As summer in El Segundo arrives and the school year comes to an end, Study Hut is relishing the achievements of our students and looking forward to summertime and the next school year. The 2014-2015 academic year has been exciting and enjoyable for Study Hut, El Segundo. We take great pride in seeing the growth and progress of our students as they strive to reach their academic goals, and we put forth our best effort to assist them every step of the way.
This school year we served local El Segundo School District students from El Segundo High School, El Segundo Middle School, Center Street School, and Richmond Street School. We also had the privilege of working with students from the surrounding districts of LAUSD, MBUSD, and RBUSD, coming from Mira Costa High, Redondo Union High, Reseda High, Manhattan Beach Middle School, and Parras Middle School. Additionally, we had some wonderful students from the local private schools Vistamar, St. John Bosco, Bishop Montgomery, Loyola, and Chadwick.
Working with such a wide variety of students and school districts has been a wonderful way for us to grow as a service: broadening our knowledge of varying curriculums and school expectations. Whether we were working with a 3rd grader on Common Core math enrichment and reading comprehension, or helping a high school Junior succeed in challenging Spanish and calculus classes, we have been able to exceed expectations and propel students to new heights in their personal academic success. We also enjoyed working with El Segundo High this school year by administering, proctoring, and reviewing full-length practice SATs and ACTs for our local students, creating a valuable resource to them as they strive to achieve their best result on these crucial tests. Now that summer in El Segundo has arrived, we are enjoying a brief respite from the rigours of the academic year, and refocusing our energy to best assist our summer students.
We will continue to work with students through the summer in El Segundo, concentrating on varying areas determined by student need. The waning obligations of summertime offers a great opportunity for students to get a head start on upcoming classes with one-on-one tutoring. Our summer students will be introduced to forthcoming concepts, solidify fundamentals while enriching current understanding, and/or undertake a test preparation program to improve on the SAT and/or ACT. For our incoming Seniors, summer is a great time to make the final push for a solid SAT/ACT score in the fall, and to begin working with a tutor to develop a plan of attack for college applications and their entailing essays and personal statements. Regardless of the specific focus, summer tutoring is an excellent way for students to stay engaged and enter the upcoming school year with a smooth transition to more advanced coursework.
We look forward to continuing to serve El Segundo and the surrounding communities through the summer and next school year. Check out the Hut!
It’s difficult to keep up in summer school classes. Five to six hours a day of the same topic is a long time to concentrate. Not only that, but teachers are trying to cram in an entire year’s worth of material into just a few short weeks.
One strategy to make sure you stay on top of summer school is to make sure that you take amazing notes. Great notes are detailed, organized, and easy to read. Make sure that you are writing legibly. Organize your notes by topic. This way, if you are looking for information on a certain topic you can easily find it. Make sure to take notes on what your teacher is saying, not just the lecture slides. They often go into important, more detailed information than just what is on the slides. You can bet that that same information will be on the test.
Try and stay focused. The hours are long, but the tests are very frequent so you do not have time to slack off. If you miss a concept, make sure to see a tutor before you are tested on it. It is also a good idea to schedule regular tutoring sessions. One-on-one time with a tutor can allow you to explore the material in more depth and assure that you fully understand all of the concepts. There is very little time to play catch up because of the rushed schedule. Turning in all of your homework assignments is crucial. Do not get lazy because the lost points will add up and hurt you.
As long as you stay on your A game, summer school is an amazing way to knock out some classes quickly.
Summer is the perfect time to round out your resume for college applications. On top of grades, colleges like to get a picture of who you really are through your resume. They like to see that you are active and engaged with something outside of just school.
Summer Resume Builder #1: Volunteer
This can include any number of things. Maybe you play sports during the year so you do not have time to do any volunteer work. Over summer you can volunteer at a number of organizations that you are truly passionate about. You can help feed the homeless, save the whales, heal the bay, or help out at your local animal shelter. If you support a cause that is relevant to you, it will be more fun.
Summer Resume Builder #2: Job/Internship
Over summer you can also get a job or an internship. This shows that you can take initiative and handle responsibilities. The awesome thing about jobs and internships is that they can give you experience in different fields. You can start to get a feeling for what kinds of careers you do and do not like. This will make choosing a major in college way easier. You will already have tested the waters in at least one type of job. Keeping the same job over an extended period of time also shows that you can commit to something.
