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Study Hut Finals Survival Guide

January 15th, 2019

With Final exams around the corner at Peninsula High School and Palos Verdes High School, students in the AVID program have been taking advantage of Study Hut counselors and mentors with one-on-one meetings to go over their Finals Survival Guide.  This is a new tweak on the comprehensive program that Study Hut has provided to the AVID for almost a decade, and the results and feedback have been overwhelming.

Before the holiday break, instructors came into each 9th and 10th grade classroom for a full-period tutorial on how to fill out the Study Hut Finals Survival Guide.  Students went through the Aries portal and took a deeper look at each of their individual grades, identifying any missing assignments and low test and quiz scores.  They then listed content from these assignments and tests that would be likely be coming back up on the Final exam, and they highlighted classes in which their semester grades could potentially go up or down depending on their performance on the Final exam.

The first week after the holiday break, Study Hut instructors came back into each of these same classrooms to help students construct an individualized day-by-day task list.  The content on these tasks lists was derived directly from the Finals Survival Guide.  Students broke down study tasks by class; for history and foreign language classes, students created manual flashcards, and then plotted 15-minute flashcard run-throughs each day leading up to the Final exam.  For science and math classes, students identified units and chapters that they struggled with the first time around, and then they plotted chapter reviews and study guides each day leading up to the Final exam.  The results for each student was a comprehensive task list that lined up the exact tasks that each student needs to complete in order to meet their goals on Final exams.  They then met individually with Study Hut counselors for 15-minute meetings to review the task lists and make sure that their efforts aligned with their goals.

The Finals Survival Guide is a template and service that we also provide to our one-on-one students at Study Hut.  It is a built in service for our clients that can help students maximize their efforts and streamline their studies.  If you would like to set up a free meeting with a manager or owner at Study Hut, please email info@studyhut.com.

One-on-one Academic Tutoring

December 5th, 2018

Parents are often curious about when the ideal age is to start one-on-one academic tutoring. The truth is, the right age to begin tutoring has more to do with the specific needs of the student as opposed to turning a certain age. At Study Hut, we have tutors that specialize in working with students of all ages, from kindergarteners to college graduate students. When we are evaluating a child’s educational needs, our goal is to focus in on the student’s unique situation and provide customized individual tutoring.

So while we see each student as unique, academic needs in general tend to fall into three categories. Some students are doing OK in all of their classes with the exception of one subject where they need help. In this case, the student can benefit from extra one-on-one academic tutoring, assistance completing homework, and individualized attention while preparing for tests and quizzes in that class.

One-on-one Academic Tutoring

Others are dealing with challenges in multiple subjects. In this case it is especially important to disregard the student’s age and simply get them the support they need as soon as the problem is identified.  Students can gain tremendously from working with a tutor to learn basic study skills such as organization or how to effectively study. These techniques are often not taught in school, yet they are the very tools kids need to be academically successful. Poor grades at any age can cause students to feel frustrated and over time can lead to self-identifying as a “bad student”. This is a difficult scenario to reverse.

The third type of need we encounter is when someone is preparing for entrance to a private school or college. This often involves studying for a standardized test and potentially writing essays for the application. If a student is preparing for the ISEE or HSPE it is recommended to start studying at least six months before the test date, if not sooner. Tenth grade is a good time for students taking the ACT or SAT to come in to the Study Hut for a free practice test.

Just as we would never recommend a “one-size-fits-all” approach to tutoring, we do not have a standardized rule of thumb for what a good age is to begin academic tutoring. If you are dealing with a child who is struggling academically, whether it is in elementary, middle, or high school: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.