sneetch,
I entirely sympathise. Been there. I was a new R22 pilot with an instructor who was being somewhat patronising because I was female, but I didn't realise that at the time. Anyway, after a few weeks I asked to go over the checks again, but came away little the wiser. Several months/flying hours and another instructor later, I asked again, but still wasn't sure about much of it. The problem was, I really didn't have much knowledge of how the helicopter worked, or even how a piston engine worked, or things a lot of people seemed to think were really basic, and even though I told them, no-one seemed ready or able to start explaining absolutely from scratch.
Finally when it came to the CPL course I decided enough was enough, and I needed to know this stuff. I asked yet another instructor, who went over it in detail. I also bought a CD Rom, made by Burman Aviation (Patriot now) for their own students, but anyone can buy it. They're based at Cranfield, Gloucester, and I think a couple of other places; someone here will know. Get that CD Rom! It goes over the whole R22, and all the checks, in detail, with photos. I spent a whole wet half-day going over everything, in the hangar with an R22 and a printed out checklist with photos, until I knew what everything was, and how things should be, and what to look for. I should have done it months earlier. But I shouldn't have had to work so hard to be able to.
One thing I'm sure of, if and when I'm an instructor I'll make sure this doesn't happen to my students!