Joseph

Joseph

All K-8th subjects
All basic math
All algebra courses
Geometry
Trigonometry
Pre-Calculus
Calculus
Finite math
Calculus for Business

Palos Verdes
Redondo Beach
Torrance
Manhattan Beach
Lomita
Harbor City

Hello! My name is Joseph and I am the creator and director of Mercury Tutors. My tutoring career began when I joined the Marymount College Math Faculty in February of 2004. Once there I spent several hours per week in the college's learning center, either one on one or in small groups.

I quickly learned that I had a gift for explaining difficult math concepts. I also really enjoyed helping the students. I tutored many students with ADD, ADHD, autism, and other learning challenges.

The job was very rewarding as I felt I was really making a difference for those young students. That "aha!" moment was great to be a part of.

As the 04/05 school year commenced I continued working at Marymount and also got several hours per week tutoring privately in my home town of Palos Verdes. My work now consisted of my job at Marymount and my private tutoring. In 2005 I began the network you see here on this web site. By 2007 there was a drop in attendance at the college and due to my new faculty member status I was laid off. By then the network was up and running and I put my focus on that and on my own tutoring.

One of the things that motivated me to start the network was that to get over my rusty math skills for my Marymount job I enlisted the help of many tutors. I found that the majority of them were not very good at explaining the concepts. I found others who didn't know some of the math. What was most shocking to me was that the price a tutor charged often had little bearing on the quality of that particular tutor.

I resolved to form a network where the tutors charged fair rates and were great at what they did. I've found that perhaps one in five tutors is really good at what she does, and I've made my top priority to work with those top 20%....only the nines and tens.

I've studied the complex in-home tutoring industry quite a bit in the last five years and would be happy to discuss what I've learned with anyone looking for a tutor....even if you just want info and are not interested in going with our network. There are many good organizations out there and many poor ones as well.

The process for finding tutors for this network begins when a potential tutor contacts me either from word of mouth or from an ad. I look for those with the right personality, great explanation skills, mastery of their subject, and plenty of experience. I have them tutor me as I play the frustrated student and see how they handle what I throw at them. Those who pass this difficult test are then on a probation period for a few weeks, during which time they must prove they are great tutors. This is done by follow up with the parents and students they go to. For those who get great reviews a web page is made for them. For those who get anything short of great reviews I explain that this is not the network for them.

When I'm not tutoring my interests include going to movies, swimming, reading any good book I can get my hands on, web site design, surfing, movies, and books on history and antiquity. I currently live in South Torrance and was brought up in Palos Verdes not too far from Palos Verdes Peninsula high school. I attended Soleado grade school and Ridgecrest middle school.

For more info or to set up an initial lesson please email or call anytime...

310-720-0174......Joey2276@aol.com