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Students should begin building their math foundational skills in Grade 7 or 8, starting with integers and fractions, and proceeding into graphing, algebra and more complex manipulations in high school.  Without strong foundational skills, a student will struggle with math year by year, chapter by chapter.  The key is to patch up math foundational gaps with lessons and lots of practice so that the student can strengthen his or her understanding.

This is a typical math challenge that most students face.  Most students have difficulties translating word problems into equations and variables.  The strategy is to have students understand different word problem scenarios within a chapter by having them associate the key elements to the variables and equations.

Once a student enters Grade 10 math, he or she will encounter complicated math concepts involving many parts.  The challenge is to know when to use what equation! 

One strategy that QEA uses is to show the “big picture,” rather than going into the technical details right away.  Once the student understands the “big picture” - why each part exists and how they all relate to each other - he or she can then truly understand the math concept.  Applying the equations will now be much easier.

Students begin with their science courses in grade 9 and 10.  Once they proceed into grade 11 chemistry, biology or physics, the foundational skill they learn in grade 9 and 10 become critical.  For example in chemistry, if the student is not proficient in compound naming or balancing chemical equations, then they will run into difficulty throughout the course.  Science is cumulative, therefore building a good foundation is the important first step towards success.

.  Students are mostly accustomed to plugging in equations in math and deriving an answer.  In science however, there are application questions, which are “situational” based questions.  These science application questions, require the students to combine multiple concepts to derive the solution.  In short, they have to first know what science “tools” to use.

In science, many students underestimate how important it is to gain an in depth understanding of science concepts.  Memorizing science concepts may work for a time, but will not prove as helpful later on.

When a student encounter application question, where he or she is required to “apply” a concept into a different situation, memorizing simply won’t work. Students should seek to understand science concepts, rather than memorizing them.  Understanding a science concept means knowing the “why” or “how” behind the fact, behind the equation or formula.

Students nowadays are accustomed to writing short messages on their phones.  The problem is that these messages have no proper grammatical structure, which becomes a habit and a reflection of their poor English writing.  QEA first disciplines the students into using proper English structure and grammar, and then helps them to develop their writing skills in a step by step approach that involves brainstorming, outlining, and revising.

Often in high school English essays, students only state the plot of the story and neglect the in-depth analysis, which always leads to mark deduction. The student needs to go deep beyond the story; they need to tie their argument to a character or theme.  This portion accounts for a large portion of marks as students progress into senior English courses.

Reading comprehension is a critical part of English.  Through reading, students are expected to grasp the key information quickly.  This is an important skill to develop in English.  One key strategy is to ask a series of questions beforehand, such as: “What is the author trying to convey in this chapter?”  When doing this, the student should have a plan in mind before reading, which will improve the effectiveness of their reading comprehension.