Search
Richard P.'s Photo

Fairfax County Tutor for HS Math and Science
Richard P.

4.9 (831 ratings)

2,741 hours tutoring

Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee
Hourly Rate: $100
Contact Richard

About Richard

Bio

I came to tutoring as a second career after retiring from full time scientific work. I have always enjoyed tutoring – especially at the high school level. I now devote more time and effort to it than was possible before retirement. I have hundreds of hours of experience with more than 50 students. I have worked with four Fairfax County Public Schools science teachers and have picked up many of their teaching techniques. I am familiar with many of the student oriented educational sites...

I came to tutoring as a second career after retiring from full time scientific work. I have always enjoyed tutoring – especially at the high school level. I now devote more time and effort to it than was possible before retirement. I have hundreds of hours of experience with more than 50 students. I have worked with four Fairfax County Public Schools science teachers and have picked up many of their teaching techniques. I am familiar with many of the student oriented educational sites available on the web, and have worked with students on the Jefferson Labs, NovaNET and Khanacademy computer assisted learning systems. At this stage of my tutoring career, I have assisted students covering the range from top-of-the-class to barely hanging in there. While I cannot say that I have been successful with all of them, I have helped most of them made significant improvements regardless of learning style. Through practice, I have learned when to use the Socratic Method – leading the student by asking questions, and when to directly demonstrate how to solve a particular type of problem.

Read more

Education

Fordham College at Rose Hill
Physics
University of Pennsylvania
PhD

Policies

Schedule

Loading...

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Approved Subjects

Algebra 1

Algebra 1

In my tutoring experience I have found that one topic area is central to Algebra 1. The student must become comfortable with both the graphical and algebraic representations of straight line functions. The good student knows both of these, and can go back and forth between them with ease. Part of my tutoring approach is to help the student gain confidence in doing this. When a student can look at y = -2 x + 3 and instantly know how to put the corresponding line on a graph, I know that my tutoring help has been a success. There is a graphing calculator approach to this, which I do cover, but it is not enough by itself.
Algebra 2

Algebra 2

Unlike the situation for Algebra 1,it is hard to point to a single central topic in Algebra 2 as being the key to successful mastery of the subject. There are numerous topic areas that must be worked. In a meeting with a new student in Algebra 2, I talk with the student in an attempt to identify the ones for which he/she may need assistance. To be sure, there are links between the topic areas. I point these out at every opportunity in order to build bridges to material that the student may know well. A simple example of this is the trigonometric identity sin^2 + cos^2 = 1. I explain to the student that this is the trigonometric form of the Pythagorean theorem of geometry. There are many bridges of this type - I try to work them into each tutoring session.
Calculus

Calculus

I have been tutoring all levels of high school calculus for ten years. In that time I have helped many students prepare for the AP exams. In addition to my tutoring experience, I have a great deal of practical experience with calculus gained from my physics research career.
Chemistry

Chemistry

Of all the subjects that I have tutored for the last 10+ years, Chemistry has been the one most in demand. This may be due in part to the Chemistry SOL test required in Virginia for graduation. However, for many students, it is also the first science course that requires the use of algebraic methods to get answers to problems. I have found that this is a barrier for quite a few students. I have developed a number of methods for getting students past this barrier. I have picked up some of these methods from full time Chemistry teachers, and have developed others myself. Seeing students gain confidence in doing this is one of the real pleasures of tutoring.
Physics

Physics

My 30 year full time career was in physics (I still do consulting), so I especially welcome the opportunity to tutor physics. In many high school physics courses the most difficult material comes near the start of the course. This material involves motion under constant acceleration and can involve application and manipulation of a set of non-linear equations. In principle, Algebra 1 and some modest extensions are all the math background that is needed for this part of physics. I find however, that some students - even some with good grades in math - just get lost in a "forest" of algebra and cannot see the physics ideas that are the essence of the material. I have developed tutoring approaches to working through the math to the physics that have been successful. Quite often, once the student gets through the motion under constant acceleration material, the rest of the course goes much more smoothly.
SOL

