Today we chat to Kath Kenyon, she has taken her love of learning and turned it into a career 🙂
She does private tutoring and has found real joy in watching others learn…here is her story 🙂
Tell us about your family
I am a mom of two, living with my husband, who’s an engineer.
I have a nine year old boy and a two year old little girl.
Why did you become a work from home mom
I was teaching in the State sector and just got sick of the admin and the internal politics. I was in the fortunate position that my husband supported my choice to venture forth and set up private practice.
What was the most unexpected part of becoming a wahm
How much of an emotional roller coaster it can be, and how rewarding too.
What has been the hardest part
Finding students for my morning slots. There are lots of children for lessons after school, but I found that many homeschool parents are very wary of professionals.
What is the most rewarding
Watching children’s faces light up when they grasp a concept, and also being told by the Department of Education that they wished they could “lock me in a cupboard so they could tap into my skills whenever they need them” when I had to terminate working with a particularly dangerous boy with whom I had managed to achieve a great deal more than had happened beforehand in his life.
What is your day like
I do the school run for my own children, before starting to teach at 8. I teach till 11 and then have a break until 2:30, when I teach again until 4:30
Tell us about your business
I am a private remedial teacher. I offer individual and small group lessons as well as tailor made workshops for those parents where private lessons are beyond the budget. I also offer training for teachers at schools and am trying to find ways of improving inclusive education in South Africa. If possible, I would love to collaborate on designing a specialist curriculum for children that will equip them with basic skills in Independent Living.
Where did business idea and name come from
My name is Kathryn, often shortened to Kath or Kat, so I decided to incorporate that and I also wanted to ensure that people knew a bit about my business from the name — hence the Learning Kat brand.
What sets you apart
I try to find ways to help children where extra lessons are a luxury — by training teachers and parents in techniques they can use themselves. I also use a multisensory approach to learning and find that a personalised curriculum allows me to do this best, so I use the child’s interests in designing an integrated curriculum that will develop a range of skills through different activities delivered within a theme — such as minibeasts. Where we are learning about a variety of creatures, their habitats, food webs, ecology, mathematical skills in the form of data handling, addition, subtraction, fractions, comprehension skills, creative writing, art and more. We have a wormery,, and farm and tadpole nursery set up to keep it real.
