There are some students who come into the Study Hut every week in Manhattan Beach with such a great attitude and work ethic that you have to take the time to give them a shout-out. The Manhattan Beach Study Hut wants to give these students that stand out on a regular basis by attacking their work, staying organized, and accepting challenges with a smile.
Kendall D. is one of the stellar students who happens to also have a very busy life. She’s in a challenging math class. She has club soccer practice twice a week and games on Saturdays. She has family commitments almost every weekend. Coincidentally, she also maintains a planner that most Study Hut tutors only dream about. Kendall’s planner is color-coded, complete everyday, and looks like it was written in Times New Roman. As a Manhattan Beach tutoring student who has many commitments every week and limited time to do homework, she has realized that time-management is her key to academic success (granted, if she is like most students, this may change when she gets to college- but until then, we appreciate her efficiency!).
Not only is she incredibly neat and organized when she comes into Study Hut Tutoring in Manhattan Beach, Kendall is also a very positive, ambitious student. Her recent math assignments have involved complicated logic problems that elicit groans from students young and old (tutors included). Even though this is the most difficult concept that Kendall has encountered in her math class, she tackles every problem with the knowledge that she can conquer it if she works through it methodically. She attacks problems at the end of the hour with as much vigor as the first five minutes and has incredible focus.
All of these stellar qualities make Kendall a pleasure to work with and a Manhattan Beach Study Hut Star. Great job and keep up the hard work!
On an exam, the last thing you want to see is a trick question. They’re insidious, deceitful, sneaky, and frankly below the belt. It’s simply unfair for a teacher to hit you with a slippery question and then slap a permanent demerit on your report card just because you didn’t think to suspect that your kindly old professor, benevolent font of all knowledge, was out to make you look like a fool.
Luckily for us here at Study Hut Tutoring in Manhattan Beach, you’re not being graded and we’re not your teachers. So I throw trick questions around like it’s my job, ’cause it sort of is. Let me explain.
In a standard classroom situation, teachers need to make sure that everyone is on roughly the same page. Concepts are still being introduced, and the most basic, standard forms of the subject matter are being pounded into your head. At first, there is little room for nuance or exceptions; the core ideas need to be learned by everyone, and the teacher doesn’t have the luxury of taking her students down interesting tangents.
However, the benefit of having your own Study Hut tutor in Manhattan Beach is that we work one on one with your kid; and can tailor our pace and content moment to moment based on how they’re doing. That means that the instant that I feel my student has really grasped the core idea and is starting to coast, you better be sure I’m going to throw them a curve ball to keep their minds active and open. Now, this does not mean that every second of the class is spent trying to fool and confuse them; that would be counterproductive. I use trick questions sparingly to mix up the pace and refocus their attention if they ever seem complacent.
This might mean asking them for the maximum value of an upward facing parabola when they’re used to me asking for the minimum (the answer’s infinity, not the y value of the vertex), or what tense of subjunctive will follow the phrase “No dudo que…” (which won’t take the subjunctive at all, as it indicates certainty). In any case, the student will be required to examine the full breadth of their knowledge, and not just the obvious pattern in front of their eyes.
So if you’re content with just learning the basics and coasting by, you have plenty of options. If, however, you want a tutor that won’t stop at a passing grade, that will help you not only understand but actually master the material, Study Hut is the place for you.
Young children are often overlooked when it comes to the tutoring industry. At the high school level, parents work hard to motivate and challenge their children academically. They pressure their child to work hard and get good grades at the hopes of the acceptance into a prestigious and well renowned school. Why not start at a young age?
Learning good study habits is imperative to the success of a student; not only in the school setting, but outside as well. Children need to learn study skills, reading skills, and good work ethic from the beginning. In the primary grades, students’ brains are developing at such a rapid rate that this time period proves to be the most crucial in a student’s life. By setting that foundation, the student will have a more transparent view of how to be an outstanding scholar. At study hut, we provide tutoring to all ages. In the younger grades, a student’s academics are primarily focused on literacy. We cater to children by assisting them with fluency, comprehension, and accuracy. The extra practice allows them to feel more confident and motivated in the classroom which produces overall better grades. Needless to say, extra tutoring for young students in the primary grades is extremely beneficial and should not be dismissed.
April has been the boldest month of 2010 at the Hut. To motivate students to finish out the year strong, we have turned up the heat and let loose the competition. Study Hut’s “Student of the Month” award has just been instituted and the first draft winners have been chosen. Our high school winner was one of my most successful students because she has shown such vast improvement in the short amount of time I have tutored her. Paige first came to me with unspeakable grades in her algebra class. At first, I was confused because she understood most of her homework but showed a plethora of poor test grades.
Through talking to her about her thought process, we discovered that she had a mild form of test-taking anxiety. After consulting my boss about an effective approach with Paige, we went to work. She increased her visits from one to three sessions per week with me in order to allot time for timed practice tests. My approach was to do her math problems alongside her and compare our answers instead of watching her do all the work by herself. She worked exceedingly well with my “team” approach because it helped her correct her own mistakes and take control of the session.
After working with Paige for several weeks, I have seen rapid improvement in her comprehension, retention, and esteem. She craves the practice problems because she has seen the positive results for herself. After she brought in her first ‘A,’ I jumped at the chance to nominate her for this award. Since then, she has walked through the door with two more ‘A’ test scores and higher expectations for herself. I look forward to our sessions and when she brings in her tests, I vicariously feel like an ‘A’ student all over again. Students of the month keep this job rewarding and engaging. Keep the good grades rolling!
My daughter is an 8th grader at a middle school in the Torrance
Unified School District, and this year she has really been struggling with her classes. I’m not sure if her classes are getting harder, she isn’t trying as hard as she used to, sports are taking up too much of her time or what! I know she’s a bright girl and she’s always done well in her classes before, but I just don’t know what’s happening this year. Can you offer some advice? Thanks! Read the rest of this entry »
