The beginning of a school year can come with many exciting twists and turns. From seeing old friends, to meeting different teachers and immersing oneself in a new world, each year comes with a hand full of differences. For the most part these new aspects of life aren’t very different or difficult, in fact most are pretty exhilarating. However one area which each year comes with added difficulty for most students is math. Whether it’s geometry, algebra, or even algebra 2, each new math comes with it’s own twists, turns, and potentially difficult new material. It is imperative that most students hit the ground running in math classes because the pace at which they move only speeds up, and if someone get’s lost early on, it’s very difficult to catch up as the material adds upon itself.
That’s why the tutors here at the Study Hut of Manhattan Beach feel that the best way not to fall behind is to prepare for coming challenges. That’s why we are currently offering summer prep courses for algebra, geometry and algebra 2. From July 24-August 23, come in for 5 weeks, 20 hours, of tutoring. During the course students will get the opportunity to be exposed to much of the material which will be coming in the next year. As boring as math might be for many students, it is a skill which one can only improve by exposure and practice.Therefore these summer prep courses put students in the best position to excel in math, often the most difficult subject of the year. Studies have shown that prior exposure to a subject, even if it’s not memorized or fully retained, can DRAMATICALLY improve one’s performance and understanding of the material upon second exposure. So don’t delay, and put yourself or your child through one of the finest tutoring facilities in the south bay area this summer to make sure that math is a problem of the past.
Summer at The Hut
May 15th, 2012Why Study Hut is Awesome and Every Other Place is Awful by Comparison
March 20th, 2012Let me begin by saying that Study Hut is awesome, and every other place is awful by comparison. There. That’s out of the way. Although this fact is nearly indisputable, I know some of you might be unconvinced. You might be saying to yourself, “Self, how do I KNOW that the Study Hut is the pinnacle of the tutoring world? How can I be SURE that it is, indeed, the apex of educational awesomeness?” To you, the doubter, I say to look at the evidence.
Part of the reason that Study Hut works is that it is NOT school. Kids aren’t sitting in classrooms, with 30 other kids, being taught en masse. They are being given one-on-one attention, with a tutor who knows them and works with them on a regular basis. They are able to specifically target the problem areas, and focus on what they REALLY need help on. And they can do all of this in an extremely comfortable atmosphere. If you’ve ever walked into the Hut, then you know what I mean. This is not a stodgy atmosphere. It’s a place where kids can come, decompress, study, but still have a bit of fun. We’ve got floor competitions, a candy drawer and the occasional flying bottle cap. It’s an atmosphere where kids can come in to learn, but feel free of the crushing pressure that can come of a strict school atmosphere.
The other thing that makes the Hut work is the tutors. Our tutors here are AMAZING. We’ve got so many different types of people, who know so many different types of things, that I’ve never seen a student walk out of here with a question unanswered. They’re friendly, knowledgeable, and know EXACTLY what their students are going through, because they’ve been there (recently, in most cases). We know our students names, their strengths and weaknesses, and are able to tutor in a way specific to each kid’s needs. Compare that to a place where kids have a different tutor every week in a crowded, strict atmosphere, and tell me which ones better.
I know that the Study Hut is a great place to work, and an AMAZING place to study. Stop in, and you can see for yourself.
The College Application Process
February 9th, 2012Your junior and senior years of high school are two of the most important years of school you’ll ever attend. You have to study for and take your SAT, you have to choose the colleges you want to apply to, and then you have to make that final step—surviving the dreaded college application process.
This does not have to be an overwhelmingly stressful period of your life. Yes, you do have to put forth a lot of effort to get into college, but there are people that can help with the process and ease your stress. When you’re sitting there looking at that mound of blank application materials on your desk, you may ask yourself, how can I ever do ALL of this by myself?
Well, the good news is that the tutors at the Manhattan Beach Study Hut are here to help you! You can get help from the college graduates at Study Hut that have been through the exact same, grueling process. You can’t find this kind of one-on-one service anywhere else.