Summer Resume Builder #3: Community Activity You can also get involved in projects or community activities. These can be different groups, a community service organization, or even starting your own project. This shows colleges that you explore things outside of your academic interests, and that you are a three dimensional person.
The summer is an excellent time for students to get started or finish up their preparation for the SAT or ACT standardized tests. Study Hut Summer Test Prep offers both one-on-one private tutoring and small group classes for each test. Students can even continue with private one-on-one tutoring after completing the group class.
Summer is a great time for test preparation for a variety of reasons. The most obvious reason is that students do not have regular schooling during the summer. Even if they are enrolled in summer school, the days are normally a few hours shorter than the normal academic school year. This gives students more time to focus on doing their test prep homework, and they will not be stressed about other assignments during their tutoring sessions. Many times students can see the preparation as an extracurricular during the school year, and let it take second priority to their normal coursework. Starting preparation over the summer circumvents this problem.
Another great reason to start preparation over summer is because there is usually an SAT test and an ACT test issued in May or June. Students can take the real thing and see what their initial starting score is. Then they know how much they want to improve and the level of commitment they are going to have to make. Another test is given around September, so students can take it before the new school year gets too hectic. This is perfect because they will be focused and refreshed, rather than frazzled like at the end of the school year.
Give us a call to learn about our rates and enroll in summer classes.
It’s that time of year again! School bells are ringing and classes are officially back in session. Sharpen your pencils, change your calculator batteries and dust off your backpack. Check the shopping list from your teachers and fill in any gaps. Some important things to remember:
-A planner! Arguably the most important thing you need for the year. A planner will keep you organized and ahead of the game all year, and take the stress out of trying to remember assignments and due dates.
-Highlighters. These are great for critical reading when you need to mark passages or important quotes, or for marking your answers in math
-Sticky Notes. Need to remember a page in a textbook? Mark a date in the planner? Make a to-do list? Remind yourself about anything? These will do the trick without damaging your books.
-Hole punch. Papers aren’t going to fit in your binder without one of these! Really useful if you hate your assignments flying out of your binder or getting crumpled in the bottom of a backpack.
-Colored pens. Using different colors to make notes or color coding your outlines and flashcards will keep you organized and help with recall later.
And most importantly, schedule your tutoring sessions! The Study Hut is gearing up for the school year, with some fresh new faces and a lot of new school supplies. Things are already getting crazy here, the first round of tests are coming up fast! Whether you need an extra push with schoolwork or want to practice for standardized tests, we are here for you. We have several diagnostic tests coming up for SATs and ACTs, as well at tutoring in all subjects. Need help in math? Got an essay to write and don’t know where to start? Just want to get ahead? Come on by! Our goal is to help students be successful.
For a few sessions this summer, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a student named Rachel. Recently we have been going over Math, specifically, the circumference and area of circles. Like any other subject, it is important to understand the material conceptually in order to proceed in solving the problem. While working with Rachel, I made it a point for her to grasp the differences between such things as pi, the radius of a circle, the diameter of a circle, the circumference, and the area. In order to accomplish this, I presented her with problems in a specific order that would utilize what she learned in previous problems. For example I asked her to solve for the circumference with a given area. This required that 1) she knew the formulas for both circumference and area, 2) she understood the significance and meaning of each number she was solving for within each step and 3) she utilized what she learned from previous problems to solve the bigger problem. Overall, there has been a noticeable improvement in Rachel’s speed, accuracy, and conceptual understanding during her time at Study Hut.
Imagine if each year you allowed three consecutive months to pass without ever considering diet or exercise; the result would be low energy, an underperforming immune system, and many other undesirable consequences. Just like any other part of the human body, the brain requires regular attention and maintenance to perform to its potential. Students often struggle to get back into the swing of academics after a long summer break, as their brains have been stagnant for weeks on end. Here at Study Hut Tutoring, we make sure to keep our students sharp through the summer time, allowing an easier entrance into the new school year and helping them to start strong and maintain that impressive GPA throughout the course of the academic year.
Summer tutoring offers many benefits to students. For some, summer tutoring serves as a valuable time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the previous school year, and to clear up and solidify conceptual understanding that they will need to progress to more advanced courses. For others, summer tutoring serves as an opportunity to learn new material before being exposed to it in the classroom, giving them more confidence and an easier route to an “A”. And still for others, we help with writing enrichment, summer reading requirements, and preparation for the Fall SAT and ACT.
