Melanie

Hello! My name is Melanie and I have been tutoring for many years. Although my first degrees are in English (BA, MA), the interest in the sciences never left me, so I embarked on an OU degree in mathematics in 2020 when the pandemic was in full swing. I believe my arts degrees complement my mathematics studies, as they've given me soft skills that are valuable for a tutor. Next to being a maths tutor, I'm also a mum, and I enjoy reading, walking, swimming, and playing music. After tutoring face to face with pleasure for a few years, I can now only tutor online as I travel a lot abroad.

Tutoring Experience

My tutoring journey started in the Netherlands when I was 16 and my physics teacher asked me to help a student in the year below me. From there on I have tutored maths, physics, biology and English during my time as a student at the University of Utrecht. After settling in Wiltshire, UK, and picking up studies with the Open University in maths, I dedicated myself to face-to-face tutoring of GCSE mathematics higher and foundation levels. It has been fantastic to see my students' confidence grow and to see them pass their exams, ready to embark on their college journeys.

Tutoring Approach

In my approach, I try to make a connection with the student and to get to know their current interests. I try to create a balance between doing exercises together or independently and having little chats. During the session I monitor the students energy and concentration levels, so that I know when to challenge them and when to guide them more gently. I also try to instill a sense of wonder whenever possible, to stimulate the joy of learning. However, with mathematics, I feel that practice, over and over again, is the best way to get better at the subject and I will stimulate the student to do many exercises during the session. I will stop where I feel there is imcomplete understanding and backtrace this to the source, making sure the steps we take are the right size. Usually, I ask the student to keep a notebook of stumblingblocks so that we accumulate a summary of difficulties as we go along. I'm also very open to making set homework together and prefer to follow the teacher's set textbook / homework / provided exercises as much as possible.