We can help with in-depth SAT and ACT preparation and general organizational strategies sure to lessen your overall stress. We have the resources you need to succeed in this important time in your life. For example, one of the most difficult aspects of the college application is perfecting the application essays. We provide you with the support you need to write a unique, well-written essay that is sure to draw attention to how spectacular you will be as a college student. The strategies we teach our students in everyday tutoring include all of the study skills a high school student needs in order to succeed in college. Perfecting your study habits with Study Hut now is the best way to ensure future success in college.
7 Days a Week
January 25th, 2012 The year 2012 brings many changes to the local Study Huts in your neighborhood. The high demands of students have made us expand not only in location but, hours as well. In the effort to provide quality one on one tutoring Study Hut is now open 7 days a week. This new radical change has taken over two years to come into effect. Before January 2012, students had the chance to come receive tutoring only Sunday Through Thursday. The small window of tutoring hours started to become inconvenient for our athletes, honor and extracurricular activity students. “Some kids with APs and sports can’t do weekdays and if they have band, theatre, or newspaper, then it’s super tough too”, informs our owner Robert Stone. These students have demanding schedules and sometimes could not squeeze in tutoring hours. As previous high school and middle school students the hut staff understand how demanding and exhausting this could be mentally and physically for the students. The changes are Friday and Saturday available days of tutoring and test preparation classes. “These are also the quietest days at the Hut, so there are advantages in the noise department as well”, states owner Sean Patrick. During the week it can become incredibly loud and for many students, the noise level is an extreme interruption of concentration.
The Study Hut has also become a huge asset in test taking preparation classes and has branched out in so many administered tests preparation of the nation. Included in the national tests, is our well known ACT and SAT preparation classes. In concurrence with weekends being open for tutoring, Fridays and Saturdays are also open for these test preparation classes. These classes give our students a huge advantage to learn the materials needed while tackling down their weekly courses as well. Nothing makes us happier here at your local hut than our students’ success in their classes. We pride ourselves in their academic goals and strive to make sure they meet their goals. So if we must stay open 7 days a week, so be it.
ISEE Prep
January 3rd, 2012It’s not uncommon that we witness nervous and frustrated 7th and 8th grade students walk in with one test on their minds. The independent school entrance exam at a first glance can appear not only intimidating but overwhelming. While some students find themselves lost and perplexed as they glance through what seem to be infinite pages of preparation in many booklets sold in bookstores, others take the easier route of denial and try to forget their woes of test taking anxiety. It covers extensive material in English, math, and uses these subjects in a critical thinking manner that can be a perplexing to many students. The English alone covers vocabulary words that have never been seen by most students, as test consultants we are familiar with test tactics that send students crying to their parents and do our very best to ease their minds. Here at the study hut, we succeed in not only planning a method to conquering the ISEE, but make it easy enough that any student can overthrow this test. Our tactical schedule of tutoring preparation gives the student the ability to do better than well in their weak subject matter and strengthen other subjects they are already confident in.
Our tutors are very understanding, and understand on a personal level the obstacle that each individual student is facing in relation to the ISEE. As recent college graduates we comprehend the pressure and are fresh on test taking strategies and are more than happy to pass on the wisdom. At the Study Hut we breakdown the ISEE preparation to a science. Offering an extensive personalized study plan, we allow each student to change bad testing behaviors and confront each fear they will face during the test. In a nut shell, we are here to help your student, not make a cookie cutter plan for everyone and offer extensive knowledge to each student in test taking skills and want each of our students to rule the ISEE.
New Tutor in the House!
November 7th, 2011The first thing that struck me upon entering the Manhattan Beach Study Hut is how comfortable the students feel around their tutors! I instantly understood how valuable it is for students to be able to CONNECT with their tutor. Students are obviously at ease at the Study Hut, many make this place their second home. Being able to be open with their tutor about their struggles in school allows us as tutors to custom-make lesson plans to target problem areas. I was also very happy to see how well the tutors interacted with their kiddos. While maintaining a professional environment, the tutors were able to interact with students and make them laugh and, more importantly, make their lessons FUN!
