Need a high school chemistry tutor

May 12, 2010 10:57 AM

Chem tutor in Manhattan?

My son's a junior in high school in New York City (we're located in Manhattan). He generally does very well in school, but he's having some trouble with chemistry and he has a Regents Exam to take sometime in June.

I'm looking for an excellent tutor to come to our place in the East Village a few times or more to help him.

Any suggestions?

posted by DMelanogaster to Education (9 answers total)

I am not going to suggest a tutor but I do have a few related suggestions. If you want to understand chemistry there is no substitute for becoming familiar with the periodic table of elements. That's the starting point. Secondly, there are many excellent books about chemistry by Isaac Asimov. Asimov is not a chore to read, he is always enjoyable, and you can learn a lot. Finally, if you have a specific question about chemistry, you can ask us. I know quite a bit about the subject myself. Feel free to ask. No charge.
posted by grizzled at 11:24 AM on May 12, 2010

Hi! I will be in Manhattan this summer. I'm a college chemistry student and a high school chemistry expert. Would be more than happy to tutor a few times.

But this doesn't feel Mefi-Kosher. So you know, try Craigslist. Or ask your son's school (they probably have a list of teachers willing to tutor). Or Memail me.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 11:40 AM on May 12, 2010

Another resource that might help him is the chemistry tutorial videos from Khan Academy (and they're free!).
posted by Jacqueline at 11:50 AM on May 12, 2010

It's high school, so I am going to assume that it is inorganic chemistry. I have seen some high school classes touch on organic chemistry; if that is the case, you'd be best suited to finding someone who took that in college.

And do remind him, "Stoichiometry is Algebra I applied to elements and simple compounds." That one statement has caused a lot of eyes to light up in my years tutoring.
posted by adipocere at 12:04 PM on May 12, 2010

Response by poster: Rather than watch tutorials, he needs to sit down with somebody with his Chemistry regents review book and show them the *specific* questions and material he doesn't understand and go over this.

I know I could go to Craig's List but for some reason I trust the people here more. Is that stupid?

Senor I-am-a-fiest: summer's too late. Thanks anyway. School ends June 26th and the Regents Exam is a couple of weeks before then, I think.
posted by DMelanogaster at 12:15 PM on May 12, 2010

I actually can understand your preference for this site as compared to Craig's list. I think this site generally has higher standards. However, so far we haven't directed you to a tutor. So, you could still resort to Craig's list.
posted by grizzled at 12:54 PM on May 12, 2010

You might post this in Metafilter Jobs?
posted by unknowncommand at 3:26 PM on May 12, 2010

I've memailed you contact information for a potential tutor.
posted by sciencegeek at 8:05 PM on May 12, 2010

Response by poster: Wow, I got three serious possibilities in my MeMail and I am pursuing them, favoring one individual who lives in our neighborhood. Thank you!
posted by DMelanogaster at 7:56 AM on May 13, 2010