I am a new tutor at the Study Hut and am excited to be working with great students in the South Bay! I have really enjoyed working with one student in particular, Meghan from Redondo Union High School. Meghan enjoys sports and school but homework isn’t her favorite thing to do after being at school all day. Meghan is really busy and explained to me that she enjoys coming to the Study Hut so she can focus on homework. There are a lot of distractions in her life, but she said receiving tutoring helps her get her work done.
One afternoon Meghan came in and all of the work she had for the day seemed really overwhelming to her. We took one subject at a time and made a task list for the day. As we completed assignments, Meghan crossed things off her list and felt like she accomplished a lot. One subject we worked on was Earth Science. Plate Tectonics were confusing and Meghan didn’t think she would be able to understand them. After re-reading the chapter, we were able to break down the main concepts, define important words and successfully answer the review questions at the end of the chapter. Meghan learned how to search for answers using her textbook and in the end, realized that Plate Tectonics weren’t as confusing as she had originally thought.
I enjoyed working with Meghan because I know how overwhelming school and homework can seem. I enjoy helping students realize that they are fully capable of completing their work and to take things one-step at a time. At the end of our session, Meghan learned how to keep her work organized and felt more confident. Helping students succeed is why I enjoy tutoring and am looking forward to meeting more students!
I am currently an academic tutor at Study Hut Tutoring in Redondo Beach. Every week here at the “hut” is a new experience. Last week one of my students absolutely blew me away! She started with us this summer and attends Redondo Union High School. When she came in the first few times for math tutoring it was obvious that she wished she were elsewhere. As the summer progressed she opened up slowly when we talked about music, or clothes, or yes, boys! (I went there!) Last Tuesday she walked in holding a can of whipped cream and exclaimed “I’m gonna be here for while!”. She went to kitchen filled two cups with coffee and told me “You have to try this”, as she packed on the delicious whipped cream. We sipped our indulgent treat as we tackled her math homework. Near the end of her hour it became evident that she still had more work to do. She asked if she could stick around even though I had another kid coming. She sat at the other table throughout my next two sessions, drinking sweet coffee and working steadily. Three months ago she would NOT have chosen to stay here for two additional hours! Now she sees Study Hut as her place– a place she can hangout at– and she has changed her mind about school.
Throughout my four years in college I was a tutor, now a grad student, I can honestly say that I have never seen anything work as well as Study Hut’s approach. Everything from the relaxed decor to our energetic tutors make this place conducive to truly enjoying tutoring.
A lot of students from Palos Verdes and Peninsula High School come into our Redondo office despising math, and I don’t blame them. Mathematics is a tough subject that takes a lot of time to understand, and students often try to get by by memorizing the rules, proofs, and theorems without ever perceiving how they work. After all, it’s a nasty subject that I’ll never really need. Who cares about the directrix of a parabola? When do I need to know how to calculate the area of a n-sided polygon? What’s the point of being able to do basic arithmetic in my head? I can just use my iPhone calculator to get the answer, or Google search it. That’s good enough.
It’s tough to argue against these points, but I believe that putting your best foot forward when tackling math builds a solid foundation, not only in regards to academics but to life as well. If a child is willing to put in the time to genuinely understand how trigonometric identities work, they’ll be more likely to work for things in life, whether it be a job, sport, or relationship in the future. If a student understands that they need to address their poor grades in math head-on instead of ignoring it, they won’t run when life gets tough. On the other hand, if that student resorts to taking short cuts in math or gives up after trying only once, they’re likely to throw their hands up in the air whenever they face adversity. Just like there are no short cuts to becoming a great Sea King or Panther athlete, there are no short cuts in academics, especially math.
So please, help your child develop good life habits by spending some extra time one or two nights a week helping them with their math. Make sure they show their work and don’t just guess the answer. Ask them questions to see how well they really grasp the material. Tell them, “Good job!” or “Nice work!” when they’re trying their best. Teach them the joy of hard work. As a math tutor, there are no secrets to help these students. I help them first understand the basics and then build on those basics. I teach them how to systematically analyze a problem and try various approaches instead of looking in the back of the book for the answer. I encourage them to ask questions when they don’t understand something. These are all good habits that people need to succeed in life, and mathematics is a great place for children to start developing them.
Yesterday was a busy Thursday. In fact, every school week there is a busy Thursday, whether you come to Study Hut Tutoring or not. With tests and quizzes, homework and projects, six classes of papers going in and out of the backpack everyday and all your friends jammed into one classroom, the task of managing a workload is impossible. Am I right? Let us take a quick look of how this impossible situation appears when our 8th grader Corey sits down for his tutoring hour. Corey is a very sharp student who is able to breeze through his pre-algebra assignments. He is very capable in other areas too. He is maintaining a strong grade in social studies, however, his grades dont reflect his intelligence.
