School Math Through Pre-Calculus
Support with current courses, homework, tests and quizzes; enrichment for advanced students; and patient foundational work for students with dyscalculia.
Now I Get It!Tutoring with Josh RappaportOne-on-one tutoring
When learning feels tangled, we find where the confusion begins.
A student may be working hard and still making the same mistakes. Instead of adding more repetition, I slow down, listen closely, and look for the idea that has not yet clicked.
See what finding the gap looks like →
What “finding the gap” looks like
Sometimes the most direct route requires a thoughtful detour.
A student I’ll call Sean was trying to write an algebraic expression for a growing pattern of tiles. His first answer showed me that simply demonstrating the procedure wouldn’t help. He was missing a deeper understanding of how quantities could be expressed in terms of a variable.
Diagnose
We put the assigned problem aside. On my iPad, I drew a series of simpler rectangles and overlapping shapes. Starting with a length represented by n, Sean gradually learned to recognize related lengths as n + 1, n − 1, 2n, and 2n − 1.
RebuildThen we returned to the tile pattern. This time, Sean could see four sections of n − 2 tiles, plus four corner tiles. He arrived at the expression himself:
4(n − 2) + 4
It was a well-earned answer. But I still needed to know whether Sean understood the underlying idea or had simply followed my guidance through that one problem.
“Now do these next two problems on your own.”
He did—and solved both successfully.
Practice toward independenceMy goal isn’t merely to help a student reach one correct answer. It is to rebuild the missing understanding until the student can apply it independently.
Tutoring tailored to the learner
Different students need different doors into mathematics.
I watch for how each student naturally engages with ideas, then shape the lesson so that the student confronts the difficulty that matters—without becoming trapped by one that doesn’t.
Tailoring a lesson doesn’t mean removing every difficulty. It means deciding which difficulty the student needs to confront at each stage of learning.
Areas in which I tutor
What I teach
SAT & ACT Preparation
Complete SAT preparation, ACT Math and English, targeted practice based on missed questions, and strategic use of Desmos for SAT Math.
English & Essay Writing
Help developing, organizing, drafting, and revising essays—beginning with the student’s own ideas.
French Through French 3
Conversation, grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, pronunciation, and listening comprehension—two complementary approaches, like fresh butter on a warm baguette.
Practical details
What working together looks like
Considering tutoring?
Let’s begin with your child’s situation.
Send me a note describing what your student is working on and where things feel difficult. We can begin thinking together about whether I might be the right tutor.
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