What is kumon?

Question

What is kumon?

Answer 1

A private tutoring service.

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.

Answer 2

Kumon

My mom had begun letting me go to Kumon when I was then told that I was 'autism' since she had a thought as Kumon could be kind of a big help to build my brain up. The teacher up ( Female ) there was so kind, as she can be kind to all students are with different looks. As I have said that I was 'autism' I could not speak any word, it was so terrible as she even had 'some worries' about my future. ( I have still even had some difficulties with talking to people though. ) My mom had then really wanted to sign up for this class so she could have me do this Kumon styled thing, also known as 'just doing handouts, not being taught. She must have then realized as 'Those are with 'autism' don't want to be forced to do anything. My son does as well, yes he does not love it when being taught things by one side. I have to consider he has his own pace to do sort of things, that means he can gradually go onto a next grade to a next one, as long as he does want.'

The teacher, she was then really out to understand me and she said to my mom as 'I can feel how it was hard to pull you through the tough days, however I feel like your son will get to learn so many things through the joy of learning from the words and figures. Potential to all kids, to all special needs as well.'

I would love to believe as 'Kumon Style' really works out even for the special needs, including those are with learning disabilities or ADHD. I feel like I just need to say thanks to them.

Answer 3

Sort of like sylvan they try and build up your confidence about school and tutor you on math and english but if you are the type that doesnt like extra work i wouldnt go it gives extra homework so if you value personal time you better consider carefully but according to my friend you get prizes from completing worksheets so its a bit of an upside you can win stuff like 360s by completing your homework

Answer 4

It is a tutering program, but according to my 17 yr old daughter who has been working there the kids do worksheets, she grades them, tells them if they got any wrong.  The kids are not told which ones are wrong or how to correct them they have to figure it out themselves.  So it does not seem like there is actually any tutoring just answering worksheets and grading them.  I don't know how successful it is for the student.

Answer 5

As far as I know, the program aims to take care of what the student didn´t "get" from before. They do an entrance test, then work on what is "deficient". For instance, if a 6th grader tests at 3rd grade level in Math and they realize it is because the student doesn't know the multiplication table and therefore, 6th grade Math is difficult for them, they will work on that and then build up from there.

It is difficult to learn something new if you don't know the basics, so it becomes frustrating for the student. At Kumon, they are initially given worksheets they master easily, so the frustration goes away, then the level gets gradually more difficult.

Find more information on www.kumon.com

Answer 6

its a kinda tutoring program where they provide math and english homework. they have teachers that help u with the work. they give u a whole bunch of worksheets and u just hafta do them. they also have different levels. level a is  gr.1 level work, level b is gr.2 and so on...depends on if a specific branch is strict or not, they also time u.