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AP Biology, AP Phyisics and Chemistry

October 23rd, 2011

The sciences can be some of the most difficult classes in high school. From basic chemistry, to AP Bio and AP Physics, students often struggle with understanding the facts and concepts taught in classes, and using them to ace their tests. There are some serious science nerds, including myself, here at the Study Hut ready to help you flourish and learn in these difficult, but very important classes. But, for effective tutoring, the sciences are dealt with in a slightly different manner than tutoring math or history.

Classes such as math are learned through repetition of problems, usually through homework. The concepts, although important, usually take a back seat to the problems themselves. To get tutored in math, you can simply show up and do your homework with a tutor, learn the material, and ace your test. But studying for the sciences are much different. The sciences, especially biology, are much more conceptual, than problem based, and concepts take longer to effectively teach than doing problems. If you are struggling in a science class, it can more often than not be pointed to a shaky understanding of the broad concepts which connect all the facts and anecdotes learned in class. So this presents a unique challenge to tutors; It is almost impossible to effectively teach the material if a student comes in expecting to learn a whole chapter’s worth of material in an hour. To get the best help possible, students should read the text, go over their notes, attempt problems, and then come to tutoring in order to clarify and solidify the shakier concepts.

So if you are struggling in a science course, study ahead of time, know your weaknesses, and then come to the Study Hut as often as needed to stay on top of the material.

High School Students in Manhattan Beach

October 10th, 2011

High school is a fun, challenging, and decisive point in one’s life. Academically, it’s the first time that your performance in classes will follow you and affect your future. It is also a time of great personal growth, and a time of starting to accept one’s responsibilities as a young adult. Because of all these rapid changes in an adolescent’s life, high school can be quite challenging. Through practicing with a sports team, hanging out with friends, and finding new hobbies and muses, finding the time and direction to do well in the often difficult classes packed into the four years can be quite challenging. This is where the Study Hut comes in. All of us tutors have gone through high school—we know what those years were like, even if it seems as though we’re too old to remember. The Study Hut is also a very community based organization, and the founders Rob and SP who grew up around Manhattan Beach, and many of tutors, know the greater Manhattan Beach area and its schools very well.

So Mira Costa high school students—let us help you get through these fruitful and challenging years. Study Hut has tutors proficient in everything from the mandatory mathematics of high school, to the more advanced AP courses of the sciences. Let us help you organize your planner, and make sure you’re armed with the best knowledge possible to do well in your classes and ace your tests.

High school is also the time for the SAT and ACT—those scary three lettered standardized tests which colleges and universities use as criteria for acceptance into their schools. At the Study Hut, we’ve got you covered. There are personalized SAT and ACT courses designed to teach you the fundamentals of test taking, so you know exactly what you’re going to get, and how to handle it during the test. Although challenging, there’s a method to these tests, and you too can learn to ace it.

So Mira Costa—come to the Study Hut… you’ll be happy you did.

Importance and Rigors of Advanced Placement Courses

October 4th, 2011

With each new year there are more and more high school students applying to the colleges of their dreams hoping that they can look good enough to at least one of their choice schools admission board to be allowed to attend that college. High school students already have a tough enough time going through their regular course work, playing sports, participating in clubs, workings jobs, having a social life and just being a teenager. However now often times even all of this is not enough for the student to be admitted to the college of their dreams, the students now must take college level, Advanced Placement (AP) courses to have a shot at competing with the other students across the country and the world. These AP courses can range from Calculus, Chemistry, US History, English, Spanish and many, many more and have much larger and more difficult work load that many high school students have never encountered before. And after completing all the course work for the school the student must pass a final AP test to prove that they learned enough in the class, this puts an immense weight on the students as they know that all their hard work throughout the year could be for not if they are unable to pass the final test.

Yet, for all these challenges that AP courses present to the students, in the day we live in they are extremely important if not essential for students to enter the college of their dreams. Last year the incoming freshman at UCLA had taken an average of 7 Advanced Placement or Honors courses between their 10th and 12th grade years. These AP courses have added benefits apart from helping students get into colleges, as they prepare students for what a college level course may be like, challenge the more advanced students and help them from becoming bored with course works and if students are able to pass the AP they are sometimes able to forgo some college courses and save time and money at University. AP courses while more rigorous and challenging for students pay immense benefits that cannot be overlooked. AP classes may not be for every student but if a student feels able to keep up with the course work and pass the final test with or without extra help, the classes are completely worth it in the present and definitely in the future.