So what is the matter? What do we do? How can we bump up these “C” grades up if Corey doesn’t need help with the actual subject matter? Lucky for Corey, the Study Hut knows exactly what to do. After speaking with his mom, I know she is frustrated with Corey’s sluggish performance around the house. So now Corey is at Study Hut, sitting down with me. The first thing I do is look at his daily planner. It is a bad sign when the whole thing is blank. The planner is the tool that fosters accountability, so if the planner is blank, Corey isn’t even accountable with himself, let alone with parents, teachers, and his tutor. The next step is manually going through the backpack. This is crucial to set the record straight and explain the reasoning and utility of behind using the daily planner.
After all, why do something if it doesn’t serve a greater purpose, save time, or help in the short term and in the long term. Young students are no different. You would never do a lot of things the right way if there was no direct or indirect benefit. After digging through every subject and organizing the folder, we see that there is a pile of old, completed work that can go into a folder and can be stashed away at home in the closet. The other pile was larger than I would like. This pile had a ton of incomplete work. Our plan from here on out at home everyday and at tutoring is as follows:
1)Write in the planner for every subject, during each class period, every week.
2) take notes each class period, everyday
3) make a list prior to tutoring of what we will be working on at Study Hut, and what will still have to be done at home.
4) Make one study tool (flashcards, outline, study guide, practice test) for each class each week.
5) show all of this to the tutor to remain accountable during bi-weekly tutoring sessions.
These simple tasks will, and have already started to, pull grades up, increase accountability, and lead to domination.
Having worked at The Study Hut for the past few years, I have learned quite a bit regarding the effects of study habits on students’ success in school. Developing a solid studying and time management routine at a young age can be one of the most important things a student can do for his or her educational career. I believe that by being effective at studying and being able to wisely mange your time, you will have positive results in both the short and long run. A college professor once told me that “Education is an attitude, not an IQ”, and as the more years that go by, the more he said made sense to me. Students that know how to efficiently approach learning will always have more success than the ones that don’t. It is as simple as that.
At Study Hut Tutoring, we understand this principle and place a high value not just on learning, but learning the proper way. The key to all of this is to stimulate the brain in as many ways as possible, so that when students are asked to recall information, typically via an exam, the brain has built enough strong neuron connections to quickly and easily pull information from it.
Being a tutor at Redondo Beach Study Hut Tutoring comes with many obligations, but it is truly a joy fulfilling them! All the tutors at Study Hut Tutoring are well versed in many subjects because we have all attended prestigious colleges. We possess the ability to reach out and communicate with students of all ages at all grade levels. Our days typically start right after school and go into the evening with as many as six appointments a day in many different courses. We tutor everything from U.S. history, chemistry, algebra, English, writing, and many other subjects as well. Most importantly, the tutors at Redondo Beach Study Hut Tutoring are part of a team. We believe that communication and interaction with our fellow tutors is absolutely imperative. Read the rest of this entry »
Tests are a fundamental part of the schooling system. They are the only standardized way to assess the progress of the school as well as the student. Besides regular core curriculum tests there exist many widely
used state standardized tests that serve a number of purposes, primarily determining a student’s merit for acceptance into a higher grade level. Read the rest of this entry »
Spring is in the air in the South Bay, and finals are right around the corner at Redondo Union High School. As tutors, we know that one of the subjects that requires the most practice and review is Spanish, especially around finals season! With our one-on-one sessions, we not only help students understand supplementary vocabulary, but we also help students get a better handle on how to properly execute correct grammar. With the year coming to a close, the newest material is often the hardest to understand in the least time to understand it. Read the rest of this entry »
One-on-one summer program for 8th graders entering High School
As the end of the school year nears, it’s time to start thinking about the transition into a new high school. Bigger classes, different teachers for different classes, more homework, and more difficult material can be overwhelming if a student is not prepared to handle the stress of a new high school. Now is the time for eighth graders to sharpen their organization skills and develop new study tactics so they can stay on top of their work as they smoothly transition into ninth grade. Read the rest of this entry »
Here at the Study Hut, we find that Redondo Beach elementary school students benefit greatly from the one on one tutoring we offer. We help students build the solid educational base that is crucial to their future success as they travel along the path to academic excellence. There is no secret to raising an outstanding scholar. Students with a strong foundation will find it easier to learn the concepts presented in their following years of education. Read the rest of this entry »
Tests are a fundamental part of the schooling system. They are the only standardized way to assess the progress of the school as well as the student. Besides regular core curriculum tests there exist many widely
