I just finished Howard Gardners’ 5 Minds for the Future. He argues that too many teachers, students, citizens fail to appreciate the distinction between a subject and its way of thinking. My Santa Barbara chemistry tutors agree. A kid may memorize key concepts like acids and bases, learn compounds, elements, and so forth but fail to appreciate what it means to think scientifically. That is, to know that scientists make observations and pose theories, design experiments to test their theories, revise those theories based on findings, make new observations, conduct new tests. Scientific thinkers appreciate how hard it is to make definite causal arguments (A caused B, not merely that A and B are correleated). All kids should experience science as a living, moving discipline and appreciate the value of scientific thinking. That’s the excitement! Not 35 definitions to be memorized for a test.
The Scientific Mind
November 18th, 20095 Minds for the Future
November 18th, 2009Over coffee with one of my San Luis Obispo math and physics tutors, got talking about Howard Gardner’s 5 Minds for the Future. The ever-wise Mr. Gardner says we’ll want Disciplined Minds, Synthesizing Minds, Creating Minds, Respectful Minds and Ethical Minds in the future. When a global talent-pool is click away, it pays to be an expert. Leaders will provide value arising from deep training in their field (math, science, history, literature) or profession (law, medicine, education). Schools can cultivate these minds deliberately in today’s kids. A worthy idea!
What is Spark Tutors?
November 13th, 2009Hi there! At Spark Tutors, we tutor lots of Santa Barbara kids in lots of classes. But it’s all about one key idea: the power of one-on-one teaching to help each child learn to their highest potential. Whether it’s algebra tutoring for an undermotivated 8th grader or AP Calculus tutoring, all kids achieve more with a private tutor. So if you need early grade reading, writing and math help, we do that (with fun learning games). And if you need a mentor and academic tutor for a middle-years kid, we do that. And if you need high-school tutoring in geometry, calculus, physics or chemistry… or Spanish, writing, biology, statistics, algebra or SAT tutoring… we do that too!
When to start prepping?
November 13th, 2009Parents ask when to start prepping for the SAT. Of course, it depends on the child, their goals, and their current score range. But in general, even studying for one month prior to the exam will help. My Santa Barbara SAT tutors favor two sessions a week, three hours per session. They focus on test-taking techniques and getting rid of students’ bad test-taking habits. Just that will often raise scores 100 or more points. If you want a more significant score boost, start studying three to four months in advance, and work on improving your SAT math and verbal skills.
Math Motivation
November 12th, 2009A brilliant SLO math tutor figures out that while his student loathes math, he loves shop. Great snakes! Shop is loaded with math, underneath all that sweet-smelling sawdust. So my SLO math tutor has his student bring home shop projects and they talk about each one. Sometimes they talk about the math involved. Then they do his math homework. When a math tutor can make algebra and geometry relevant to a non-school-loving teenager, that’s genius. Kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care.
Do you have a future in math?
November 3rd, 2009Yes, Santa Barbara, the results are in. The best job in 2009: Mathematician. That’s according to Careercast.com, which ranked 200 jobs by stress, physical demands, hiring outlook, compensation and work environment. Mathematicians blissfully crunch numbers in cushy home offices while dairy farmers… well… don’t. So dig into that geometry and have another helping of calculus. It’ll boost your thinking skills and your career prospects too. (For the curious, best jobs 2-5 were actuary, statistician, biologist, and software engineer). Which Spark Tutors’ helpful Santa Barbara calculus tutors can tell you, all require advanced math smarts.
Go get wet!
October 27th, 2009Not only do we live in paradise, but we’re blessed with abundant learning resources. Here are my personal favorites for homeschoolers (or anyone!) studying oceans and sea ecosystems:
Ty Warner Sea Center 211 Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara
An interactive marine learning center perched above the ocean. Try working like scientists, sampling and testing ocean water, studying animal behavior, and examining microscopic marine life.
Santa Barbara Adventure Company - Ocean Kayak Tours
The Santa Barbara coast offers incredible kayaking for adults and kids (age 8 & older). Once you’re out on the water, knowledgeable guides point out marine ecology and natural history along the way. You can spot dolphins, sea lions, marine birds and whales during their migration.
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Small and utterly charming, yet its shell collection is among the most significant in the country. Exhibit halls on marine life, birds, mammals, insects, and famous for its life-size blue whale skeleton.
And by the way, Spark Tutors has excellent Santa Barbara biology tutors and AP environmental science tutors for you central coast scholars!
Contagious Enthusiasm.
October 27th, 2009Every one of my tutors loves his (or her) field. My math tutors daydream of calculus at the dentist. My chemistry tutors doodle organic compounds in the margins of their grocery lists. But my physics tutors practically self-combust in their passionate love of physics. Physics: the study of matter and energy interacting. It explains gravity, speed, motion, power, waves, momentum, fluids, particles. Some teenagers get lost in a dark fog of physics. For my Santa Barbara physics tutors, nothing is better than illuminating physics to reveal its beauty. I get a lot of praise for my physics tutors. Their contagious enthusiasm comes up again and again. To nudge a kid toward curiosity is to open his brain for learning physics!
Sit down, puny test!
October 27th, 2009The irony of SAT preparation: over-stressed kids who underperform. I prefer small group or one-on-one tutoring for SAT test prep, so we can actively coach kids in managing their day-of-test anxiety. The human brain can’t perform algebraic equations when adrenaline is surging. Yet the body naturally responds to stressful situations by activating its fight-or-flight response (you and I know it as sweaty palms, rapid breathing, pounding heart). We simply haven’t evolved finer physiological hair-splitting. You’d like to tell your adrenaline, “If it’s a lion, rev me up. But, dude, if it’s a vocabulary question, chill out, OK?” The right frame of mind on SAT test day really helps. So do calming exercises and smart test-taking strategies. We all know athletes can get “mental” and fail to perform when it counts. Good SAT test prep builds the intellectual and the “mental” skill of SAT taking. Just ask my Santa Barbara SAT tutors.
Grades, Grades, Grades
October 27th, 2009Too often parents chase the latest fad in college admissions. They jump onto the bandwagon of community service (saving children in Africa!), or squash (did you read about that Ivy League craze?), or women’s softball scholarships. Top colleges see through these shenanigans like Superman through a chain-link fence. Quite simply, top colleges want intellectual superstars. High grades in rigorous classes. That’s the cardinal criteria in any college application. Add some academic gravy on top – conduct research, take summer classes at the local university, publish, do field work, ace the SATs – and you’re doing more to build your profile (and your brain) than jumping the next flight to Sudan. Speaking of SATs, consider SAT tutoring, Santa Barbara.