Expanding Abilities Tutoring Welcomes College Students Back to School!
The fall semester began today for several of the schools in the South Bay! We would like to wish a great beginning of the new school year to all the students at El Camino College in Torrance, Marymount College in Palos Verdes, and Harbor College in Harbor City. We hope you all had a wonderful summer and are excited to get back in to the challenges of college life! Good luck in all your courses!
August 29th, 2011 - Posted in Our Community | | 0 Comments
Check Us Out on Facebook
Expanding Abilities Tutoring now has a page on Facebook! Check out our page to view some great reviews of our tutors!! In the near future, we will be posting video clips on our Facebook page. These clips will address tricky mathematical concepts and explain them in a clear and concise way. If you are not a member of Facebook, become a member today. It is free and it is a great way to network on the internet. Let us know what you think of the new things that we are doing by commenting on our page. We look forward to meeting many new friends and clients on Facebook.
August 24th, 2011 - Posted in Making Learning Fun, Our Program | | 0 Comments
College Placement Exams
Now is the time that many students are taking college placement exams. Many students have anxiety about these tests. They fear that they will not place into the appropriate class, that they will have a lot of math or english classes to complete based on their placement. My advice is to not worry too much about the tests. These tests are designed to find out what skill level you are at and place you in the proper class. If you place in a beginning level math or english class, usually this is the best place for you to start. It is necessary to make sure that you are comfortable with the basic skills in math and english before you move on to intermediate or advanced level classes. This will ensure your success as you move through all the challenging courses you will face as a college student. If you feel that you are strong in math or english but just need to brush up a little to refresh your memory on some concepts, working with a tutor for a few hours may be a good option for you.
August 16th, 2011 - Posted in Fequently Asked Questions, Our Community, Tutoring | | 0 Comments
Quote for the Day
“I believe that each of us must come to care about everyone else’s children. We must come to see that the well-being of our own individual children is intimately linked to the well-being of all other people’s children. After all when one of our children needs life saving surgery, someone else’s child will perform it; when one of our children is threatened or harmed by violence in the streets, someone else’s child will inflict it. The good life for our own children can only be secured if it is also secured for all other people’s children. But to worry about all other people’s children is not just a practical or strategic matter; it is an moral and ethical one; to strive for the well-being of all other people’s children is also right.” – Lilian Katz from her book Intellectual Emergencies: Some Reflections on Mothering and Teaching
July 27th, 2011 - Posted in Learning | | 0 Comments
It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Running a marathon is an experience that will challenge more than your physical endurance. Running a marathon is just as much mental as physical. Anyone can do it, and for those of you who do not believe me; next time a marathon is nearby your hometown, take a look at the participants and tell me what you see.
I run marathons for one reason… As long as my body will allow me, a marathon is the ultimate mind challenge. To be able to stay focused for twenty-six point two miles without allowing your body to force you to stop is the true test of mental endurance. For most, it’s not about how fast you finish, but it’s about crossing the finish line standing. You train for months to give your heart and legs the endurance, but the mental endurance that is needed cannot be trained for.
A training program includes working out throughout the week, and every weekend taking a dreaded long run that is preparing you for the big day. Most training programs peak with a twenty-mile run or maybe even a twenty-two mile run, but what those programs don’t prepare you for is the “wall” that runners hit in the last six–mile stretch. I would like to argue that the “wall” is purely mental; especially because everyone magically gets enough endurance to run that home stretch to the finish. Then, once you have crossed the finish line, everything that happened in the last six miles is forgotten.
Everything in life can be related to running a marathon. Think back to your experience in school. Each year you train your mind daily with homework and class work, hoping that your training will prepare you for upcoming tests. You take tests, turn in projects, and write reports hoping that in the end your grade will reflect your hard work. Whether or not you have the tools or the know how to do well, at some point school becomes a test of mental endurance.
You hit a “wall” where you feel like summer will never come; however, in the end, on that last day of school before summer, all the pain of the school year is forgotten. Just like a marathon, anyone can make it through school. Some people believe that they don’t have the ability to complete high school, or college, or trade school; but to that I argue… school is purely mental. You train day after day to give your mind the know-how, but the one thing you cannot train for is the mental endurance that it takes to finish the school year or years you need to earn a diploma or degree.
School is the ultimate mental test of endurance. If you put your mind to it, you can finish, and when you walk across that stage at graduation, everything that happened to get you there is forgotten.
Some words of advice to all of you reading… Stay focused on the big picture. Don’t let the day-to-day struggles get you down. Everything in life is a mental test of endurance, and with the proper training, anyone can run a marathon.
