Good news on the high school front: Palos Verdes Unified School District is now allowing some classes to be taken through Brigham Young University for summer school credits! Previously, PVUSD only permitted students to go through their own summer school program or to one of the local community colleges, although Redondo Unified School District and Torrance School District have allowed BYU online summer classes for some time. With this new development, Palos Verdes High School and Peninsula High School students are able to take their classes online and still enjoy their summer breaks. Furthermore, the advent of online classes is a great opportunity for students to learn at their own pace, be it faster or slower than a classroom setting would normally allow. Although the selection of classes allowed by the school district is limited, it is certainly progressive nonetheless.
As for students who may need extra help with their online classes, the Study Hut offers one-on-one sessions and supplemental lectures to assist students in passing with the highest marks possible, as well as administering practice tests. The Study Hut is open for summer hours seven days per week with tutors specializing in every subject. Also, when it comes time for the final exams for these classes, the Study Hut is an officially licensed exam sight with professional exam proctors. These classes can be used to repeat classes that students may have failed during the regular school year or just to get ahead of the curve for the following school year. By knocking out a class or two over the summer, students may have the option to take a lighter course load during the main school year, which could contribute to better overall grades. Also, with basic necessities handled over the summer, students can take elective classes that they find interesting during the year. For students who have failed even a semester of a class during the year, this program gives them a chance to move ahead with the rest of their class instead of falling behind in a subject simply because the results were not ideal on the first go-around. Overall, the addition of BYU summer school classes for PVUSD students will allow greater flexibility and opportunities for success.
In the most recent informational survey conducted on the average income of Americans, the difference between those who only graduated high school and those who graduated with a bachelor’s degree was well over a million dollars over the course of a career. For most of us, that is a whole lot of money! With that in mind, it is definitely worth it to go to college. However, getting into college takes some work: students have to get good grades to keep a decent grade point average, participate in extracurricular activities, and do as well as possible on the SAT or ACT. The latter, of course, is the most difficult for most students because they have no clue how to prepare for these dreaded exams. The solution: ACT or SAT prep classes!
Students who attend preparatory classes tend to score substantially higher on both the SAT and the ACT than those who study on their own. Small group classes are the best way to improve a student’s confidence and target his or her specific problem areas before the test. The ACT can be particularly intimidating because it tends to favor math and science over reading comprehension, and most students could use a little extra help with these two subjects. When seeking out an ACT class, make sure the student-to-instructor ratio does not exceed 10:1, the course includes plenty of homework, and there are full-length proctored mock-ACT tests. The smaller the class size, the more attention each student will receive, which ultimately makes pinpointing his or her weakest areas much easier and more specific. Homework provides the additional practice kids need to stay on top of the material and uphold the information between classes, as well as gives a bench mark to the instructor. Practice tests, naturally, are the most important of all in preparing for the ACT! They are the single best way to gage progress. With all of these components, odds are your student will greatly improve their ACT score!
The best way to meet a long term goal, whether it be school related or not, is to set bench marks and short term goals along the way. It was Arnold Schwarzenegger who said, “Set an impossible goal and achieve it.” He’s pretty much owned that quote through showing the world that an immigrant body builder can become the world’s most famous movie star and be elected Governor of California.
At Study Hut Tutoring in Manhattan Beach, students from all the schools in the area (Mira Costa High School, Loyola High School, Redondo Union High School, Chadwick High School, Vista Mar High School, Manhattan Beach Middle School, Grandview Elementary School, Pacific Elementary School, Pennykamp Elementary School, Meadows Elementary School, and Robinson Elementary School) set goals using their daily planner. The first step is to make an appropriate and attainable short term goal that fits within your larger goal. If one desires to “earn a 4.0 GPA,” then setting a monthly goal of missing zero assignments is a great first step. At that point it comes down to writing everything down, and crossing everything off, each and every day, every time a task is completed. When there are tasks left wide open, and laziness was not a factor, then some closer time allocation and planning is required.
Study Hut Tutoring students dig in with their daily planners each and every hour they are here. It’s a major component in staying in the game and achieving goals.
Elementary school tutors show students some simple first steps in the planning process, laying the groundwork for future success. Students from Mira Costa High School are rewarded with positive grades and feedback when goals are set, and intermediate goals are completed each and every week.
It’s wonderful to see students dominate using the planner.
As we all know, the begining of May marks the start of AP tests. While this can be a very stressful time for many students, proper preperation can make the testing period a breeze. Although two months may seem like a long time, it is important to begining reviewing as early posssible as these test cover such a wide range of knowledge and are designed to make sure students have a college level understanding of the subject matter.
