That Tall Tutor

Fun fact about me. I'm also a Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor! And I'm doing a lifeguard training at the YMCA on March 28-29. Lifeguarding is a great summer job but the Y also needs lifeguards year round. Check my site for more info!

Between Santa checking his list twice and end-of-semester exams, it's a challenging time of year. Maybe you need a tutor? Kind of like an elf on the shelf but only for an hour and we just study instead of getting into crazy shenanigans. Unless you're taking a course in shenanigans. . Then it's on.

If you're curious about math club and just want to check it out before you commit, let me know! You are always welcome to visit and see if its for you.

(I'll tell you this though: of course it's for you! Math is just part of being human and we're all built for it!)

STEM club this week we continued exploring circuits and different components. The figure 8 LED display was a big hit. When they figured it out, they sketched out their circuit and traded to see if anyone could repeat their creation. We also learned about why resistors are so important when working with LEDs. (RIP, LEDs. Now we know, Heather!)

Monday's math club we played a game called Keep, Flip, Turn. Its a simple game in which you roll three dice and keep one the same, flip one over and turn one to the side. You must make all three moves and the end result must add up to 10. Its a simple game, but it gets hard when you have to explain why you're making each move.

Math is all about puzzling and strategy. When you can rationalize what you are doing, you become more confident in your skills. And when you can explain that strategy to someone else, your doing the deep math. Sometimes the struggle isn't the math itself. Its being a mathematician!

What a great first day of clubs! The kids showed up excited to do math and couldn't wait to get started. We talked about pattern recognition and how there are many ways to solve a problem. Then we made posters about ourselves and named ourselves as "Mathematicians". (I am totally aware that I spelled it wrong on the board and so all their posters are misspelled--making mistakes is a big part of math!)

Stem club was even more exciting. We learned about circuits and then had fun exploring some of the fun and simpler pieces in our kits. We made the LEDs light up, adding in buttons and a potentiometer (that one was spelled right). There was even a whirring fan. So much fun!

Students were already asking about next club and what we will be doing. It's not too late to join in! Come have fun with us!

I'm offering a math club and a STEM club on Mondays starting September 8th for homeschool families.

Math club will be about strengthening math skills through various projects and games. It will always be math and it was always be a good time!

STEM club is starting out with electronics, arduino and coding. We're going to build some cool gadgets, hopefully even robots by the end of the year.

I'm also teaming up with Heather Mitch who is offering a gardening class in the afternoon.

Find more info and register at

That Tall Tutor – Learning to stand tall. I’ve always believed the best way to learn a subject is to get in there and just use it. So that’s what we’re going to do.