El Segundo students finally have a Hut of their own to call home, and I am proud to report that we were correct: El Segundo does love Study Hut Tutoring. Our El Segundo tutors have been kicking butt and taking names, and as a result, our students from El Segundo High School and from El Segundo Middle School have been starting the year off strong.
So far, these students have been turning in all of their homework and performing well on tests and quizzes. Moms and dads are happier, and tension at home is at an all-time low. I know this for two reasons. First of all, our clients are calling and emailing us and telling us how much easier life has become since signing up at Study Hut. Secondly, I know this because El Segundo families are referring their friends here too.
We are more excited than ever to be servicing the El Segundo community. We grew up here, and we are quite familiar with the neighborhood and the schools. One of our owners actually lived in El Segundo for a bit while attending LMU, and he did tutoring home-to-home in the area as he worked his way through college.
If you have any questions at all about our services, or you want any specific information about the newest Study Hut in El Segundo (just a block from the Teen Center), please feel free to email sp@studyhut.com, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
With thousands of applicants per year, colleges have their pick of prospective students, and students have their work cut out for them during college application season. Colleges understand that many applicants shine outside of their grade point average and test scores, and the college essay can be the crown jewel of a student’s application. It gives applicants the opportunity to show a side of themselves that is not immediately apparent from their resume and transcript.
The college essay is a daunting task, especially if it is a personal essay. Not only do students have to utilize formal language and creative writing skills, but they must also be able to articulate a mature level of self-awareness. Many colleges will challenge applicants to explain and reflect on their strengths and weaknesses through personal anecdotes, and this can be uncomfortable or unfamiliar for teens.
I have a lot of students who get stuck because they feel like they don’t have anything unique to say or enough life experience. It is important to remember that the colleges are reading these essays to determine if students possess qualities that will make them successful college students, like leadership, organization, motivation and passion. Colleges care less about what cards you have been dealt and more about what you have chosen to do with those cards and how that reflects on you as a person. The Study Hut tutors hail from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences and can help you bring that extra flavor to your student’s college essays.
You may have heard this one before. It involves a ceramics class.
It was a fairly large and popular class at the school, so the teacher had to split it into two sections: Ceramics 101a and Ceramics 101b.
The teacher, a brilliant potter but a capricious and insufferable man, decided that he’d grade each of his sections differently and arbitrarily.
On the first day of class he announced to the students of 101a the following:
“At the end of the semester you will be required to hand in one pot and one pot only. I will judge your skill, artistry, and technical prowess based on what I see in that one pot, and that in turn will decide your grade for the whole semester.”
An hour later, he announced to the students of 101b a very different message:
“At the end of the semester, I will grade your performance based solely on the number of pots you complete throughout the year. I don’t care how well they’re executed, what shape they are, or how quickly you worked on them. All I care about is how many you make. The more you make the higher your grade will be.”
In short, one group was to be evaluated on the quality of their work, and the other on their quantity.
Here’s where things get strange.
At the end of the semester, the students from the Quantity Class produced better pots than the students from the Quality Class. Far better. Truly masterful work. On the other hand, the final projects handed in by the Quality Class resembled the pots that the students from the Quantity Class were making on their first few days.
What is the lesson here? In short, it’s practice makes perfect. The only way to get to success is to first fail. To get good at something you need to do it. A lot.
So for that reason we here at Study Hut in Manhattan Beach don’t just recite information to our students and expect them to absorb it. We test them on it. Ruthlessly. We make them fail repeatedly when they’re with us, in the hopes that when they are in the exam room they will succeed.
Aside from taking challenging high school courses, an important part of getting ready for college is
taking a college prep test like the ACT or SAT. Both tests have changed over the years, but the main goal
is to score high enough for the colleges you’re interested in attending.
Many students take the test twice—once as a trial run and again after they’ve gotten a feel for the test
and have discovered their strengths and the areas in which they need some improvement. It’s a good
way to present colleges with your best and brightest academic face. Taking the ACT or SAT twice can
give you the advantage you need to land the college acceptance letter you want.
