Elise is an education researcher with a background in math education. Her education
includes a minor in math education with courses in project–based curriculum, inquiry-based
lesson planning, and classroom interactions. She taught 7th grade math in Berkeley, CA. Elise
tutors students ages 8–18 in math and organizational/study habits. Elise brings a deep knowledge of current math education research and stays up to date on best practices for teaching.

Sharon has been reviewing children's books for 25 years. She is currently serving on the Notable Children's Books Committee for the American Library Association's ALSC division (Association for Library Service for Children). She is also serving on the Los Angeles Times Young Adult Book Award Committee. She is passionate about connecting readers and non-readers with books they will love.

African American/ Black Civil Rights History through the Lens of Children's Literature, Part 1 co-taught by Elise Levin-Güracar and Sharon Levin (ages 11+, 1.5 hr long class, 14 weeks), class will start at the February 3and meets Wednesdays 12-1:30PM PST, cost $550 for the term

This class starts with an overview of Black History in the United States, starting in the early 1600’s with a focus on the Civil War, the 14th Amendment, The Dred Scott Decision and Plessy v. Ferguson.  Students will read the book Stamped byJason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi weekly, with support from detailed reading responses to learn about the history of racism in the United States. Each week, we will discuss what they have read, and learn more about lesser known individuals and events. Students will also read a picture book/ part of a chapter book each week (texts will be loaned from the instructors for students in the Bay Area, titles available for digital library loan will be recommended for students outside of the Bay Area) on a person or event related to the class topics. Students will reflect on features of the book that helped them learn, and will write their own book after conducting research on a person or event they are interested in.  We will conclude in the 1960’s with the reading of March by John Lewis. Students will write their own book to share during the final class.

* Some students took classes with me over the Summer or Fall. All material will be new, so if students took a topic over the Summer, they are welcome to enroll in the same class for Spring* Courses are $120-200/month, depending on number of classes, please reach out about sliding scale options.

Enrollment is monthly, January classes will start the week of 1/11 and run for 3 weeks. Students can join at the beginning of any month for full month sessions.

Number Sense (4th-5th grade standards, will be scheduled based on student availability)
In this class students will engage in puzzles, word problems, and games to develop their number sense. Number sense is defined as a "conceptual framework of number information that enables a person to understand numbers and number relationships and to solve mathematical problems that are not bound by traditional algorithms" (Bobis, 1996). Having a strong number sense supports student learning throughout their math careers.

Rotating Middle School topics Wednesdays 10-11AM PST
Each month we will focus on a different topic in middle school math. Students will solve real-life and mathematical problems using algebraic expressions and equations; develop their own statistical research questions, collect, and represent their data; and explore the geometry of circles.

Rotating Middle School topics (6th and 7th grade content standards, will be scheduled based on student availability)
Each month we will focus on a different topic in middle school math. Students will write their own word problems to fit expressions and equations; write and. graph relationships between dependent and independent variables; explore surface area and volume through design plans for a product; and analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.

Pitfalls and Problem Solving with Percents, Fractions, and Ratios (5th-6th grade standards, will be scheduled based on student availability)