Paul K.
Private tutor in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Education
BS Mathematics/Computer Science from UCLA
Experience
UCLA Grad and UCLA Dad I am an experienced tutor, but I'm also a father of three and a very active parent when it comes to my kids' schoolwork and guiding them towards college preparation. I helped my oldest get into UCLA and win multiple scholarships. My second child is a junior in high school, a National Merit Scholar Finalist and a 4th place winner in the California State Science Fair. My third is still in middle school and I am grooming her by having her involved in academically significant extracurricular activities, such as debate, community service and science research. Sure, they're bright kids, but all of the tutoring and guiding I've provided along the way has definitely made an impact in support of their successes. This is the spirit, energy and dedication that I will bring to you if you select me as your tutor. Experience I started tutoring while I was in college and continued for a few years after graduating. At the time, I helped over 50 high school and college students and also working professionals. Then I became a teacher at UCLA Extension, which I did for about ten years. This was followed by a career as a consultant and an entrepreneur. I have been a judge for many middle school and high school competitions, including science fairs, writing, public speaking and debates. I can provide a critical third party perspective to your essays, term papers or research and then give you concrete advice on what improvements will make a difference. For the last four years, I have been the parent leader of our local 4H Club Computers project, teaching a small group of 10 to 16 year olds about cool creative things they can do with their computers. My biggest strength is that I am a patient and skilled communicator. I listen first. Then I try to understand what is needed before I select an approach to address your needs -- experience I gained as a consultant, teacher and tutor. I work well with both kids and adults alike. Subjects that I Teach Professionally, I am a computer software, database, internet application and website developer, so programming languages, networking, computer setup and math subjects are definitely areas that I'm very qualified to teach. But I am equally capable of tutoring in many other subjects and I hope that you will consider me for non-computer related tutoring. I am an unpublished author of books and film scripts and often asked by family, friends and colleagues to write, revise or proofread important correspondence, speeches, essays and other documents. I am a history and politics junkie and my knowledge of social studies is very through and deep (I recently helped my kid study for the US History AP test). I have read many of the books required in secondary school English curriculums and thoroughly understand the symbolism and significance of the literature. I personally scored very high on the PSAT and SAT and I helped my kids raise their SAT scores more than 200 points over the course of a summer. I have spent a countless hours researching the college admission process and understand how to greatly improve your chances of getting into the college that you want. Teaching Approach Before our first meeting, I will determine what your specific needs are. What are your priorities? Do you have any theories about what approaches are not working for you to understand the material? Is the book insufficient or poorly written? Does your teacher make things complicated or hard to understand? How do you like to learn? To repeat, the key to my approach is listening. It is important for you communicate to me what is working and what is not. I am very patient and will be responsive to your needs. Guarantee? For our first lesson, I have a 100% refund policy. While I am very confident that I am a quality tutor, if you don't think that I am a good match for you, just let me know after the meeting and I won't record the lesson (no questions asked/no hard feelings). Final Words. It must seem daunting to select a tutor from amongst all the listings provided on this site. You must consider many factors and there will be several candidates that appear to be qualified, based on their knowledge of the subject matter, but in the end, the personality of the tutor will trump all and this cannot easily be evaluated. I suggest that you speak to your potential tutors on the phone and interview them or "test them" to see how responsive they are. Do they listen? Are they contemplative? Do they make you at ease or do you feel awkward? If you do, please give me a call as well, and we can talk about what's on your mind and what I can do for you.
Availability
Mon/Wed/Fri in the morning, Mon/Wed/Fri in the afternoon, Mon/Wed/Fri after 6PM, Tues/Thurs after 7PM, Saturday in the morning
Can Meet
Up to 20 minutes away for no additional charge
Hobbies
My Family, Travel, Films, Music, Concerts, Reading, Biking, Hiking, Learning, Programming
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