Are you looking to boost your comprehension of high school, middle school, or elementary school classes this summer? Trying to take advantage of your summer break to prepare for the SAT or ACT? Looking to master how to write a good essay? Then Study Hut is the place for you! Even after the school year ends, Study Hut is open for business seven days a week by appointment and ready to help you out.
Whether you’re taking summer school to get ahead on your classes or to raise a grade from this past school year, summer tutoring packages are convenient and affordable. We work to accommodate your custom schedule! Summer is the best time to take advantage of all the resources Study Hut has to offer. If you don’t want to take an SAT preparation course at the same time as you have all of your work for classes in the fall, take one during the summer! You’ll come in for four hours a week for a period of seven weeks, receiving individualized instruction. We’re confident you will feel ready for the SAT in the fall.
There will be a maximum of ten students per group for SAT/ACT preparation, so you’ll get plenty of personalized attention. Get the ball rolling and become an awesome writer over the summer. We’ll help you learn to respond to a variety of prompts, establish a thesis for your essays, and edit your own drafts to create the perfect essay structure. We hope to see you this summer!
Pay less for college, regardless of how much money you make!!! Is that ridiculous or what? That’s what we thought when we first met ALL IN EDUCATION and they showed us financial resources that we never knew even existed for families, especially not for middle and upper class families!
In short, in talking with the founder of this organization, Kyle Shelley, he explained to me the program that is changing the way families do college, while reducing the cost of college, for any family, by tens of thousands of dollars. How do they do it? Well, below is the bulleted list, but that’s why I’m touching base with you. We’ve always strived to produce the best results for our students and provide the most value for our families. In that same spirit, once your student/s get into a great college, wouldn’t it be brilliant if you could pay a fraction of the cost? We think so! And we think you’ll agree.
We’ve asked ALL IN EDUCATION to provide an event for our families on May 25th, at the Belamar Hotel in Manhattan Beach. Is it worth your time? Go to www.facebook.com/ALLINEDUCATION where, in less than 3 minutes, you can complete the College Savings Calculator and see just how worth your time it will be.
A few ways ALL IN EDUCATION is reducing the cost of college:
* free college credits
* tuition reimbursement
* local scholarships
* in-state tuition for out-of-state students
* credit recapture (for transfer students)
If any of you saw a five foot by five foot square with the familiar “Hut” logo on it on the sidewalks of Redondo Beach, it’s because Study Hut was a sponsor at the Chalk It Up! fundraiser this past Saturday! Chalk It Up! is a non-profit organization that raises funds for public school art programs. Since most California schools don’t have the capital to host programs in the arts—including music, painting, sculpture, ceramics, and more—Chalk It Up! takes it upon themselves to do so. The recent fundraiser involved bands from two school, vendors galore, and a generally awesome energy and passion for the arts. It featured some absolutely phenomenal student art, as well as the works of local artists. Our very own Study Hut tutors—Justin, MJ, and Rob—provided the artistic talent that went into decorating our square.
Study Hut recognizes the arts as a fundamental component of a complete education. While at the fundraiser, our tutors spoke with students and parents from the Redondo school district about how the one-on-one tutoring at Study Hut can benefit all fields of study. Make sure to stop by to check out what Study Hut has to offer!
“When am I ever going to use this?” That may just be the most common complaint vocalized by the students at Study Hut. And their concern isn’t entirely unjustified. It really does seem that a solid chunk of the material covered in high school may never again need to be used later in life. No one is going to ask you to regurgitate the quadratic formula any time soon, right? Maybe not—maybe so. Students at Palos Verdes High School are currently participating in a Brobdingnagian battle of brains (Brobdingnag is the land of the huge in Gulliver’s Travels, in case that’s a question). The annual Scholar Quiz kicked off last week and the competition has been heated. Some of the tutors from Study Hut and I had the opportunity to watch our tutees flaunt their knowledge of (seemingly random) topics from across the board, academic and otherwise. I watched as competitors embarked on missions of rapid thought, evaluating solutions to formulas, testing knowledge of geography, and requiring an appetite for up-to-date pop culture and news. As one of the official sponsors for PV’s (and Mira Costa’s) Scholar Quiz, Study Hut has been thrilled about the emphasis on knowledge of both the fundamentals and specifics of topics we teach every day. The final showdown is tomorrow—come out and support your favorite team! Peace out.
