Maths Grinds Cork

Note: I’m now booked out for this semester. Feel free to leave your details here if you’re interested in being put on the waiting list and I’ll be in touch with you as soon as a time becomes available.

If your child was good at maths in primary school but is struggling now that they’re in secondary school, it’s likely because they’re having difficulty with either algebra or word problems. I’m a professional maths tutor with experience helping junior cert students master algebra and develop confident strategies for dealing with project maths-type word problems.

Here’s a video example of one of my recent algebra lessons:

Example Video Lesson

Getting the Basics Right

It’s important to make sure that students have a firm grasp of pre-algebra skills before moving on to algebra. If students need to review basic concepts like the order of operations or how to deal with positive and negative numbers, I’ll make sure they’re comfortable with those topics before we move on. Not being able to master such concepts, is akin to not knowing, how to use the clutch and gears in a car. You shouldn’t really proceed without them.

Once we take care of the basics, core concepts in algebra become much easier to understand and you’ll usually see a significant improvement in performance.

Getting Familiar with Exam Questions

My maths tutorials are designed to build confidence and help students feel comfortable with the material. We’ll cover a wide range of exam questions and discuss useful techniques and strategies for dealing with the more challenging questions.

I also teach students how to approach complex word problems, which are appearing more frequently on exams. This is a step-by-step routine that students can adopt to break down difficult problems in a way that is predictable, logical, and anxiety-reducing. Often, students who are technically good at working with mathematical formulae and equations find it difficult to get started on questions and translate word problems into mathematics. Many write this off as a lack of ability, but mostly it is just a question of not having a real strategy for breaking down these kinds of problems.

In general, my maths tutorials are down to earth and I focus very much on building confidence, through active participation, discussion, and positive affirmation.

Regular Feedback

It’s important to me that parents get regular feedback regarding the performance of their children. Every few weeks I try to give parents an idea of what we’ve covered and the rate of progress.

Miriam Bourke

2021-09-01

Paul explained maths to my daughter in a way she understood it and was able to continue with honours maths for her leaving cert in order to gain the extra points even though it wasn’t one of her strongest subjects . I highly recommend Paul

Fiona Naughton

2021-07-24

Paul was helpful and supportive. When the COVID restrictions came in, he adapted to online zoom classes. Needed good WiFi connection and tablet but service was so handy. My daughter found the classes made a big difference and upped her grade at the end of the year. Thanks.

Katherine Clifford

2018-10-09

Paul has helped my daughter enormously since we started with him in second year. She went from f’s To A’s in no time. Would highly recommend.

Google rating score: 5.0 of 5, based on 3 reviews

This Student improved from 28% in her mocks to a B in Honours Maths within the space of just 2.5 months.Click the orange play button just below to hear this family’s reaction to the result:

“We are delighted with Paul’s service. When my daughter first came to Paul, she was failing pass maths tests, and had zero confidence in herself. After a few months working with Paul, she really turned it around, eventually getting a B in her summer test. The following year she got an A in the Junior Cert.

Paul is a great maths tutor and has done wonders for my daughters confidence. I highly recommmend him.” Joan O’D

Call Paul at 085-1030198