Test prep for the first time
Before taking either test, it’s important to find out if the school you’d like to attend prefers one test
over the other; for some, either test will suffice, while others have a preference. Once you’ve decided
which tests to take, you’ll want to invest in study guides or classes. Many companies like Study Hut offer both instructor-led and self-guided courses,
as well as free strategy sessions and practice tests. You can also reach out to your fellow classmates and
start a study group.
The second time around
Taking the ACT or SAT for the first time can be somewhat of a challenge, so it can be tough to get
motivated for a second round. But studies show that taking the test a second time can improve
your score: a study by the College Board revealed that while some scores dropped, 55% of high school juniors
earned higher scores the second time they took the SAT. If your first score isn’t as high as you
anticipated, taking it a second time could be worth the effort.
Once you’ve gotten the results from the first test, you can tailor your studying to focus on the areas
where you need improvement; work with your teachers and parents to find assignments that can help
you boost your score. Finally, stay in contact with your school’s academic counselor to make sure you’re
plotting a steady course with college prep classes.
The road to college
Even if you’ve earned low-to-middling scores on your college prep tests, there’s no reason to despair.
Remember that even though your ACT and SAT scores are important, they’re just one part of your
overall portfolio as a student. And traditional colleges are no longer your only option for higher
education: online programs offer the
same quality education as in-class programs and can offer benefits like scheduling classes around your
busy life and allowing you to work at your own pace. Online education is becoming more common
for traditional colleges and universities: according to the Pew Research Center, more than 3/4 of colleges and universities offer classes online.
Getting into college is just the first step in your higher education. And to make sure you afford yourself
the best chances, stay focused, ask for help when you need it, and concentrate on improving your scores
if you choose to take the tests a second time. Planning for the ACT or SAT should be taken seriously. If
you commit to doing well, you can lay the foundation for a quality college education.
There is a huge difference between what a student gets out of a classroom and how a student benefits from one-on-one tutoring sessions. A school teacher has to cater his lesson to a group of students, from many different backgrounds, learning styles and interests. While our teachers do phenomenally well at one of the toughest jobs, a student that receives one-on-one tutoring, catered to their needs, makes leaps and bounds academically.
First, they can gain a tutor that relates to who they are. This is important. Many students have a difficult time studying subjects that to them, are irrelevant. Having a tutor that they can relate to helps students understand: if their tutor feels the need to know it, maybe they should know it also. A musical student? Perhaps the tutor has a music background and understands why mathematics is still important for someone in that field.
One-on-one tutoring also allows for the lesson to be catered to a student’s particular learning style. Some students are visual learners, who need charts and diagrams of the concepts to really grasp them. Others need repetition to help them retain the information. Some students benefit from more example problems and the ability to ask questions throughout the practice. One-on-one tutoring really helps a student grasp the subject in a way that is most beneficial to them.
Lastly, a tutor can really get to know their student. Who they are as a person, their interests, families and events going on in their lives, all affect their academics. We get to know their aspirations, other stresses they are dealing with and who they are outside of the classroom.
There is no substitute for a good teacher. However, the benefits of one-on-one tutoring are invaluable for a student’s academic achievement.
Since the opening of our Manhattan Beach facility we have strived to deliver a location where your student can receive great one on one tutoring. The Study Hut has been through many expansions and changes throughout the years. We don’t believe in keeping the same environment as time changes, we believe in being creative, growing and changing our facility in the best interest of our students. Changes have been very prominent this fall season at the study hut. The addition of our new jungle room in the upper portion of our facility is brighter and has a colorful labyrinth atmosphere. As your student walks in to the main room of the Hut they are greeted by one of our friendly managers sitting on a lifeguard tower, ready to instruct where each student should go. If it hasn’t been obvious, here at the hut we strive to create a fun and creative environment in order for our students to feel at home and welcome. An active and creative environment aids in learning capabilities and will not only change the way your student views studying, but will help incorporate a fun quality to their everyday scholastic responsibilities. To top off two room changes, our lookout room is in progress in becoming the new “Captains Quarters”. The new pirate room will certainly transform our mediocre beige walls into a flashback in time on a ship. It’s due to these changes that the Study Hut has become a wonderful asset to any local or non local student in the Los Angeles Area. Thematic rooms, creative environments and a positive attitude among our recent college graduate tutors is what make the Hut a wonderful place to be a part of. We encourage all students to come in and see what all the fuss is about. We will always strive to make your homework and difficult subjects look like a piece of cake.