As the school year begins to draw to a close, students are hard-pressed to improve their grades. It’s certainly not too late to do so, but raising a grade significantly at this point is difficult and requires a lot of hard work. If students are committed to bucking down in their classes, dramatic improvement can be made in a short period of time. It’s crucial that students take thorough notes throughout the entire school year in order for them to effectively study for final exams. If notes have not been consistent during the year, a great way to review for finals is to go back through each of the earlier chapters in the textbook, making a brief outline for each one. Students need to balance the learning of new material in the last month or so of school with comprehensive reviews of the prior subjects.
One of the main subjects that poses a problem for students learning at the last minute is precalculus. When broken down into small doses, precalculus is somewhat palatable. A few formulas to memorize here and there don’t seem like too much to wrap your mind around. But when thrown into a cumulative final on all of the year’s work, a comprehensive understanding of the material is more important than rote memorization. At Study Hut, we teach students how to problem solve when presented with different types of exam questions. For example, trigonometric functions often overwhelm students—six trig functions, inverse trig functions, graphing trig functions, properties of trig functions. The list goes on and on… However, all trig functions can be related to the most important two: sine and cosine. By knowing the basic graphs and properties of sine and cosine, every student is capable of deriving all other trigonometric properties and identities.
Think about problem solving at a comprehensive level. By knowing the basics, each student can logically work his or her way through even the toughest of problems. Best of luck!
Growing up I always had an interest in the sciences. The idea of crazy science experiments
and watching the Magic School Bus definitely played a major role in sparking my interests in the
sciences. The classes and labs I took in high school lead me to choose Biology as my major in
college. The labs especially sparked my interest. They allowed for a hands on experience and
which I feel gave me a better understanding of the material. One lab in particular in physics
class involved launching rockets on the football field and using their trajectory to try and
estimate the distance traveled. I feel that I am a visual learner and the science labs helped me
grasp the material much better than just reading the text or going to lecture. When I finally got
to college the labs got even cooler. The best was making a neon solution in my organic
chemistry lab and watching the fluorescence when the lights were turned off. Because I
majored in Biology, I feel very comfortable tutoring students in science and math at Study Hut. I
try to relate to the students when they complain about how boring the class is, or how they will
never use this stuff again, but stress they most likely will so its important they master the topics
now. Study Hut also provides a great resource for students going to college. We have tutors
here who just recently graduated from college so they can provide insight into what to expect,
and what direction student should try to focus on academically. I remember my freshmen
orientation, and it was kind of pointless. There wasn’t enough time to connect with the
orientation leaders and its a lot harder to approach a much older college professor who you’ve
never met before.
This week at the Study Hut we are welcoming back sun kissed students from their various spring break trips and activities. I’ve been hearing a lot of “I didn’t think about school at all over the break, it was so nice! It’s hard getting back into school mode.” It is definitely difficult to focus on school when you‘re day dreaming about your epic break. With summer right around the corner, it’s important to remember that you can keep your mind active while hanging out at the beach or road tripping to your favorite camp site. Luckily your tutors at Study Hut in Redondo Beach have some pretty sweet ideas.
After interviewing a few of the other tutors, one of the top ideas to keep your brain working over the summer is to read! While many students have summer reading lists, don’t forget to indulge in your favorite book…even if it is Twilight. Reading is a perfect summer activity while you’re lounging by the pool or tanning at the beach. Another great thing to do is to keep practicing the language you’re taking at school. Do you have a hard time remembering how to speak Spanish or conjugate irregular verbs when you return to school in the Fall? Most of your friends are taking the same language, so hablan en Espanol occasionally. Next time you go to LBJ’s, order in Spanish or if you are at Crème de la Crepe practice your French accent while ordering breakfast. Speaking another language is cool and will definitely help you in the future, so keep it up over your break.
Lastly, take advantage of the gigantic city of Los Angeles, only a few miles from the South Bay, and check out some museums. LACMA, the Getty and the Skirball are just a few that can get you started. If you think of museums as boring destinations for school field trips, then you are missing out! Cool photo exhibits, costume displays from your favorite movies and other interesting parts of the world’s pop culture at your fingertips. We think you should take advantage of it while keeping that mind of yours nice and fresh (especially on Tuesdays, when most museums are free!) Your tutors are always here to help you retain all of the calculus, chemistry and Catcher in the Rye you learn in school, but we also want you to stay sharp while you’re away from the Hut. So while you’re enjoying your time off from school, try to keep these tips in mind so getting back into “school mode,” won’t seem so bad when you return in the fall.
