OUR APPROACH

Individualized Attention

As math tutors, Steve and Amy strive to meet each of our students wherever they are at any moment in time. From that place, we begin to tackle current material all the while generating the learning “roots” to support their growth toward the goals we have established together. “Root work” includes:

  • Developing competency with foundational material
  • Building confidence by shining a light on what a student can do and has already accomplished
  • Making a personal connection that fosters trust and a feeling of being supported moving forward

Throughout the process, we reinforce our students’ efforts and their incremental gains. They learn to approach challenges and setbacks as opportunities for learning and development. They begin to feel capable of breaking new ground and growing beyond their perceived limitations.

Collaborative Support

As parents and teaching partners, Amy and Steve take a collaborative approach toward helping each young person work toward and often beyond their goals in the mathematics classroom. We believe that children thrive when the adults in their lives are working in concert to support and empower their learning and development. Our team approach involves:

  • Regular conversations with each other about the work we are doing with our students
  • Weekly e-mail contact with parents and further open, honest, helpful communication as the need arise
  • Coordination with a student’s teacher(s) and other supportive adults

Throughout the process, we strive to be responsive to your questions and concerns and sensitive to your child’s unique needs. We view ourselves as a part of your child’s larger learning team and take our cues from you, the parent, about the size and scope of the role you would like us to play in your child’s mathematics education.

WHAT WE OFFER

Working With Amy

Amy’s unique strengths as a math tutor include the following:

  • Her ability to present complex mathematical concepts in concise, clear ways (a happy byproduct of her legal training!)
  • Her emphasis on teaching for understanding that extends beyond the rote memorization of facts and application of algorithms
  • Her capacity to identify habit patterns that might be interfering with a child’s learning progress and help them establish new habits that lead more seamlessly to their desired goals

Topics include:

  • All middle and high school math courses (excluding statistics) from Algebra 1 through AP Calculus BC
  • College Calculus I and II
  • SAT / ACT / SOL math preparation
  • Online independent study math courses through institutions such as BYU and Johns Hopkins
  • Preparation for college and independent school math placement tests such as ALEKS

Working With Steve

Steve’s unique strengths as a math tutor include the following:

  • His ability to decelerate the learning process and work deliberately and systematically to help students master concepts at a comfortable pace
  • His passion for making math relevant to kids by using accessible real-world applications of problems to contextualize what is being taught in the classroom
  • His experience working with and supporting neurodiverse students and those with different learning styles and varieties of learning challenges

Topics include:

  • All elementary and middle school math courses from Fourth Grade through Algebra 1
  • High school Algebra 2
  • SAT / ACT / SOL math preparation
  • Online independent study math courses through institutions such as BYU and Johns Hopkins
  • Preparation for independent school math placement tests such as ALEKS

OUR EXPERIENCED TEAM

Teaching Experience

Together, Steve and Amy have over 60 years of teaching experience. Working with kids has been our lives’ work! Over the years, one or both of us has worked with kids in a wide variety of settings—as classroom math teachers, sports team coaches, summer camp counselors, school administrators, residential dorm heads, meditation teachers, yoga teachers, water safety instructors, and horseback riding instructors. We bring our experience from all these settings to bear in our one-on-one math tutoring with kids. Throughout the course of our work as teachers, we have had the opportunity to watch many of our students grow-up and have known them as children into adulthood. We enjoy being a part of that long-run process. While some of our students meet with us to achieve only short-term goals, many of our students start with Steve in their younger years and finish off with Amy into college. Our support is structured to evolve alongside your child for whatever duration you choose.

Parenting Experience

In addition to working with kids professionally, Steve and Amy are parents of an elementary school-aged daughter. As parents, ourselves, we can relate to another parent’s angst when their child is struggling, and we understand from personal parenting experience how difficult it can be for a child to engage in tasks that have historically been difficult for them. Over the years, we have developed strategies to support our own daughter’s confident unfolding that show up in our work with students. Conversely, our work as teachers often influences our parenting, and our daughter is a fast-acting barometer for when we are off-base or might need to adjust. Our teaching has become more informed and has grown deeper and richer since we became parents.

CONTACT

If you would like to learn more about how Amy and / or Steve might be able to help your
child tackle a short-term math challenge or enhance your child’s mathematics education
over the long-term, please contact us to see if we might be a fit for you.

GET IN TOUCH

“You are an amazing tutor! I have an A in math for the first time ever in 5 years.”
-E. H.

“I wanted to take a moment to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your work and mentorship with N. you have transformed her, and from a mom to another: THANK YOU!”
-S. S.

“How can I thank you enough? You have been a part of our family for so long! There have been so many stressful nights where L. has been worried about a test, but you had prepared her. Thank you so, so much!”
-S. W.

“There is no doubt that you are an amazing tutor and mathematician, but really, I can’t thank you enough for giving my H. her confidence back.”
-K. C.

“You’ve been more than an academic tutor for A. You’ve led her to see her strengths and to work with her weaknesses. You’ve shown her that calm persistence will see her through and that she can actually do not only math, but lots of things that she might not have had the confidence to try.
Thank you for sharing your gift with us.”
– L. F.

“As always, thank you for all that you do for K. and J. They both benefit from your kind, gentle, and patient approach along with mathematical expertise, a perfect combination!”
-C. L.

“As we left school after graduation, R. remarked that he wished he could take you along to college with him. You have made a major positive impact on R.’s life. All of us thank you for it.”
-T. B.