SOL

I have tutored more than a dozen students in the Chemistry and Algebra II SOL tests on a volunteer basis. The students did pass the tests after my help. For the Chemistry SOL test I have tutored 10+ adult students using officially released tests from prior years. Most of the students were not native English speakers. Despite this, the ones who actually went through with taking the test passed it. I have also done more limited tutoring for the chemistry SOL test working with the Jefferson Labs software package in a Fairfax County volunteer setting. Due to the nature of this volunteer setting, I had only an hour or two with each student. Thus I cannot assess how successful that I was. However, I did get valuable insights into the Jefferson Labs approach to preparation for this test. For the Algebra II SOL test, my experience is limited to helping students work through the Jefferson Labs preparation material. I was very successful with at least two students.
ACT Math
ACT Science
Prealgebra
Precalculus
SAT Math
Trigonometry

Examples of Expertise

Richard has provided examples of their subject expertise by answering 760 questions submitted by students on Wyzant’s Ask an Expert.

See all of Richard ’s answers ›
Richard P.'s Photo

Questions? Contact Richard before you book.

Still have questions?

Contact Richard

Ratings and Reviews

Rating

4.9 (831 ratings)
5 star
(764)
4 star
(52)
3 star
(14)
2 star
(1)
1 star
(0)

Reviews

Great tutor

Thorough and great at explaining concepts. Patient while teaching and doing practice problems. Helpful with identifying understanding gaps and building on existing knowledge.

Toni, 1 lesson with Richard

Knowledgeable, patient, and prepared tutor.

Was able to help break down physics into something more digestible for someone like myself, who was having issues. Came prepared and completed homework problems and other example problems I sent over, and went through each one, step by step, explaining the process and concepts that they contained. Was very patient when I asked questions or needed clarification on how things were done. Would definitely recommend to anyone needing help with physics.

James, 1 lesson with Richard

Knowledgeable and patient

Richard helped my son in AP chemistry, where they went over equilibrium. He was very patient with my son and taught him a lot in the one hour lesson. My son really liked his way of teaching.

Sonia , 22 lessons with Richard

Knowledgable and approachable

He is friendly, addresses the student with respect but also with the knowledge they need. Is open with the parent upon the conclusion of the session. Arrives early and concludes the session when the material is addressed and understood.

Dan, 1 lesson with Richard

Great Teacher

Helped me and went into detail about each topic I was confused about. He was very patient especially when i didn’t know what the topic was about

Shaunt, 1 lesson with Richard

Surprisingly good

We were hesitant to use his services given he is more expensive than most but in one session he covered 3x as much material as the next best tutor and gave our son a feeling he would be able to move his grade up several letters in the last 3 weeks of school. We will definitely use him again!

Lana, 3 lessons with Richard

Great Professor

He was on time and was very comprehensive. He helped familiarize more with formulas and how to apply them.

Jesus, 1 lesson with Richard

Great physics tutor for my son

My son is in High school AP physics, and he was having a hard time with all the terms and word problems. Even though he does well in math, he did poorly on his first quiz. Richard was able to get him back on track understanding the terms how to work through the word problems. Thanks to Richard's help my son got a 10 out of 10 on this week's quiz.

Bryan, 18 lessons with Richard

Knowledgeable and very easy to work with

Richard taught calculus concepts and it helped my son tremendously. Richard was proactive in getting information on what topics my son needed help on and was ready with study material and also gave practical examples and was very clear and detailed in explaining. We will definitely use his help for more lessons.

Chandrika, 1 lesson with Richard

Knowledgeable and helpful

Our lessons have gone really well. He is helpful, concise, and knowledgeable about the material being presented. He does a great job going through material quickly without rushing anything. He is also very kind.

Andrew, 13 lessons with Richard
Hourly Rate: $100
Contact Richard