Two kinds of help, often needed together
Some students are stuck on content: they do not understand what the teacher is explaining about a chemistry unit or a novel. Others understand the material but cannot manage the work: assignments get lost, long projects get started the night before, and notes are a mess. Most students who need homework help have a little of both, so we look at both.
Elementary and middle school
Younger students need routine more than anything. We help set up a simple system: a planner or checklist, a regular homework time and place, and a way to break an assignment into steps. In sessions we work through the actual homework, explaining the idea instead of giving the answer, and checking that the child can do a similar problem alone. For reading and math gaps we draw on our reading and writing and math tracks.
High school course support
In high school the stakes rise: grades count toward college, and a single hard course can drag down a transcript. We can help in whatever course is giving trouble by working from the student's notes, textbook, assignments and returned tests. The aim is to find the specific thing blocking progress, whether that is a chemistry concept, essay structure in an English class or document analysis in history, and then to build the skill to handle the next unit.
- Reviewing graded work to see exactly where points were lost.
- Planning long assignments backward from the due date.
- Note-taking and study methods that fit the course, such as practice problems, self-quizzing and outlining.
- Test preparation: making a study plan for the unit exam and rehearsing under time limits.
If your goal is a particular exam, the SAT and Regents tracks are built for that. We are an honest fit for subjects where we can help well; if a course is beyond what we teach, we will tell you in the first conversation rather than after you have paid.
Study skills that last
Study skills are teachable. Students learn to plan a week, estimate how long tasks really take, start the hardest task first, and review in short spaced sessions instead of cramming. We build these habits in the context of real schoolwork so they transfer immediately. Over a few weeks most students need less help with each assignment, which is the point.
Signs that extra help is worth it
Occasional frustration with homework is normal. Extra help is worth considering when assignments regularly take far longer than the teacher expects, when grades are dropping despite effort, when your child hides or forgets work, or when homework has become a nightly argument at home. Sometimes a few weeks of outside support is enough to rebuild a routine, and parents can step back from the role of homework referee.
Format, price and location
Homework help and study-skills tutoring is $100 per hour. It works well online, with the student sharing their screen or holding up their notebook to the camera, or in person at your home or a nearby public spot such as a library in Westchester, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx or Manhattan. In-person sessions carry a location-based travel fee agreed in advance. We do not write assignments for students.