“We are so deeply grateful to you for your excellent work with A. over the past two years. What a difference your help has made for her. And your kind, calm manner has been an extra benefit for her, especially during two such busy and often stressful years in her high school career. We can’t thank you enough for all you have done for her.”
-K. B.

“This past year has been transformational for Z. and you played such a pivotal role in her growth. You saw her potential and encouraged and nurtured her spirit at a time when her confidence was flagging. You are not just a math teacher, but a life coach and as I think about it, an educator in the truest, most beautiful sense.”
-L. V.

“Our heartfelt thanks for four years of math sessions with J. We are happy and hopeful for his success in college. Surely, the confidence he gained in math will be a huge benefit for him. Your clear instruction and patience is much appreciated.”
-A. C.

“You are a model of decency, hard work and caring. You obviously care deeply about the progress of your students and particularly those who are struggling.”
-D. S.

“I think E. is anxious to do well and your support has meant a lot to her (and me) all year long. You are a master at helping students with little confidence believe they can be real math students. Thank you.”
-G. C.

“Z. and I were discussing her quiz, and she expressed how grateful she is to have you as a tutor. She feels you explain things so thoroughly and in a way that is very easy for her to grasp, and it has been an amazing confidence booster that she has handled this transition to honors so well… So thank you! It is such a joy to witness her success and sense of ease.”
-L. V.

“You may never know what your contacts have meant to us – your encouragement and suggestions for C. have been invaluable. I think as much as anything we appreciate your tolerance, compassion and steadfastness in the life of a young man.”
-L. D.

“This card is way too small to fit all the gratitude I have for you over the past 3 years. Not even a million cards could account for all the help in math and life in general. Our sessions were more to me than just learning math.”
-M. B.

“We are so thankful you were there for K. in high school – guiding her through her studies and really being a special mentor.”
-S. H.

“I want to thank you for all your efforts with D. It is obvious that you love your work and that has had a very positive effect on D. and on us.”
-P. W.

“Once again, K. and I would like to thank you for your efforts with J. in math this year. We recently received your written evaluation of his progress, and – as we have come to expect from you – it was thorough and to the point. What it does not say though, is that J. would have never made the progress he did without your exceptional expenditure of effort to: 1) get him on track; and 2) keep him there in the midst of a seemingly endless stream of (mostly) self-induced distractions. We know that, J. knows that, and we all thank you for that.”
-L. A.

“We express our gratitude to you for your resolute support of G. This was a difficult year for all involved. Regardless of the situation, you were able to get to the substance of the issue at hand and give us, as well as G., the direction needed to persevere.”
-G. T.

“You should know that J. told us he seeks you out for help with math, even though you aren’t his math teacher, because ‘he explains it better.’ You have no idea how much we appreciate your time and effort.”
-S. S.

“Thank you for everything the past couple of years. Finding a tutor that was right for my brother and me was a long and grueling process, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. You not only tutored me in math but increased my appreciation for the subject and gave me someone I felt comfortable talking about my struggles with.”
– J. B.

“It seems impossible four years have gone by! We thank you for all you have done for D., and for being not only his teacher, but confidant and friend too.”
-B. Y.

“Your tutoring and guidance really help me understand not only the math on the test, but the way the tests themselves work. I now know how to complete each question as quickly and as accurately as possible. These are invaluable skills which I am so grateful to possess.”
-E. R. L.

“Words cannot express how much we appreciate all the teaching, guidance and support you gave C. She went from hating math and self-defeated, to having a good attitude and excelling in Calculus! Wow! You are an amazing teacher and individual!”
-C. W.

“We are so grateful to you for all your excellent help this spring. In addition to being a terrific tutor (and filling those ‘gaps from earlier in the year’), I know that H. appreciated your calm, patient approach. Just what she needed. I think it was a huge relief for her to have quiet, focused time with you, and the sessions were clearly immensely helpful.”
-W. C.

“A. graduated from college today. He did it in 3 years – Summa Cum Laude! Thank you for all you did to help him get there. We still all speak so highly of you. He and I reminisced about his academic career… and he still says that you are the best math teacher he ever had. Both children say that.”
-C. S.

“Thank you both so very much for working with C. over the past few years. He does not open up to many people, and he enjoyed working with you both so much. Thank you.”
-E. D.

“Thank you so much for friendship and support all these years. You have helped all my children gain confidence and courage in the classroom. Your dedication to H. has been amazing. Thank you so much for everything.”
-J. M.

“Z. was so stressed when he reached out to you, and you made such a difference for him. You taught him that he really can learn math, and with patience and care, he could even get a good grade! Most importantly, you helped fill in the gaps of knowledge that would have compounded throughout the years making it impossible to continue with honors level math. So, you have quite literally saved the day, his year, and his future.

Thank you so much for your skill with math, your patience with the kids, and your dedication and long hours. You are a blessing in our life.”
-C. K.

“I truly appreciate your weekly reports. I feel like you help to give insights into my sweet guy that I would otherwise not know. So, thank you.”
-E. D.

“A note of thanks here for everything you’ve done over the past four years. You were a fantastic tutor—not only clarifying and reinforcing, but keeping H. engaged and in touch with the part of herself that really does like math. Beyond that, though, you were supportive of H., herself. She felt that you thought she was smart and capable, and that was as valuable as the actual tutoring. She has so much respect for you as a teacher and as a person.”
-W. C.