Today was a little bit of a difficult day. I worked with Peter, and he has a Biology test
tomorrow. Peter’s teacher was nice enough to provide him with a study guide, but Peter
decided to wait until his session at Study Hut the day before to fill it out. I was hoping Peter
had a strong understanding of the material and that’s why he waited so long, but unfortunately
that was not the case. Peter was confused with some of the questions, and tried to answer
them just to get the questions done. I could tell Peter really didn’t want to be here and just
wanted to finish his study guide so he could get out of here. So, we went over each question
together and found the answers to the questions in the text. Peter also, would try to answer
each question with only one sentence. That’s not gonna suffice in a High School Biology class,
so I tried to get him in the habit of writing at minimum 5 sentences. By the end of the session I
still wasn’t confident that Peter had a solid understanding of the material, so I emailed Rob and
told him about our session. He also felt Peter would need some more help and we’re trying
to get him to come back in for some extra help. I tried to tell Peter that he’s so lucky when the
teacher gives him a study guide for his tests and he should take advantage of that. It narrows
down the amount material, and half the time they use the same questions. It doesn’t make
sense to not complete the study guide or wait until the night before the test to study. You can’t
really retain all the information if you study the night before. Hopefully Peter can make it back to
Study Hut tonight so we can prepare even more for his test tomorrow.
Study Hut Tutoring is proud to announce its involvement in this year’s Scholar Quiz at Palos Verdes High School. As many people in the South Bay know, Study Hut has been sponsoring the Scholar Quiz at Mira Costa High School for several years now. And with our involvement level as high as it is with the Palos Verdes High School AVID program, it only makes sense that we are now sponsoring the PV High Scholar Quiz tournament.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Scholar Quiz, it is a fast-paced academic tournament in which students on teams of four are asked to answer questions as quickly as possible. It is a lot like Jeopardy, except students can stop the reader and answer the questions at any time.
Scholar Quiz represents all that is Study Hut. We love trivia, we love studying, and we love when students work hard and receive the recognition they deserve for all of their efforts. One of Study Hut’s founders, SP, made it to the semis at Mira Costa’s 2003 tourney. Today, many of our tutors volunteer as readers, timers, and scorekeepers for the Scholar Quiz at Mira Costa, and the Scholar Quiz at Manhattan Beach Middle School. MBMS’s Scholar Quiz is always fun, because oftentimes parents come to support their kids, and even students who are not signed up for the program still visit various teachers’ classrooms to root for their friends’ teams. Teachers are always excited to host all of the students in their classrooms, and some teachers get really into it, reading questions and facilitating the tournament in their classrooms like professional referees.
We are as excited as ever to be entering the Scholar Quiz season, and for those of you who go to Mira Costa or PV High, we hope you enjoy the t-shirts this yea.
Education reform is a hot topic in politics and our communities. With documentaries like Waiting for Superman and powerful people taking a stance in education, people are starting to realize that things need to change. Successful schools have proven that outstanding teachers, extra time spent on education and high expectations for all students are key to academic achievement. At Study Hut, our tutors put these educational goals into action have seen exceptional results in our students.
Why is it so important to have high expectations for students? High expectations show students that we believe that they are capable of achieving their full potential. This turns into motivation for students to prove to us and to themselves that they can do well in school. I often hear fellow tutors saying “you are going to do an awesome job on your test tomorrow!” Students leave knowing their tutors expect them to perform well. When students at Study Hut are as excited to come in and tell us about an A on a test as much as we are, we know we are doing our job.
Excellent tutors at the Hut also add to students’ academic success. Students come to us because they need clarity, review and a fresh approach to teaching. If it takes a funny song to remember Spanish Vocabulary, we’ll make one up and sing it with our students. If history isn’t making sense, we will relate it to something relevant in a student’s life to show them the importance of a historical event. Thinking outside the box and connecting with students is a common method we share with schools in our community. The South Bay School Districts all have a mission to “strive for academic excellence by forming partnerships with the community.” Study Hut enjoys working with schools and students to be part of this partnership in promoting confidence and academic success in our schools.
