Thea

I`m an enthusiastic tutor who genuinely enjoys all things mathematical. I`m good at identifying how your brain works and what it needs to make sense of math concepts and I`m a stickler for teaching you to do math in such a way that will give you maximum marks in a test. I try to show all my students the fun side of math (I believe that our brains enjoy and need problem solving, the same way our bodies ultimately enjoy exercise and movement). I believe the pressure of having to do well in math and cramming too many concepts into a small amount of time has taken the fun out of it.

Learning math is like learning to dance. Someone shows you what to do, and then you practice, practice, practice. If you don`t practice, or if too many steps are thrown at you in a short space of time, you forget the steps and then have to be shown again. Teachers run through all the steps you have to learn every year, but my job is to find the steps you have forgotten through the years or didn`t quite understand, and remind you in a way that makes sense to you. Your job is to practice, practice practice.

I don`t believe that some people are `just bad at math`. I think some people 1) weren`t taught in a way that suited how their brain processes information, which lead them to believe that it is too hard for them, 2) have forgotten or misunderstood key math concepts and now find it hard to build on those concepts, 3) don`t allow enough time for the math to sink in, either they move on too quickly or don`t spend enough time practicing or 4) inherited a belief that math is hard or pointless or awful.

I do believe that anyone with enough motivation, can get that GCSE 4 (old C) required for most entries into further education/employment if given 1) the information, 2) the time and 3) the resources.

Availability: I can teach during school hours, Monday to Friday, 9.30 to 3, and in the evenings after 6.

Willing to travel: 12 miles

Experience: I`ve been tutoring for 4 years now and still have a passion for wanting to help each and every student who contacts me.

I have worked with GCSE `crammers` who want to go from a 2 to a 4 within 6 months. The outcome is always the same: my students realise that it isn`t actually that difficult, their confidence goes up and they get into it, their grades start to improve and.... then we run out of time. (They are usually cramming for other subjects as well at this stage.) A few of these students have stayed on to achieve that 4 the following year. In hindsight, don`t wait for the final GCSE year, start tutoring as early as you can. You can always end lessons once your child has caught up and restart them again when they fall behind.

I`ve had (and still do have) younger ongoing students and they come with their own rewards: we have more time, not only to catch up on lost and forgotten topics but to solidify the knowledge so that is isn`t forgotten again. With more time we`ve also had a bit more fun. When I work with them, my mind is on that GCSE exam in the future, so I teach them `good math writing`.It`s not about giving me the right answer but showing me their method/process. Also, at this stage, I can still change their mind about how they feel about math.

I`ve helped an adult who needed to learn advanced math within very specific topics, for a test she had to take as part of a job interview to further her career. Her success made me want to work with more adults.

My youngest student was a 5 year old boy who just needed to be introduced to the wonderful world of numbers around him. He has a wonderful imagination and just didn`t know that numbers could be fun, too.