.nl in the spotlight: rhodyn.nl

Can you tell us a little about how you came to set up your tuition service last year?

“I discovered relatively late in life that I really enjoy teaching. I used to work for a firm called Mad Science, which provides science teaching. Then, two years ago, a friend of mine recommended me to a school for gifted children. After teaching there for a while, I decided to translate my methodology into a concept suitable for rolling out to multiple schools. And that's how my business venture began.”

And what is the concept you've developed?

“The Rhodyn concept offers gifted children and children on the autistic spectrum a learning experience that they can't get in mainstream education. An experience that embraces both science and philosophy or geography. I have a top-down approach: first I consider a topic at a high level, and then I work down to how the principles translate into practice. For example, I'll start a lesson on electricity by explaining things like how electricity relates to magnetism. A lot of what I do also involves deep-level learning, exploring a topic in great detail.”

So, this is your real passion?

“Absolutely. It's great teaching this way, because you're inspiring children. Not long ago, I taught a lesson on slavery. During the lesson, I spoke about Curaçao, the island where I was born. A few weeks later, the pupil started talking to me in the Curaçaoan language, Papiamento! Another child built a transformer after a lesson about electricity. I was thrilled! When I was growing up, I didn't know that I was gifted. No one recognised it, and I never got the kind of guidance I really needed. So I find it very rewarding to see that these children don't miss out the way I did.”

Why have you chosen to use your own first name as your business name and domain name?

“Rhodyn is an unusual first name, so the corresponding .nl domain name was fortunately still available. I also use it because of its association with 'The Thinker', the famous piece by French sculptor Auguste Rodin. That sculpture is the basis for the company logo and ties in directly with our services.”

What role does the website play in your business?

“The domain name registration and the website design and hosting were all handled by Scrolla of Drachten. All I did myself was write the text and take the photos. I get new customers through personal contact, and that's going fine at the moment. So there's no need to invest in online promotion. In fact, I'm a bit reluctant to do anything like that yet, because I don't want to grow too quickly.”

But do you plan to grow the business in the future? Where do you hope to be with your enterprise five years from now?

“In five years, I'd like to be a big player in the field of education for gifted children and children with autism-spectrum disorders in the East Brabant and North Limburg regions. I'd like Rhodyn to be the first name people think of in that context.”