Have you or you children go to a Kumon center??

Question

Did you like it?

Did you change to another math center due to Kumon's lack of expectations??

Answer 1

Heres the secret about kumon on the news about their below standard teaching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7Zuu...

Answer 2

yes! im a kumon student..

well i like the programm..

or love it..now im good at math... i was taking it about 8 months now.. i started at addition now im in fractions...

now i can solve mentally and quickly.. and we do home works everyday.. and i go to the kumon center.. 2* a week...

and i dont change to another kumon center... well it's up to you if you like to change your kumon center... you know kumon center's are over the world...

go to www.kumon.com

Answer 3

Did my kids “like” it? No, but have I seen the results of having stuck with it? Big fat YES. When I first started, I too thought it was too “low” for where my daughter was in school, she was 12 and I felt it was too late- too many bad habits to break, however she did become more accurate and to this day goes back and checks her work.

Later I became a trainer and started my younger two at two and a half and four and can tell you we did stick it out through calculus by 8th grade. The program actually goes through trigonometry, and to see how fast they can do it is amazing! My center used to have a family night where the kids took on the parents in contests and it really humbled the parents when their kids beat them in speed and accuracy!

Like everything else, there are always people who will bad-mouth something..especially if they meet with frustration or are expecting instant success. Lots of people start things and never finish or worst yet give opinions, about Kumon, with no knowledge other than what they "think" it is.

It was started by a Japanese father who was a H.S. teacher and felt that his son wasn't learning "mental" math. He broke down math skills into small increments and insisted on 100% accuracy for full mastery. It is NOT meant as the only teaching method but as an after school program for  reinforcement. Later on reading was added and Chinese and other languages. Same thing, small increments so you don't skip anything.

One thing that I like is that they teach to "mastery" 100%. This is the difference between "sliding by" and really learning and not forgetting. Public schools do not teach to mastery and it is horrendous how poorly our country does as a whole in basic skills. Kumon centers are franchises which follow a philosophy USA does not endorse: drill, rote learning, memorization, single minded pursuit of high skills and test scores-Where do you find that in public school?! American math methods lack the necessary repetition for students to achieve rapid calculation. We are concerned with the child's "understanding" Kumon says; perform the skill and the child will understand. If you look at your state's requirements you will see soooo many skills the teacher has to teach in one year- that's why they fly through it and never have the time to really get all the kids on board!

With all the different trainers I worked with, none of them were in it for money. The correctors often are volunteers and always intent on helping the children succeed. There is a lot of work to be done before your kids get there and they work hard. I’m sorry if this hasn’t been your experience.

I think you need to have a good balance with BOTH what they learn in school and with the Kumon after school program. I was trained as a Kumon corrector and saw several hundred children come through our center. Those who bought into the program and stuck with it, far exceeded those who were sporadic in their, twice weekly attendance or the ones hurrying off to sporting events. It’s about priorities, really.

We did not do the reading program as I couldn't afford it at the time. I really wanted my kids to do well in math- My son is ADD and although I did not see the improvement in his behavior in other areas,(one of Kumon's claims) I DO think that math is the only place he can fully focus and he has always loved math- so what more could I want!?

It was very hard when the kids were little to do the homework.(Kumon expects you to do a packet everyday) and they were so tired by the time I got off work that it was hard to go to the Kumon center, usually in a spare room in a church, and sit there at 4 or 5 pm, just when they are hungry and tired. At home it was even harder, tears, tantrums…But I am really glad I did!!

As a special ed teacher for the last 27 years, I have seen about all the math strategies there are and I have used the same technique, not the exact Kumon materials, but ones I make to imitate the method, with severely delayed kids with great success.