Award-Winning Test Prep & Academic Tutoring in New Hudson, MI

"We had a very good first session. The student and I went over the math with calculator section of the PSAT. He answered 17 out of 31 questions correctly. One thing I stressed to him was that, even though he's in advanced math classes, as a sophomore taking a test that's created for juniors he will encounter some concepts that he's not yet seen so it's normal for him to be unsure on some of the questions. Other questions will involve concepts that he knows but hasn't seen since perhaps middle school, so their use on a question may not be readily apparent. We will be reviewing these concepts in context of problems and also forging ahead to some concepts he hasn't yet learned in math class. Today we reviewed several statistics questions on frequency distribution, range, median without precise values, and histograms. Another important concept we looked at was recognizing and solving a quadratic equation in a word problem using the quadratic formula. He did quite well with all of the questions that dealt with linear applications such as creating a linear function form a word problem or analyzing what the intercept and slope of a linear function mean in context of a word problem. I told him that in the future I would like him to write all of his work on the test itself and not on a separate sheet of paper because it makes it easier for both of us to see what he did to solve a problem. Also, students must write all their work on the actual test and are not allowed scrap paper, so he's that much closer to actual test taking conditions if he does the same. I gave him the other math section of the practice PSAT to do for our next session."

"We went over a few practice problems involving Law of Sines and Cosines, along with a few word problems. The one suggestion I made to the student was to slow down and write every step out. This will aid him in the future in case he is working with problems he has difficulty with he can follow along his notes carefully. Also, I told him and his parents that the organization needs some work. He has to date notes, hole punch handouts, use a pencil, and write out clear legible notes. This will be a huge step in his success."

"Today we discussed the relationship between reading and writing, in particular the way reading provides both inspiration by supplying words or a thought that resonates and by suggesting a vehicle in which thought can be expressed. The student read a piece she had written during the week and we discussed its meaning and some aspects of its style. We went on to talk through the best way for her to establish a writing routine that is realistic and challenging. I set homework based on the idea of writing about the story in what she reads, that is, asking why, how and when?"

"In this session, we went over the student's homework number 45. He was able to understand the concepts but needs to show his work. We went over each problem together step by step to avoid math errors, which really helped him avoid mistakes. On Monday, we will do more practice to really cement these concepts."

"First, the student and I went over the eight parts of speech in more depth. I had him give me examples for each and then use each in a sentence. Next, I had him practice listening skills. I read a passage to him called "Let the Fireworks Begin" as he took notes on the key ideas and important details. Finally, I had him use his notes to help him answer all the questions. I wanted to change things up a bit because the material was getting a little too easy for him and he is progressing very nicely. "

"The student and I went over Spanish, US History, math, and English. For Spanish, I tested her on a list of vocab words because she had a quiz on them the next day. With US History, I helped answer a few questions related to WWII and the Holocaust. For math, it seemed like she understood the concepts and was taking charge while I was more sitting back and just letting her work. For English, she had to write a piece in a similar style to the way an author wrote something else. The assignment took a while, but not because she didn't understand - it was a creative writing assignment, so I think a longer process is totally natural. It was great working with her as always, and we finished everything on time! "

"The student had a review packet today. Tomorrow he will have a test on finding the mean, median, mode, range, Q1, Q3, IQR, MAD, working with frequency tables, and graphing given data in a histogram, dot plot or box plot. He completed the review packet during our session. He should be careful rounding values for the relative frequency tables (they should add up to 100). He showed me his quiz, and we went over the mistakes he made (not many). I think he will do well on the test tomorrow."

"This session went extremely well, as the student is beginning to use the strategies that we have discussed together. She answered all the nonfiction reading practice problems correctly and on her own. I would encourage her (and I suggest her family should as well) to read more nonfiction books or articles so she can see the fun in it."

"Today, the student and I covered material from chapter 8.5 in her book. We practiced finding the least common denominator and adding and subtracting rational functions. She seemed to grasp the material well and was doing the problems on her own by the end of lesson. "

"We reviewed 2 lessons in the student's book. She is a smart girl. I hope to help her advance her knowledge so she can have a really good foundation for math. It will be really helpful for her future study."