Award-Winning Test Prep & Academic Tutoring in Camarillo, CA

The student said he needed help with finding percentages in general math and finding areas and volumes in geometry. We first created a chart that shows the relationship between fractions, decimals, and percents using quarters and halves of $1.00 (e.g., 1/4 = 1 divided by 4 = .25 (a quarter) = 25% of $1.00), which I find useful in understanding percents, since it relates $1.00 to 100%, something with which students always have prior knowledge due to handling money. We then viewed a PowerPoint on understanding percents that expanded on those ideas by showing how "per-cent" means "out-of-100," and illustrating how the decimal point moves two places to the left when converting a fraction over 100 to a decimal, because you are dividing by 100 (which works the opposite way when multiplying by 100). Also, we looked at word problems where "What % of a is b?" can be represented as ax=b and "A is what percent of b?" can be represented as a=xb. As a generally useful technique, I showed the student how "is over of equals percent over 100," which works with turning any percent word problem into an equivalent pair of ratios which can be cross-multiplied, and then solved by isolating the variable. Finally, we looked at a few formulas for calculating area and volume of various polygons with some sketches of how they work. I also showed the student an excellent online resource for getting a few of the formulas (with explanations) that his math teachers are likely to expect him to know.

We worked on writing the formula for arithmetic sequences and finding their sums. The student did great with this section.

I had the student write a practice essay from a sample SAT prompt. We went over it in detail, covering specifics of grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, and punctuation. Details are recorded in the document student saved from the session. I assigned articles, journal / and another essay assignment. Many questions about writing, including which / in which, for example, were resolved. The student's writing level has potential to increase, despite the limited time until the test.

We worked through the student's History homework, which covered the beginning of the American Revolution. I helped him consider the best answer for each question, and review important concepts for his next exam. Overall, I feel he does very well with History.

We practiced solving 2-step equations using worksheets I provided. We then worked on setting up equations that needed to have like-terms combined before solving. This led to a discussion of adding signed integers. We reviewed comparing integers and then practiced how to add them. We started with a worksheet and solidified the concept using two online integer games. The student did a great job.

I broke down the test and how it works in this session. I showed the student the main strategy for approaching the SSAT and gave him a cheat sheet on how to successfully maneuver through the test. We also reviewed each individual section to make sure he felt comfortable with the instructions issued. We ended the session practicing with the vocab section. I assigned him some review on roots and suffixes.