Award-Winning Test Prep & Academic Tutoring in Harrison, NJ

"Today the student and I got a head start on material he'll be covering this week in class - solving two-step algebraic equations. For example, 3x-9=12. The student does very well solving these equations. We reviewed like terms, inverse operations (addition and subtraction are opposites; multiplication and division are opposites), and PEMDAS before jumping into some examples. In the teacher's video where she does examples of the homework problems, he was always able to predict the next step when I asked him to think about it before the teacher did it. He also didn't have to be reminded to check his answer by plugging it back into the original equation. This was something he did on his own without prompting from me when we started the homework problems. The only thing he really had trouble with was formulating these equations himself from word problems. We worked through two of these, taking them piece by piece, but I think it will require more practice, so we'll definitely do some more on Wednesday. These problems involved defining a single variable, subtracting an up-front cost from a total, and knowing whether to multiply or divide the difference by the variable. Once the equation is set up he can solve it, but translating the English into algebra is going to be the tough part with this week's work. "

"We covered the two tests she is going to take in the upcoming week. The first is on international metrics and the second is on order of operations. I did left her a question on the metrics so that she could have some extra practice after she memorized the different equations. "