Jessie Mathisen

High School Science For Homeschoolers

I recently had an interesting conversation with a few homeschool parents of middle school age children who are in the process of making plans for high school. In the process, they raised quite a few questions that I think many other parents also wonder a... Read >

Writing and Standardized Tests

Many standardized tests, including the ISEE, SSAT, Hunter College High School admissions exam, many New York State Regents, and the SAT include an essay section, and these essays are the source of a great deal of anxiety among both students and parents. ... Read >

Very Challenging Math Problems

Often, when people mention difficult math, they are referring to advanced math. I would agree that there is some correlation between those two things, but they are not the same. It is possible to find examples of relatively easy math problems that rely on... Read >

Summer Reading List (With a Focus on Emotions)

Recently, I began tutoring a boy who hopes to take the Hunter College High School entrance exam. He is, naturally, very bright, but he doesn't have a spectacularly high reading level. It's not his vocabulary or his logical reasoning that's holding him bac... Read >

Is Hunter College High School Right For My Child?

I've been helping students prepare for the Hunter College High School entrance exam since 2004, so I know quite a bit about the types of student who are most likely to be accepted to the school. However, it is only in the last year, when New York Academic... Read >

Summertime Tutoring

aMost people quite sensibly associate tutoring with the school year. As a tutor, I usually defend the right of children and teenagers to have summers filled with camp, first jobs, and long lazy days. However, there are certain situations where it makes se... Read >

Is a Specialized HS Right For Me?

As an SHSAT tutor, my job is to help students get the best score they can on the specialized high school entrance exam; it's not to help them decide which school is the best fit for them. Nevertheless, parents often ask me what I think about Stuyvesant, B... Read >

Homeschool Group Classes

The dominant image of homeschooling involves one child, or several siblings, studying with their mother in a socially isolated household. While those homeschoolers exist, they appear to be a definite minority, at least among New York City homeschoolers. O... Read >

Some Fun and Educational Activities For Summertime

As a tutor, I have seen time and again that the students who have the strongest skills are the students who do lots of learning outside of school, as well as inside it. That doesn't mean that these kids are doing drills all summer and on the weekends- far... Read >