Many teachers offer review sessions in the weeks leading up to the AP tests. These are often a great place to get started and organized on your studies, however you will need to dedicate some time each week to study on your own. Here at the Study Hut we offer one-on-one tutoring in a wide variety of AP subject tests. Whether you are taking AP math and science course or english and history, we will be sure to have a subject expert to help you. Many of our tutors took AP courses at local high schools, such as Redondo Union High School and Palos Verdes High Shool.
When taking AP tests, it is important to have good understanding of the structure and timelimits for each test. It is very important to pace yourself during the test, to ensure you have enough time to attempt each question. Be sure you read the directions throuroughly and understand what the question is asking before attempting to answer it. Another important part of test preperation is to make sure you are well rested and have healthy balanced meal before the test. Being well rested has been proven to increase brain activity. This is another reason why it is important to begin studying as soon as possible, so that you dont have to pull all-nighters test week.
So be sure to see your Study Hut tutor soon and good luck to all the students taking AP tests this May.
The second semester can be an excellent time for a fresh start in any subject
area, however it’s also the time to build upon the knowledge learned from first
semester courses! Many subject areas, particularly the higher level subjects
such as chemistry, get more in depth during the second semester, and it becomes
imperative to recollect the knowledge you have already learned. Study Hut tutoring
offers one on one tutoring sessions that not only address the weekly assignments
and academic standards covered in a course, but also focus on reviewing key
concepts that students must practice in order to keep up with the new lessons
introduced daily! Flashcards and review quizzes are part of every tutoring session.
Flashcards are imperative in the process of helping students remember content,
and reviewing it before the big exams is an instrumental part in success. Subject
areas like Chemistry are filled with difficult vocabulary and formulas. Making
and retaining flash cards for review purposes helps students not only learn
new content but also helps them review previously learned content, that will be
needed in order to understand new material. Flash cards at Study Hut tutoring
are a daily ritual in many tutoring sessions that require the mastery of difficult
content, and the key to success in content areas such as Chemistry and Physics
where memorization of heavy academic content is a must! Review quizzes are
also a crucial tutoring strategy utilized at Study Hut tutoring to help students build
upon their foundational knowledge of an academic subject. Review quizzes are
tutor generated quizzes that draw upon newly learned content as well as past key
concepts in an intricate manner that begs the student to use their knowledge base to
connect between their acquired knowledge and newly introduced content. Review
quizzes not only provide practice with content but also help students connect the
dots in their academic study area in a profound manner that makes the entire
subject area clearer in comprehension!
It may seem a tad premature to write about summer programs, but here at The Study Hut we are always thinking ahead of schedule. The sunny California weather also helps put in a good summer mood. This summer we are excited to introduce new programs for all ages!
Summer is a great time to get caught up on SATs, college apps, and enrichment for the younger ones. The Manhattan and Redondo Beach Study Huts are soon to be equipped with programs for each of those areas.
For starters, we will have reading and writing programs for kindergarten through 8th grade. For the youngsters, we will have reading workshops that target phonemic awareness to prepare them for reading. 3rd-4th graders will have the opportunity to participate in fluency workshops. 5th-8th graders will have the opportunity to take a writing workshop that will be geared toward writing perfected five paragraph essays. Each student will be provided with a private tutor that will guide them toward success.
As for the students at the High School Level we will have both math prep (Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 3/4) and SAT courses. These classes will be in a group setting and will give each student a preview on each of these subjects prior to enrolling so they can have the benefit of starting out with flying colors.
Finally, we will be offering one-on-one tutoring sessions specifically geared toward helping students with their college applications. Such topics to be covered are their personal statement, financial aid, the actual application, resume, and interview skills. Summer is always a great time to get ahead of the game with college apps. Who better to help your child prepare than a tutoring center that has helped numerous students get into college?
Although we just got finished with ski week, we are geared up for the future and can’t wait to implement our new programs! Stay tuned for more info!
One of the best ways to improve your chances of getting into an ideal university is to improve your standardized testing scores. Study Hut offers an incredibly helpful ACT group class starting in March. Students enrolled in the class come twice per week in the evenings (Mondays and Wednesdays from 7-9pm) and work on test-taking strategies as well as take full length practice tests to determine their improvement. The group classes are very small (Maximum of 10 students) and students raise their scores significantly because of the hard work they have put into the class, as well as the individual attention. The effort that students put into the course is directly reflected in their test score improvements. In fact, during Study Hut’s last SAT group course, the average improvement was 200 points. SAT and ACT scores play a very important role in determining a student’s eligibility for universities.
