Woodland starts middle school in fifth grade and from then on teaches literature, history and writing together as humanities. Our tutors are current and former Stanford students who explain each step in a way a middle schooler can follow.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.
We tutor Woodland students in everything from fractions and Pre-Algebra to Geometry proofs, and help with humanities essays, research projects and high school entrance exams. Sessions are one-on-one, at your home or online.
Math, from team challenges to Geometry
Woodland’s middle school math includes Core Connections, a course built around challenges students solve together in teams. From there, students move through Pre-Algebra and Algebra, and eighth graders can take Geometry, with formal proofs and a first look at trigonometry. A tutor checks that the core skills are solid, from fraction work to factoring, and helps an eighth grader write a proof that holds together. Learn more about our math tutoring.
Humanities and the eighth-grade Capstone
Fifth graders at Woodland write persuasive and informational essays, seventh graders write a claim essay and finish their first self-directed research project in the spring, and eighth graders spend the whole year on the Capstone, researching a topic of local or global significance and presenting what they found. Our tutors are good at the parts students find hardest: narrowing a big question to one they can answer, turning a pile of notes into an argument, and rehearsing the presentation until it feels natural. Learn more about our English and writing tutoring.
What parents say
“The tutor (who was a Stanford junior) really connected with my son and inspired him to learn. He had some great study tips and was able to help my son raise his grades by quite a bit.”
Pamela T., Palo Alto
“At each level of math needed, we found these Stanford students to be not just helpful tutors but great mentors as well.”
Christy S., Portola Valley
“It turns out my son also needed help staying organized with all his assignments, something that the tutor helped with as well.”
Amy C., Palo Alto
Getting ready for high school
Most Woodland eighth graders go on to private and independent high schools, and the school supports them with weekly classes, one-on-one counseling and the option to take entrance exams on campus. Independent high schools often ask for the ISEE or SSAT, and Catholic high schools give the HSPT. A tutor works through the reading, vocabulary and math on the test a student will take and takes the surprise out of test day. Learn more about our entrance-exam tutoring.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.