If you think you might need a tutor, you probably do. The key question is whether having a tutor at your side makes you feel more confident about learning and more motivated to work. There are several areas that are typically problematic, particularly for younger learners. If you feel like you fit any of the profiles below, it may be wise to secure a tutor. At Tutors to You we concentrate not just on teaching you subjects, we teach you how to learn, and like anything else, people have to learn how to learn. People have to learn how to teach themselves. At the end of the day, so most of what learning is has very little to do with intelligence. Most of learning is a matter of desire, focus, and confidence. In the absence of any of these, even a bright mind can appear dim. Let Tutors to You help you get your light shining again.

LANGUAGE BARRIERS

The greater Los Angeles region plays host to one of the largest immigrant populations in the world. To better themselves and their employment prospects, immigrants often turn to Tutors to You for help mastering English. Don't let a language barrier keep you from making the most of your new life in the states. If your goal is to assimilate to the point where strangers can't tell your second language from your first, Tutors to You can help.

LEARNING DISORDERS

From dyslexia to ADHD, individuals who suffer from learning disorders often succumb to feelings of hopelessness. In fact, many of the less severely effected don't even know that they have learning disorders. For people who seem always to be a step behind, despite trying as hard as they can, the effects on the ego can be devastating. As any teacher knows, students rarely learn without first developing the confidence necessary to believe that learning is possible. In other words, students often cease to learn, not because they are incapable of learning, but because they believe that they are incapable of learning.

At Tutors to You , we'll help you cope with your disorder, while building your confidence and your skillset. Our one on one tutoring sessions are conducted in the privacy of your own home, where your intellectual growth is measured--not in relation to other students--but simply in relation to where you were, and how far you've come. Myriad people with learning diabilities have achieved great prominence, and what they have overcome to achieve success only made their eventual success the sweeter. That said, don't let hurdles keep you from running the race: Tutors to You is here to help you get over them.

MOTIVATION

A lot of people, youngsters in particular, just don't get how knowledge of certain subjects could ever be of importance to them. How often as a parent have you heard, "What's the point? Algebra is stupid." Parents often find themselves at a loss--in part because, on some level, many parents agree. They remember taking algebra, learning algebra, and shortly thereafter happily forgetting algrebra. So what, then, is the point of algebra?

Well, since no one else is leaping to defend this much maligned branch of mathematics, we at Tutors to You will do our best. The point of learning algebra, in our opinion, has little to do with algebra itself. After all, if one isn't determined to have a career as a statistician, the extent to which most people use math ends at balancing checkbooks, figuring rates of return/interest, or determining whether the twenty-four pack of Silky Smooth toilet tissue is really a better deal than the twelve pack. Despite this, it is our contention that algebra is still a worthwhile course of study. Why? Here's why: like life, algebra is about problem solving, and the problem solving skills you develop when learning algebra stay with you long after the specific mathematical aspects of algebra have faded from memory. In life there are equations to solve, inequalities to resolve, coordinates to find and unknowns to define.

Indeed, gaining the skillset required to master algebra is not so much different from gaining the skillset necessary to become a better master of your own life. So there you have it. Life and algebra have quite a few... well, common denominators.

Having given so much time to algebra, we've neglected several other areas of study that children often loath, but the logic we apply is similar. To our students we emphasize the importance of the skillset they are developing, regardless of whether the subject itself is of interest. Our tutors are trained to teach children how a given skillset could be invaluable to them, and we do so in terms children and teens can understand. At the end of the day, people only exercise their full capacity for learning if they are engaged. If they're yawning, we aren't doing our job.

FOCUS

Wandering minds roam the landscape of daydreams, conjuring brilliant ideas and unique artisitic possibilities. Unfortunately, wandering minds also often miss the lesson plan or news of the next day's pop quiz. If you or your child find it hard to maintain focus during class, don't run to your local pharmacopia just yet. There may be a way to get your mind back on track which doesn't promise side effects like dry mouth, nausea, nose bleeds, bed-wetting and occassionally death.

First off, understand that a wandering mind is not to be confused with a dull mind. Einstein was a dropout, and his mind wandered at the speed of light (literally). Had he slowed so that his teachers could catch up, we'd likely have no theory of relativity today. That aside, Einstein would never have achieved anything if he didn't first develop the ability to maintain focus.

The problem wandering minds often have is that they find bits of information useless until synthesized and incorporated into a larger logical framework. The problem? True to their nature, wandering minds... well, they wander. Consequently, they miss a few breadcrumbs of information. This missing information in turn prevents the larger framework from emerging, and in the absense of this larger framework, all the other bits of partially information seem random and senseless. Think of this larger framework as a pattern of dominoes, and then ask yourself this: If that pattern were impossible to conceive until those dominoes fell, how many missing dominoes would it take to prevent that pattern from emerging? Answer: Perhaps just one. So why would the wandering mind allow itself to miss that one crucial piece of information which, if put in place, could allow all for a logical understanding of the whole?

The reason? Wandering minds are often attached to strong egos--(egos which reguarly decide to chart their own course rather than follow direction during class). Thus, wandering minds are proud minds, and as a character trait, proud minds are inherently averse to scrutiny.

So what does the proud mind do after having grasped an insufficient number of pieces to conceptualize the whole? For fear of being labeled dumb, the proud mind, rather than asking "dumb" questions, pretends to know that which it does not, and in so doing deprives itself of the opportunity to learn.

At Tutors to You we specialize in helping wandering minds get back on track. Our one on one tutoring sessions are conducted in the privacy of your own home, thus eliminating many of the factors which in larger classrooms allow minds to stray off course. In a one-on-one environment, when a question is posed by the instructor, there is no avoiding it. The wandering mind can't feign distraction while searching its backpack for a pencil. All questions posed in such close quarters are the wandering mind's alone to answer. Nor can the wandering mind pretend to know that which it does not, because in a one-on-one environment, the wandering mind will invariably be found out. In time, the wandering mind will realize that it doesn't have to worry about having its ignorance put on public display. Nor will it have to worry about being labeled or judged. There are no peers to snicker, and no "cool" lunch table from which to be evicted. If you or a loved one fit the wandering mind profile, we can help. Need a couple pieces to make sense of a puzzle?--that's why we're here. After all, there's no shame in asking questions. The only shame is in depriving yourself of the answers.