RAY DYKEMAN TUTORING

MATH & SCIENCE

301-717-8204

Ray Dykeman is an exceptionally knowledgeable, skilled and dedicated full-time tutor with over 20 years experience teaching and tutoring math and science at the elementary school, middle school, high school, college and graduate levels. In addition to tutoring a wide variety of math and science subjects, he has taught Chemistry, AP Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Earth Science, and MCAT prep classes.

 

Ray will meet you at home or at school - the perfect solution for the overscheduled student!

 

Ray has worked with students from many Montgomery County and Washington, DC schools including Bethesda-Chevy Chase (BCC), Walt Whitman, Walter Johnson, Wilson, Winston Churchill, Pyle, North Bethesda, Westland, Bannockburn, Bethesda, Bradley Hills, Burning Tree, Carderock Springs, Chevy Chase, North Chevy Chase, Westbrook, Wood Acres, Wyngate and others. He also works with students from area private schools including Bullis, Burke, Charles E Smith Jewish Day School, French International School, Georgetown Day School, Georgetown Prep, Green Acres, Gonzaga, Holton Arms, Holy Child, Landon, Mater Dei, McLean School of Maryland, Potomac, NCS, Norwood, Sidwell, St. Albans, St. Jane de Chantal, St. John's, St. Patrick, Stoneridge, Washington Episcopal School, Washington International School, Washington Waldorf, Woods Academy and others.

 

FEEDBACK

Over two decades of math and science tutoring, I've helped a lot of students. Hearing the impact of our work on their lives never gets tiring. Here are some of my favorite, recent success stories. 

 
 
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"...from an F to an A..."

Ray Dykeman is an amazing math and science tutor.  Our son, who has severe ADHD, was struggling in Algebra 2.  Beyond the fact that he typically rushed and didn’t show his work, neither his teacher nor his prior tutor could figure out what our son fundamentally didn’t understand or why he was failing.  We found Ray from a friend whose son had successfully overcome a similar problem. Ray met with our son, explored with him what he knew how to do and what he did or didn’t understand about the underlying principles.  After working with our son for one semester, Ray helped him bring up his grade from an F to an A. Needless to say, our son’s morale, and importantly, his interest in math and willingness to focus on the details improved too.   Ray tutored our son over the summer to cover the entire trigonometry curriculum, and this allowed him to catch up with his class and enroll in precalculus in the next school year. Ray continued to work with our son, who remarked that Ray didn’t just show him how to solve math problems, but also showed him why the different methods and procedures worked.  This set him up to be able to independently tackle new areas and kinds of problems beyond what had been taught. Under Ray’s guidance, our son earned a 34 on the math section of the ACT and a 33 on the science section. Ray also tutored our son from time to time in Chemistry and then Physics. Our son is now signed up for AP Calculus and is planning to major in physics or computer engineering when he graduates from high school.  Ray was instrumental in setting our son up for success in math and science. He brought just the right level of practicality, applications, and rigor to help our son through the most difficult concepts. Importantly, not only is Ray an effective teacher, but he is warm, funny, patient and great with kids.

“Ray to the rescue”

I always knew my son wasn’t a math whiz, but he never truly struggled until 7th grade. He previously received A’s, and then suddenly hit a wall. It was bad, not B’s, but D’s on tests. His confidence was plummeting and after a lot of tears, I was fearful he might give up. I quickly reached out to a tutor who was highly recommended. His grades did NOT improve at all. My son got very frustrated and understandably so. At this point, I’m pretty nervous for him, and start searching for another tutor. Cue superhero music . . . Ray to the rescue! We all immediately liked Ray - he has a calm patient demeanor which is exactly what my son needed. Oh, and by the way, Ray is ridiculously smart. My son’s grades went up immediately. He received an A for the last quarter which coincides with Ray coming into the picture. More important than the A (because B’s are okay too), is the confidence Ray is giving my son.

I think traditional methods of teaching math don’t always work for my son, and Ray has found a way to communicate with him so he understands. While I love math, it is often very difficult and time consuming to play teacher to our own kids, and having Ray’s help has alleviated that stress and tension. Anyone reading this review knows what I mean! Finally, it’s a plus in my mind that he comes to your house. It’s already stressful enough for a kid struggling in a subject and meeting at our house seems to make it easier for all of us.

 
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“one of a kind, extraordinary”

For the past two years, Ray has been an inspiring tutor for our daughter, a student in a demanding DC private school who was disinterested in math and science,  doubted her ability in these areas and performed accordingly. Ray has changed that.  He teaches with great enthusiasm, care, patience, and close attention to her strengths and weaknesses. Ray’s love of math and science is infectious. He has made these subjects come alive for her, kindled her interest and helped her find her strengths, gain confidence and dramatically improve her grades.  In short, Ray is not your usual tutor. He is one of a kind, extraordinary.  Our daughter continues to look forward to her sessions with him -- and we recommend him very highly.