Online Math & Physics Tutoring That Turns Screen Time Into Mastery

Our son took some very challenging math and physics classes, with a mixed bag of teacher quality and support at his public high school....some teachers, were beyond outstanding, and some not very good at all. Understanding how important a solid grasp in math and physics would be, given our son's interest in engineering at the time, we decided to find a tutor that could support him along the way. We wanted to ensure he wouldn't suddenly fall behind and unravel his strong efforts to learn the material at school. Luckily, we found Alexander Tutoring. Sean Alexander was compiling a stellar team of tutors, carefully vetting each one. As a freshman in high school, our son was tutored by Nikki, who did a fantastic job supporting him through Geometry. Due to a scheduling conflict after that, our son was paired with Wilder, who tutored him for the remaining 3 years of high school math and physics. Over that time he took all of the highest level AP calculus, AP statistics, and AP physics classes and met with Wilder once a week.I can't thank Sean and Wilder enough for the exceptional experience and support our son received those last few years. Week after week, he looked forward to his tutoring sessions with Wilder, delving into particularly vexing problems that he could not work out on his own. Wilder's expertise was truly impressive, and his teaching approach was fantastic, not only shedding light on those confounding problems but also inspiring our son to continually learn more. That inspiration to elevate his understanding further, ultimately lead our son to a free MIT online program (not for credit, just to learn). The MIT test he took, indicated that his knowledge of the material was exceptionally high. He also received 5s on every AP calculus, statistics, and physics exam he took and performed very well on his university math and physics entrance exams where he tested into honors physics and an equally high level of math. Although our son is no longer terribly interested in engineering, he is still passionately interested in math and physics and I feel pretty confident that those subjects will play an important role in his future career. I can definitely thank Wilder and Alexander Tutoring for helping to develop and nurture our son's interest in those subjects. Rather than having a stressful experience with math and physics in high school, he grew to love them and now studies them simply because they are intellectually stimulating and "fun".

We have lived in San Francisco for 14 years and my 3 children have attended public school. MOST of the time they have enjoyed great or fine teachers. When my daughter got to high school, the math teacher she had for Algebra 1 was not good. My daughter is curious and works hard. Math is not her favorite subject but she worked hard and still could not understand and got D & grades. As a parent, I’m not as concerned about grades. I want to know my children are making the effort they are capable of most of the time, showing up and trying. I also want them to learn and understand. Much of my high school math career was a total waste and I learned very little. If you don’t learn Algebra 1, it’s a hot mess as you don’t have the necessary foundation and once in calculus, if you make it that far, most mistakes are algebraic according to a principal we had with a PHD in Math. My daughter got another terrible teacher for Geometry. Even the school counselors would speak openly about this teacher being one of the worst in the School’s history. My daughter was trying hard and yet not understanding and getting terrible grades. After studying really hard for a test and feeling confident she understood, I remember watching her face fall one Saturday night as she checked her test grade and got a D. As a parent I didn’t know what to do Because we were watching Khan Academy videos and she was studying and still not understanding. My friend Laura told me about Sean Alexander tutoring and my daughter started with Olivia a few years ago. Immediate improvement in understanding and therefore grades. We had such a good experience with Olivia and Sean that we signed both of our teens up for the math intensive program in the summer of 2018. My kids went once a week with a tutor named Charlie to learn about algebra one and really focus on algebra basics. My daughter ended up getting a 700 on the Math portion of the SAT. She did take practice test and she did the tutoring with Alexander tutoring. She did not do any other test prep. She couldn’t believe she did better on the math portion than the language portion as she loves History and English. Our son was starting high school last fall and after his sisters experience with the math teachers, we wanted to get ahead of the issue and so he took the math intensive program just like his sister. Our son, like many do, struggles with focus and impulse control and I told this to Sean. Doing the summer intensive program relieved so much stress to the entire school year. We didn’t even do the tutoring during the school year. We tried to save money by doing online tutoring from Growing Stars (I think that is the name) and my kids thought it was boring and dreaded it and told me they really didn’t need the tutoring because what they had learned in the summer was caring them through in their classes. They both did fine all year. If you do you want to do the tutoring in the school year , I would sign up now and early because it does fill up. We took a risk and didn’t sign up because my kids felt confident they were going to be OK and they were. This summer my son, who will be a sophomore fall 2019, is meeting twice weekly with Felix. On Tuesday they meet at the library for physics and Thursday at the library for Geometry. I have learned that engaging your kids in the summer a little bit pays off a huge amount during the school year. My children do really well with the one on one tutoring and we have found it is a great investment. It’s not cheap because these are knowledgeable tutors and they have to pay SF rent too! We haven’t done any other test prep (because the free one at the high school for a day) and my daughter is doing really well on her ACT and SAT math scores but more importantly to me, she understands math! She is willing to sit and do all the practice tests on her own because math doesn’t intimidate her anymore. Like all of the tutors, Felix is exceptionally organized

My daughter was struggling with math classes during remote learning last year and we started with Alexander Tutoring. They were invested in finding a tutor she liked and we tried two (she said they both seemed good). Although my daughter is not enthusiastic about math yet she did improve her grade and received an A in Geometry for spring semester which was a happy surprise for her and helped build her confidence.

We were looking for something to supplement our child's math over the summer, especially with school closing prematurely. Alexander Mathematics was recommended and when we reached out they called back promptly and helped us pick out a good option to help finish out the year. They quickly worked out that our child needed something more challenging and moved him to a more advanced course (pre-Calculus) that kept him busy. He felt the tutors did a great job explaining math and helping him work at his own pace. Overall it was a great experience and they were easy to work with. Would highly recommend and use them again. Everything was via zoom given the pandemic and it worked well. It prepared our child well for more summer math at an online college that will help him skip a class when school resumes.

As a former online principal and educator from the early days of 'online education' (circa 1996-2008), I can attest to the difficulties of teaching mathematical concepts online (or even face to face). My son is part of the Smack Happy team that developed this website and he sends me links to some completed projects he thinks I'd be interested in...Well, I perused the website and then watched the lesson on how the formula for the area of a circle is derived. What a great way to teach! If this sample lesson is any indication of their skill and passion in tutoring, I can heartily recommend their program.

We've had wonderful experiences with my kid's tutor, Sam. I thought my kid wouldn't be a fan of Zoom tutoring, but they actually look froward to their weekly sessions.

My daughter has been studying with Alexander Mathematics and Physics Tutoring since her Freshman year in High School, taking Algebra 2H. She has been working with Felix regularly during the past 2 school years. She is currently ending her Sophomore year and Felix works with her on her Geometry H & Chemistry H classes. She has also prepared for upcoming Math during the summer with Alexander (who is also excellent), and will be doing summer prep sessions again this summer. I consider Alexander Tutoring to be an essential part of our daughter’s academic success. She looks forward to and enjoys her tutoring sessions. She feels more confident as she approaches her work (in Math & Science) and takes comfort in knowing that if there is content that is more challenging or difficult to understand, she will have the opportunity to cover it with Felix. Scheduling is also very convenient online, and there are opportunities to add more sessions preparing for Finals. What I am most pleased with is that my daughter has a positive perception and relationship with Math & Science! She knows she can have success and that these subjects can be challenging but enjoyable. My daughter and I are truly grateful to Alexander Mathematics and Physics Tutoring. Looking forward to working on Precalculus and Physics next year.