Advanced Placement courses are a great option for students who can handle more challenging coursework and want to earn college credit or add sparkle to their college applications. AP courses also provide an opportunity to get a more in-depth perspective on subjects that students might find themselves interested in but would, otherwise, be unable to study at school.
The decision to take one or more AP classes is an important one because of the additional work and study time that is involved. The best way to guarantee success in an AP class is to have a plan for staying on top of coursework and to stick to that plan. Students should have a designated chunk of evening time to devote to their AP subject(s).
More importantly, students should have a dependable person to consult about difficult concepts, especially before exams. Whether this person is a friend who is also taking the class, a parent or a tutor, having someone to keep you on top of your study plan is the key to success.
Study Hut has many AP veterans in all subjects, so don’t hesitate to drop in if you need a study buddy or a sympathetic ear. Getting an outside tutor can help organize your daunting coursework, plan how to study for upcoming tests as well as pop-quizzes, and learn how the AP test itself can be conquered. We can help you with everything from AP Calculus to AP Spanish, and we will match you with a tutor you like, respect, and get along with.
Is the SAT not your cup of tea? Now more than ever, students are turning to the ACT as their college entrance standardized test of choice. The SAT and ACT vary in question type and focus, and it doesn’t hurt to work those differences to your advantage. After a little research and a few practice problems, many students are able to get a feel for which test they are more comfortable with.
The ACT is composed of four required sections (English, Math, Reading and Scientific Reasoning) and one optional Writing section. Unlike the SAT, the ACT’s questions are more straightforward and similar to the questions that students see at school, so there are fewer new techniques to learn when studying for the ACT. Those who have a penchant for reading graphs and figures, may have an advantage in the Scientific Reasoning section, while those who are weaker in rote vocabulary and writing.
If you find your ears perking up at any of these ACT traits, you should definitely look into taking a diagnostic with Study Hut. And If you are applying to colleges and universities in the Mid-West or the South, you will definitely want to become familiar with the ACT (the Central and Southern institutions tend to prefer the ACT).We tutor both the SAT and ACT with great success, and we are available year-round.
It’s that time of year again, kids are getting ready for school. The back to school commercials are present during your favorite television shows, kids are counting down the days they have left in summer, and everyone is trying to squeeze that last minute vacation in. With all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for school, tutoring may be the last thing on a parent’s mind. What most fail to realize, is that it should be the first.
Each and every year at the Hut, without a fail, we see kids who come in after they have already received their first disappointing test grade. At this point, the student comes in and has already started digging themselves a hole. This automatically creates a negative self esteem that doesn’t set the right tone for the school year. We have found, time and time again, students and parents are happier getting their kid in here from the very start. Even starting them prior to that first day of school gets them back in the mindset. They have a chance to brush up on those skills that caused them trouble the previous year.
Our tutors are so equip with the curriculum for the Manhattan Beach School District that some of our students even have the chance look ahead and get a running start in their curriculum for the up and coming year. Even if kids do not get tutoring prior to the school year, that first week of school is an ample opportunity to get situated and come up with a game plan for the year. A good majority of our kids are in middle school and need help understanding how to prioritize their classes. A schedule with multiple teachers is a new concept. It is crucial to set up this plan in order to keep on task with each and every class. Starting at the beginning of the school year will allow for more time to study and less time figuring out how to balance multiple subjects with multiple classes. Bottom line, don’t wait for your kid to fail to start thinking about tutoring. The sooner the better.