The first step to preparing for the real SAT or ACT exam is to come to Study Hut for a full length practice test. We proctor them every Sunday at 9am, and all we need is a couple of days notice so we can prepare for you. Next, one of our specialized tutors will explain what your score means and discuss what universities appeal to your student’s academic goals. You will then receive an individualized strategy that will prepare your student for the success they need on the real SAT or ACT. I cannot stress the importance of high SAT and ACT scores in college applications. Many of our students in Study Hut’s group class are juniors at South Torrance and Palos Verdes High Schools. The Study Hut’s group classes can often be the difference between any university and the school of these students’ dreams; with the preparation they receive, they will be well on their way to brilliant academic careers.
With the beginning of a new semester, it is important to stay focused and keep grades high to kick things off the right way. Frequently students are worn out from tests and projects that closed the previous semester, so it is easy to slack off and let small assignments fall through the cracks. Eventually, the problem builds, and subjects like math become increasingly difficult and overwhelming. However, there is an easy fix to this common problem: short intervals of homework every day with frequent breaks.
Often, students think that to do their homework, they have to post up at their desks for hours on end and knock it all out in one sitting. Thus, they dread homework and just do not do it. If, instead, they try studying for fifteen to thirty minutes at a time, they would likely have a higher success rate of completing all their work and retaining the information. When a student practices math problems every day, even if just a few, he or she becomes fluent and comfortable with the subject and eventually stops dreading study time. Whenever students find their minds drifting or their eyes getting heavy, they should stop and walk away from the homework for a few minutes, just to refresh themselves and give them added staying power. Of course, this tactic is great for all subjects, especially the ones each student enjoys the least. With this homework strategy, students should be able to manage studying and still never feel like all they do is homework. Grades will go up and the new semester will be under control nearly effortlessly!
At the beginning of each and every school year most schools distribute a handy little agenda planner to all of the students in hopes that they use them often and correctly. However most students regard these planners as just an extra book filled with papers to throw in the bottom of their backpack or back of their locker and forget about until the last day of school when they through them out. But the school does not spend the money and effort to distribute these to students just to have them thrown out, they are given to the students because they truly do help and improve student performance. The bare minimum use of the student planner is they should write down everything that the teacher assigns for that night and to keep it updated with all of the current homework assignments. Then after completing each assignment they must cross if off or some how indicate that they are completed with the work.
Yet, students should and need to get even more in depth and on top of their work load. We all know that daily homework is not the only assignments teachers hand out. They also assign long term projects and normally give the dates for future tests to allow students time to prepare. So the student needs to make sure to go ahead into the future of the planner and write down assignments or tests that are due sometime in the distant future. There are too many students claiming ignorance to when the assignment is due and having to start a huge essay or project the night before it due. Which is terrible because this problem can be easily avoided by taking an extra 30 seconds each day and making sure that the planner is filled out completely and that the student knows what he has to do and when it is completed. Remember schools are always trying to help students improve their grade not hurt it, so use all the available resources to you and you will be great.
An over welling majority of students in California wind up taking Spanish for a foreign language requirement or some other reason. And not surprisingly a large portion of these students taking Spanish in our middle and high schools struggle to master the language almost 44% of the Los Angeles speaks Spanish as either their first or second language. Yet instead of immersing our students with all the available Spanish speakers living around them, most schools spend a majority of class time learning vocab words and verb charts. While learning vocab words and memorizing verb charts and grammar rules are necessary to learn how to speak and perfect any language, the additional practice of working on actually using the Spanish learned in the classroom is the path to good grades and speaking the language the best. Many people say the most effective way to learn a language is to live in a country that speaks that language mostly exclusively and we are almost at the majority here in LA so what better place.
With so many primarily Hispanic and Latino areas in Los Angeles its easy to drive 30 minutes (well maybe an hour with traffic) anywhere into LA and find some area that speaks mostly Spanish. Once you find your place, just immerse yourself in the culture and language, try and only speak using the spanish that you know and like everything practice makes perfect. Another great place to practice your Spanish verbal skills is to come into the Study Hut and just have a conversation in spanish with one of our fantastic tutors here. We have multiple tutors here with the ability to carry on a great conversation with you. And if you were to atleast practice your spanish communication skills just once a week, I can guarantee a vast improvement in not only your speaking skills, but also your reading and writing spanish abilities. To improve you spanish you need to practice and use the language as much as possible, so why not use the vast amount of resources in our county of Los Angeles or here at the Study Hut.
