Insightful words...

“It’s very typical for the empathic person in the family to be the black sheep empath. And the reason is that the person who’s the empath in the family is the accurate mirror. If they hold the mirror up to other people, those people will see what they are. So you shoot the messenger. You always get rid of the black sheep empath. Because that’s the person, who if they were to tell the truth, everyone would be miserable. So you put everything on that person and you say, “We’ll just get rid of you. Problem solved.” Being the empath of the family means that you’re a dangerous figure to the family system. It’s like the system resents you but depends on you. It doesn’t want you to leave and yet it wants to cripple you. Empathic people tend to be very selfless human beings who will never experience it themselves. It’s like the old saying that a good person is a person who will plant a tree even though they’ll never experience the shade of it.” - Dr Gary Brucato, The Lab, May 2026

Teaching Bilingual Students

 

MD Home Tutoring offers personalised support to bilingual learners to strengthen language confidence across all areas. My sessions emphasise clear, accurate expression, both spoken and written. Grammar usage is always taught in meaningful, practical contexts. All students are encouraged to expand their vocabulary and develop greater fluency when communicating. My approach is patient and responsive to each student's unique linguistic background and learning goals. - Mel

Happy Easter!

As a home tutor, my employment can sometimes be viewed as a mere business transaction. My efforts beyond the remuneration I receive can at times go unnoticed. Around Easter, however, I am sometimes touched by small gestures from appreciative parents - thoughtful treats - reminding me that my efforts are seen. Those moments stay with me, affirming the extra time and energy I put into every tutoring session. Thank you to the parent who gave me these gorgeous choccies! I am taken aback by your generosity and thoughtfulness. - Mel

Never lose touch with your inner child...

Throughout my years as a teacher, I’ve noticed that some students think in ways that genuinely surprise me. They often approach ideas from angles I hadn’t considered, and their observations can feel strikingly honest and insightful. I remember moments when a simple comment completely shifted how I understood a concept. These contributions don’t always follow expected patterns, but that’s what makes them so valuable. They remind me to pause and listen more carefully. Time and again, I have found that students are capable of offering perspectives that deepen learning in ways I could never have planned. - Mel

Benefits of Home Tutoring

What are the benefits of MD Home Tutoring?

• Face-to-face teaching in a familiar setting where distractions are limited;

• The opportunity for me to quickly identify gaps in learning and personalise activities to promote engagement;

• Constant interaction, clear explanations and visual demonstrations that are not always possible in other educational settings.

Please get in touch to initiate an exciting educational journey for your child/ren. - Mel

Using AI for writing tasks in the classroom

 

It's hard to imagine the long-term effects of the use of AI on students' writing development. Many argue that the composition of unique text is no longer a necessary requirement for most people. This is probably true in numerous professions, where communications, emails and other texts aren't highly specific in nature.

But what concerns me most as a teacher is the gradual inability of students to think for themselves. Using AI for text composition has the potential to extinguish novel ideas and discourage personal insights.

The process of writing requires students to synthesise ideas and make new connections. It is through this arduous and challenging process that deep understandings can develop. I like to think of writing as 'the construction of thought'. Concepts will never be fully understood by students who can't authentically work through them and assimilate them with existing knowledge. 

Therefore, in order to teach students the skill of articulating their own thoughts, we need to become more inventive as educators. We need to redesign writing tasks to ensure that students have ample opportunities to consider possibilities without the influence of AI-generated brainstorms. 

I believe students should engage in daily opportunities to record and explain their ideas. I prefer for this to be done collectively, recorded in books or on sheets of paper. This improves student creativity and encourages risk-taking (i.e. no idea is a bad idea - it's all part of the process). Furthermore, a focus on formative assessment of the writing process, which includes outlines and rough drafts, places less focus on the final task in determining grades.

Writing should never be about the regurgitation of other people’s ideas to prove understanding. It's a highly rigorous process that gives students the opportunity to create new ways of thinking and knowing. - Mel