.
A simple answer check and grade check would have indicated that there was nothing she needed to work on with a tutor. However, with closer examination, her tutor realized that her work was a mess. She was skipping steps in her work by doing the math in her head, not putting new steps in the problem on a new line, and sometimes was making easy-to-avoid math errors because of this. In addition, when work isn’t neat, when students do start making mistakes it is very difficult for them to go back in their work and figure out where they went wrong—which makes it even harder to fix the mistake! When her tutor noticed the problems in her work, they worked together to figure out strategies that would work for her to make her work neater and to avoid making mistakes in the future. While homework mistakes like this can often slip under the radar during middle school when classes are still easy (at least relative to high school!), it is crucial for a tutor to catch them early on so that students have already solidified positive homework habits by the time they get to more difficult classes. In difficult classes, good homework habits can make the difference between an A and a B or between passing and not passing.
Math Skills
March 6th, 2018Q:What things can be done to enrich my kids math skills?
Math is an area of focus for many students at Study Hut. One of the biggest issues affecting students that we see is a lack of a solid foundation in mathematics. This leaves many parents wondering about what things can be done to enrich their kids’ math skills.
It is worth pointing out how the adoption of Common Core Skills changed how math is taught and learned across the country. The curriculum taught to previous generations was focused specifically on HOW to solve a given problem. The updates made to what kids are now being taught emphasize understanding WHY they are doing it.
That is to say, the logistics are still being taught to students, but along with knowing what to do to solve, children today need to have a conceptual background and they need to be able to explain the reasoning behind the method they have chosen to use. This is something to consider when you are developing ideas to enrich your kids’ math skills.
For example, making a recipe together can be a great opportunity to apply math to a real life situation. Measuring ingredients, or calculating how much food to make for a group, or halving a recipe are all chances to practice fractions and simple math computation. Ask your child to find solutions to math in the kitchen, and then ask more questions to find out what technique he or she used to solve. “Eat Your Math Homework” by Ann McCallum is an entire book dedicated to edible math projects.
Calculate the time it will take to arrive to your final destination on a road trip using the distance formula, figure out the tip at a restaurant, or estimate the cost of the 3 pounds of peaches you just put in your grocery basket. With a little patience, whatever situation arrises in your life that uses math can be a chance to see math in action in the real world.
Furthermore, modeling confidence with numbers and approaching math as a practical and useful tool teaches kids to do the same. This alone can benefit children by giving them positive experiences that can help shape their self-perception. As we know, internal belief systems play a tangible role in performance in all areas of life, including math.
So while many adults are shaking their heads at Common Core math and getting frustrated over how different the current model of computations look, it behooves your son or daughter to approach math with a can-do attitude. Whether working together on homework, or calculating how much dog food to bring with you on your next vacation, ask your kids how to solve along with why they chose that strategy. And don’t forget, irregardless of the task at hand, your own attitude and approach to math is something children will definitely pick up on.
Study Hut College Tour Cal State Fullerton
March 5th, 2018Among the many outstanding universities in California, the Study Hut College tour Cal State Fullerton adventure was pretty special. California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), which is located in Orange County, is less than ten miles from Disneyland. Study Hut has taken it upon themselves to learn more information about the campus and their facilities to share with our students and community.
The university encompasses 240 acres with 8 colleges and 40,000 diverse students. CSUF prides itself in its diverse student body as it offers Diversity Initiatives and Resource Centers for African Americans, Asians, Latino/Chicano, LGBTQ, etc. CSUF also offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degrees, so students can explore their options and be able to concentrate on any desired academic field.
Of the many majors they offer, the most popular majors include: Communications, Art, Business, and Nursing. CSUF’s Mihaylo College of Business and Economics was deemed to be one of the “Best Business Schools” by Princeton Review and is ranked number one in the nation for awarding degreesto Hispanic students. CSUF’s Nursing department is one of the more highly coveted majors with only enrolling 40 students out of thousands of applicants. The CSUF Nursing graduate program in Nurse-Midwifery and Anesthesia is ranked one of the best by U.S. News & Word Report. The program has students follow a direct pathway where they obtain their degree and license all at once and the school also includes a Simulation Center, which puts the students into a real life medical environment.
CSUF is highly known to be a “commuter campus,” but they do offer on-campus housing such as the freshman dormitories and student apartments. Campus housing is close to the local Gastronome that is equipped with a full buffet with even on-the-spot prepared omelets for breakfast. CSUF hosts a Discover Fest in the main quad during every semester, where they offer a wide range of opportunities for students that want to get involved. Students can learn about Greek Life, Study Abroad programs, internships, sports, undergrad research, and even about Nap Club. Each major also allows students to have the opportunity to obtain internships, such as Art majors who have the chance to be recruited by animation studios like Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, and Disney.
Prospective students considering applying to CSUF do not need to worry. They don’t need a ACT/SAT superscore, nor a perfect GPA. CSUF provides financial aid to 67% of the undergraduates, which makes it even more accessible. CSUF offers loads of chances for students to enjoy college life and succeed in the future. All they had to do is seize it.