The second thing that really surprised me about the Study Hut was how busy this place gets in the evenings! When I left on my first day, it was 8:30 in the evening, and there were still energetic students arriving to meet with their tutor, and they were in good moods! I don’t think I would have been in such a great mood to spend my evenings getting ahead, but I was nonetheless happy to see kids happy to learn.
For me, tutoring isn’t just about answering questions, it’s about getting kids to learn from me, and become motivated students. I’m very happy to see students using the Study Hut to stay on top of their learning!
What Sets Study Hut Apart
October 11th, 2011You sit, minding your own business. Suddenly, you feel a twinge of unease crawl up your spine. A feeling as if someone, or something, is watching you. You shake it off. Clearly, you’re just being paranoid right? You look back down at your desk. And then… IT HAPPENS. Suddenly, tiny Tialde, mild-mannered 2nd grader is throwing paper around the office, laughing hysterically, and running out of here as fast as he can!
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!
You just found yourself victim to one of the Study Hut’s new competitions: who can keep their room the cleanest in exchange for pizza! Actually, you’ve found yourself victim to the inevitable aftermath of such a challenge: who can mess up everyone else’s room enough so they don’t get pizza! This, the first of many new challenges being formed around the Hut, is part of a new initiative starting up this semester. Now, at first glance, this may seem like meaningless prankerism (trust me, it’s a word) and time-wasting nonsense. But it’s actually a piece of what sets the Study Hut apart.
You’re children spend all day in a very ordered environment. They’re told where to sit, when to stand, how to speak, and what to do. To be fair, in a classroom of 30 children, such order is necessary. But the Hut doesn’t exist just to replicate school. We’re not here to just provide an environment that students just have to come to due to bad grades. We’re here to provide an environment that students want to come to (to help improve bad grades!) Initiatives like this promote better communication among tutors, which leads to better tutoring, and smarter students. And involving the students, like we did Tialde, promotes the idea that this is a place where that they can look forward to coming too. Most students here know most, if not all the tutors: not just the one they work with. They come here because the Hut is a place where people know you, get the work done, and have help in the process.
Plus, you get to occasionally throw paper around in exchange for pizza. That’s awesome.
The Purpose of Good Tutoring
September 27th, 2011One of the biggest misconceptions about tutoring is its purpose. Many a time, students will come expecting one of three things: that we’re here to do their homework for them, that we can help them cram 5 chapters of material in one night for a test tomorrow morning, or that they’re done for the night the second their tutoring sessions over.
Needless to say, these ideas are false. Tutoring is not, nor ever shall be, a substitute for actual, nose-in-the-book work. We’re not here to do the work for you, teach you short cuts, or help you simply “skate by”. That might help you get a decent grade on tonight’s homework assignment, but you’d be in major trouble the first time a quiz came along. And we’re not here just to help you with the next test, or tomorrow’s assignment. Here, our focus isn’t to teach you the material. It’s to teach you HOW TO STUDY the material. Our major goal is to make it so that you don’t need us anymore. We want to get you to a point where you know how to break down a chapter, write an essay, compose an outline, and solve an equation without someone looking over your shoulder. But, of course, if you still need our help, we’ll still be here to help you again. Doing well in school is not a sprint. It’s a marathon.
Time and time again, the students that I’ve seen do the best are the one’s working before the come in, and ready to work after they leave. They’re the students who have already read and outlined the chapter, but are coming in to help with understanding it. They’re the ones who just spent an hour and a half working with me, and are already putting together a plan for what they’ll work on at home. These are the students who are not only preparing themselves for tomorrow, but for the rest of the year.
Tutoring is meant as a supplement to your learning. If you rely on it completely, without putting in the extra work, it’s not going to be effective. But if you truly work your butt off, utilizing as many advantages as you can (including tutoring at the good ol’ Study Hut), you’re going to see the kind of change you want.
