Author: Schuyler

Struggled with math?

Posted on by Schuyler
Scholarship for those who have had adversity studying math The Seattle Tutoring Services Math Scholarship was created to recognize the struggles of students in math courses and encourage students to forge a more successful path. As a math tutor, I realize studying math isn’t always fun. Getting stuck on homework problems, failing class, and struggling to get satisfactory standardized test scores can lead to frustration. Unfortunately, this can limit academic and professional opportunities in...
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Math learning disabilities

Posted on by Schuyler
n choose k
Parents of students who struggle in math sometimes wonder about learning disabilities. Does my child have ADHD, dyslexia or some other disability hindering their learning? A lesser known issue is dyscalculia, an obstacle to learning mathematics. The symptoms range from difficulty recalling math facts, rules and procedures, to unconsciously substituting one number for another. For a brief intro, check out this video:   On resource particularly useful is http://www.dyscalculia.org/ ...
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Congrats to our scholarship winner!

Posted on by Schuyler
9 point circle
Congratulations to Chad E. from Utah State U. in winning the 2016 Seattle Tutoring Services Math Scholarship! "This scholarship will help me to progress to my future goals. I'm very grateful for this opportunity!" -Chad E. The essay contest is offered every year to recognize the struggles of students in math courses and encourage them to chart a new and more successful path.  
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More tutor options

Posted on by Schuyler
Looking for a unique skill set in a tutor? We have several tutors that have expertise in subjects ranging from the ACT to middle school math to AP Chemistry. Check out our Seattle Tutors page and send an email to schuyler at tutoringservicesseattle.com for more options. If you have a tight schedule we should be able meet your needs...shoot us an email or call us and we'll see if we can make something work. For questions about the test or tutoring, send us an email schuyler@tutoringservicesse...
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Seattle SAT dates

Posted on by Schuyler
Top Seattle high schools
For folks looking at upcoming SAT dates, take a look at the following scheduled exams for 2016: Jan. 21, Mar. 11, May 6, and June 3. If you'd like more info about exams, check out the college board website: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/dates-deadlines . Following this summer (2016), the college board anticipates exams being held on Aug 26, Oct. 7, Nov. 4 and Dec. 2. For questions about the test or tutoring, send us an email schuyler@tutoringservicesseattle.com, or ca...
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Order of Operations

Posted on by Schuyler
Taking into account order of operations is an important step in developing your algebra skills. Remember PEMDAS, which guides the order of operations to begin with parentheses, then exponents, multiplication, division, addition and finally subtraction. Let's try a tough one: First, take care of the inner-most parentheses by squaring -3. That'll give us 9. Then, subtract 9 from 4, which gives us -5. Now square that and we have our answer of 25.  
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Exponent rules

Posted on by Schuyler
Sometimes we are give a problem that includes multiple negative exponents. Methodically simplifying the problem in a step by step approach helps avoid mistakes. Take the following problem:   One option is to take the y^-3 and put it as the denominator. By doing this you can change it to a positive exponent. Now we have ((2x^4)/(y^3))^-1 (see photo below for easy to read equation). Now, let's take the reciprocal of everything inside parentheses so that the exponent of -1 becomes 1....
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Rates

Posted on by Schuyler
Rates typically are introduced to students in middle school and can be a challenging subject. Even though we use rates in everyday situations, such as miles per hour or miles per gallon, dealing with them in a formal manner is not always straightforward. Example 1: If John walks 2.25 miles in half an hour, what is his rate in miles per hour? -Take 2.25 mi and divide it by 1/2 an hour. That gives use 4.5 miles per hour. At this rate, how long would it take to travel 20 miles? In or...
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Graphin inequalities

Posted on by Schuyler
graphing linear inequalities
Take an question such as: Graph 12y-x ≤ 6 on a coordinate plane. First, recall y=mx+b, which describes linear functions. We want to rearrange 12y-x≤6 so that it closely resembles that form. Start by adding x to both sides so that you have: 12y ≤ x+6. Now, divide all terms by 12 so that you get y ≤ (1/12)x+1/2. Now graph the line y=(1/12)x+1/2 as a solid line (because this is "less than or equal to." If it was simply "less than" then we would do a dashed line. Now that you have draw that l...
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