Of course, we at Study Hut Tutoring also appreciate the value of leisure time. Our founders, Rob and Sean, along with our tutors have been making the most of this summer by spending plenty of time on and in the ocean, be it to surf, spearfish, or boat across the channel to Catalina Island. We will be seeing off our managerial staff on an annual leadership trip at the end of July, and look forward to building an even stronger team to help our students through the remainder of the summer and next school year.
If you would like more information regarding our summer tutoring services, or you would like to sign up your son or daughter for summer help to prepare for the upcoming school year, please feel welcome to contact us at info@studyhut.com. Enjoy your summer!
With summer underway and the Independence Day holiday weekend behind us, our enrichment programs at Study Hut are in full force, and learning is back on the agenda.
Tonight we begin our ACT small-group course, which runs Monday and Wednesday evenings for the remainder of summer. Our SAT small-group course also begins tomorrow evening, and runs through the rest of summer on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Students are excited to learn concepts that they either missed in high school or have not yet learned, and they are even more eager to go over their practice tests and learn time management and question prioritization strategies for both the ACT and SAT. Students in previous classes at Study Hut Tutoring have learned all about the tremendous benefits of having an ACT tutor or an SAT tutor in their corner.
Whether a student needs help with SAT math, critical reading, writing, or some combination of these, having a top Study Hut tutor has shown to make a huge difference in students’ scores. Our small group ACT and SAT classes have helped to earn students an average of over 200 points of improvement from their original scores, and many students improve 300 or more points.
At the Hut, we strongly suggest making a game-plan early so as to ensure that your son or daughter has the maximum amount of time to make the gains that he or she desires. The test preparation process is, after all, about opening as many doors as possible, both for college and for opportunities beyond.
If your son or daughter has not yet taken a practice SAT or ACT, now is the time to see where you stand. We offer free full-length SAT and ACT diagnostic tests, and we also provide free consultations to parents and students after the test so that you can fully understand your results. Please email info@studyhut.com today to sign up at any of our beach-front locations.
Here is a comprehensive list of programs to help your student stay ahead this fall.
– SAT and ACT classes both one-on-one and group courses. Our group course for SAT’s and ACT’s start after the July 4th weekend.
– Spanish 1/2 and Spanish 3/4 Workshops
– Elementary to Middle School and Middle School to High School Transition Sessions
– Algebra 1, Geometry, and Alg 2 Prep Classes which will start at the end of July. Joey will be teaching some of the courses in the Manhattan Beach Location.
– General Summer School Help
We are open Monday-Friday and you can contact our managers to book appointments for summer. Manhattan Beach Location: Kristen@studyhut.com – (310)546-2408, Redondo Beach Location: Justin@studyhut.com – (310)540-5888, and our El Segundo Location: Alex@studyhut.com (310)648-8526
It’s finally summertime! That means lots of free time on your hands to explore and try new things. Luckily, we live in an area full of interesting things to do and see. If you are stuck, here are a few ideas to get you started.
Check out an aquarium! We have several great aquariums nearby showcasing both local and exotic marine life. Try the Roundhouse Aquarium on Manhattan Beach Pier, the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, the Santa Monica Pier aquarium or the Aquarium of the Pacific. All have great informative exhibits and touch tanks to get up close and personal with the animals.
The Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. Ever wonder what lived in Southern California before people? Find out at the Page Museum! They have a great collection of prehistoric skeletons, from giant sloths to direwolves to mammoths. There is even a live excavation site outside as well as a real bubbling tar pit.
See a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. This beautiful outdoor auditorium has a great program of both classical and modern music performances throughout the summer, often with famous musicians. There are even sing alongs! Pack up picnic and enjoy the weather while listening to great music.
Get outside! We live in a beautiful area with virtually perfect weather, along with miles and miles of beaches. Learn to stand up paddleboard, or kayak or bodysurf. There are beautiful hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains, and tidepools galore in Abalone Cove. Pick a new trail and see what you find!
Learn a new sport! If you are in the off season for school sports, why not pick up a new one? Ultimate Frisbee is a classic, or you could pick up an outside the box option like quidditch or beach tennis. Even better, make up your own!