Written by Lauren Fierro
July 20th, 2011 - Posted in Learning, Self Help | | 0 Comments
Tips for a successful Winter Break
It is very important that parents are helping their students get a head start on school over break for the New Year. Many people use this two-week break to allow their children to rejuvenate and not worry about their studies, but it is detrimental that we are encouraging students to exercise their minds over winter break. Subject matter increases in difficulty during the second half of the school year; therefore, if use winter break to educate in interactive ways it will help make your student’s transition to 2011 an easy one.
1. Read for 20 minutes a day
2. Practice math facts for 20 minutes a day
3. Make an educational trip to a museum or watch educational movies/documentaries
4. Try to learn a new vocabulary word everyday
5. Play word games and number games rather than video games
In addition to these exercises, try to keep your students on their normal school sleeping schedule. In my experience working with students of all ages, elementary to high school age, one simple change in their habits on the days that they are off of school can make a world of difference. If you are the parent of a student that can use a grade increase in all subjects, work on the basics. Try to apply these exercises throughout the school year if possible. Most importantly, use this time off to educate your students in ways in which they are unaccustomed.
By: Lauren Fierro
December 20th, 2010 - Posted in Fequently Asked Questions, Learning, Making Learning Fun, Our Program, Teaching, Tutoring | | 0 Comments
Building A Strong Foundation
Many people ask me what I do for a living. “Well,” I explain, “I’m a private tutor.” “A tutor?” they respond. “So, are you like a teacher?” That is where the conversation starts and from there it is endless. I can go on for hours about my experiences in the tutoring field. The first question I answer is “Are you like a teacher?” to that I reply, “Yes, but a private teacher.” I do not hold teaching credentials or a state test that certifies me as an instructor, but what I do hold are the tools to help any willing student learn the subject matter more in depth, complete assignments, and improve test scores. “Willing” is the key word here. If a student, regardless of the environment, situation or inability, is willing to do what it takes, I believe that I possess the answers. Many parents struggle day-to-day with getting their students to complete homework assignments, study for upcoming tests and juggle extra-curricular activities. School has become increasingly competitive and the norm has become what we would have considered the “Suma Cum Laude” of last decade. We used to ask, “What does it take for a student to get into a four-year university these days? The question is now, “What don’t you have to do to get into a four-year university these days?” In my experience working closely with students of all ages and abilities, the one thing I have noticed is that the expectations of the school system have soared far beyond the comfort of the parents helping with homework. It has now created a situation where unless your student is a self-starting, over-achiever, you may be thinking… Where can I go for help? Being a parent is hard enough when dealing with the day-to-day home situation, but adding into the mix weekend homework and research papers does not leave much time for family bonding. That is what I love about my job. I have had the pleasure of stepping into numerous situations where the parents are able to work along with me, as the tutor, to ensure that their children are not only keeping their grades up; they are learning to care beyond the current subject matter and think about their future. Many of my “pre-algebra” kids struggle with the repetitiveness of the long division or multiplication of large numbers, but if I can get them to focus on the big picture they feel more at ease. A word of advice for those of you that may find yourselves in this very situation… We learn pre-algebra because it is the building blocks on which all other math relies upon. If we don’t have a strong foundation, the house will eventually crumble.
Written by: Lauren Fierro
October 15th, 2010 - Posted in Fequently Asked Questions, Learning, Making Learning Fun, Our Program, Self Help, Teaching, The School System, Tutoring | | 0 Comments
Reading Specialist Available For Tutoring
Is your son or daughter struggling with reading? We have tutors who can apply important techniques for reading intervention. These techniques will help students overcome any difficulties with decoding, word attack, and fluency. These skills are foundational for comprehension. Comprehension can be improved with the application of these techniques that are crucial for students in helping them navigate through all of the phoneme sequencing necessary to produce fluent language processing which opens the door for improvement in overall comprehension (Marianne Tardaguila). Please contact us today for more information. 310-720-1883
October 10th, 2010 - Posted in Learning, Our Program | | 0 Comments
Do you offer tutoring for graduate students?
Yes. At Expanding Abilities Tutoring, all of our tutors are college graduates with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. Most of our tutors have master’s degrees as well.
July 4th, 2010 - Posted in Fequently Asked Questions, Our Program | | 0 Comments
Do You Offer Small Group Tutoring?
If a group of students would like to meet together, our tutors are available for this. I recommend one on one tutoring for any student who is getting below a C in a math course. In a one on one situation, all the focus is on the student as an individual as opposed to splitting the time among other students who may have different questions. In the one on one environment, a tutor has the opportunity to identify the areas of weakness for the student whether it be test taking strategies, homework issues, or certain concepts that are not clicking. In addition, when the student is not understanding something, the tutor has enough time to focus on different methods of teaching to find the one that works for the student as an individual. Feel free to give me a call if you would like to discuss your tutoring options! Melissa Haueter Expanding Abilities Tutoring Director 310-720-1883
July 4th, 2010 - Posted in Fequently Asked Questions, Our Program, Tutoring | | 0 Comments
