Kumon - Discussion

[AgDearie]

Hi Sleepy,


So far my son in P4, as per his last CA1 paper, he did 86 and his composition is 16/20. He only attend Kumon English for his English, no tuition. As he reads alot of books, regardless is Puffins Classics recommended by Kumon or Beast Quest or whatever, creativity in writing comes from reading as well. Of course in Kumon they have to write passages and eventually he will pick up using correct grammars etc…

Since he had already doing Kumon English since K1, what is another 1 to 2 years to complete. I felt I will encouraged him even it is tough and it mark as an achievement to him. Regardless how much he applies. Importantly, once the kids sense the achievement in them, it makes a lot easier for them to move on to others, regardless in school work or other activities.

[AgDearie]

Hi Dreams,


I heard Kovan is a very good centre to consider. You can actually request for transfer if you do not like your current centre. You do not need to pay the registration fee. If you are really upset with the Chief Instructor attitude, I would suggest you make a call to Kumon HQ, look for the Area Manager. They have the record of your child performance and they analysis for you. They may even ended up visit the centre and arrange you to comeby to discuss about your concern. Once the CI knows you are serious about it, they will be very proactive and it really make a difference. I can tell you thru experience.

Try to talk to the CI again if there is a need.

How old is your kids? What level is he doing now? As far as I know, usually average 6 months you will see some progress. You can ask the CI like what improvement did the CI seen so far on your child. What is the weakness of your child in maths - careless, not concentrating?

Ha Ha - I think those Kumon CI will hate me…

[sleepy]

AgDearie:

Hi Sleepy,


So far my son in P4, as per his last CA1 paper, he did 86 and his composition is 16/20. He only attend Kumon English for his English, no tuition. As he reads alot of books, regardless is Puffins Classics recommended by Kumon or Beast Quest or whatever, creativity in writing comes from reading as well. Of course in Kumon they have to write passages and eventually he will pick up using correct grammars etc....

Thanks for your detailed explanation. To be a completor by P5 is a great achievement!

The main reason I stopped Kumon English is because I feel that it doesn't have an all rounded coverage. However, Kumon is good in the sense it doesn't confine the child to a specific age group.

I'm still looking for an intensive English programme that allows my girl to progress beyond her school level. Yet to find another enrichment center that allows her to skip grades.

[AgDearie]

Hi Sleepy,


Not that I know of there is one. Every all the "mastery" courses, British Council, Kip McGrath, Lorna etc…, their lessons are basing on Primary XX.
Even Learning Lab, their intake also based on school level and they teach 25 to 30% higher standard than the school.

I also gone through many consideration, in case my son is not able to continue as the level goes beyond and he cannot cope. So far, I think Kumon is the one that does not restrict and allows to stretch the kid potential in that subject. What all rounded coverage are you looking for? English is basically, make up of comprehension, composition, vocabulary, grammar and oral. For Kumon, their oral already covered until at Level FII, which they usually encourage the child to listen to CD in the centre and at home, and they believed thru listening and reading, it will build up oral and skill of using the right grammar in speech. That level should be a secondary school level. As after Sec 4, there is no more oral in school. The major reading and writing will start from level GI onwards… In Kumon, they really have a lot of vocabulary the kids can pick up as they do their worksheets.

If you come across any of all rounded courses and does not restrict the child protential, please let us know. I also would like to consider…

[sleepy]

AgDearie:

So far, I think Kumon is the one that does not restrict and allows to stretch the kid potential in that subject. What all rounded coverage are you looking for?
English is basically, make up of comprehension, composition, vocabulary, grammar and oral.

I gather that higher levels format in Kumon English is still reading some passages & then do comprehension? Students indirectly learn grammar & vocab from those passages?

I don't see the composition component. Also indirectly? After reading lots of passages, can write better? But the same result can be achieved if the child reads lots of good books

AgDearie:

For Kumon, their oral already covered until at Level FII, which they usually encourage the child to listen to CD in the centre and at home, and they believed thru listening and reading, it will build up oral and skill of using the right grammar in speech.

Oral very hard to train. Especially the picture conversation part. I don't find listening to Kumon CDs useful in oral exam. Probably need separate speech lessons

AgDearie:

If you come across any of all rounded courses and does not restrict the child protential, please let us know. I also would like to consider.....

Yet to find another enrichment center that allows her to skip grades. Meantime, I let her practice on a variety of assessment books between 1 to 4 years above her school year to keep her stimulated. Sort of following Kumon's method by not confining the child to a specific age group

[AgDearie]

Hi Sleepy,


Well, oral is not difficult to train. Through a lot of reading, eventually they will speak well and Oral picks up. Thru oral and reading eventually they will write well and creativie will be thru how much exposure of reading does the child has. Picture conversation or composition is basing a lot of visualisation to score point. The pictures are dead, is how you make the pictures alive.

For Kumon their worksheet are extract from novels, science, biography etc, very wide content. Especially for those who does not read a lot of those books will be a great opportunity of exposure.

Just like my son he will never read Chinese Cindellera, he said it is a girl’s book. After he had done the extract of this book in the Kumon worksheet, he realised it was a great book to read. He borrowed the book from his cousin and finished the book within 2 days. At least he read a "proper" book compared to his usual Beast Quest or so. Isn’t this is like doing Secondary school’s Literature.

Do you realise that school does not teaches Grammar like during those days in the past? You can never depend on the school to teach Grammar.

[sleepy]

AgDearie:

Hi Sleepy,


Well, oral is not difficult to train. Through a lot of reading, eventually they will speak well and Oral picks up. Thru oral and reading eventually they will write well and creativie will be thru how much exposure of reading does the child has.

For Kumon their worksheet are extract from novels, science, biography etc, very wide content. Especially for those who does not read a lot of those books will be a great opportunity of exposure.

Do you realise that school does not teaches Grammar like during those days in the past? You can never depend on the school to teach Grammar.

Thanks for sharing

Glad to know I'm on the right track. She's already reading extensively, ranging from general knowledge to award winning novels. I guess there's no need to resume Kumon then. In a way, stopping Kumon free up her time for more reading. Her grammar is alright. She can manage grammar assessment books 4 years above her school level.

She attended Kumon during her preschool years, must give credit to Kumon for the foundation work

[chrisho]

My son who’s now in P4 started Kumo when he’s in P2 and now in level F. It’s taking him quite a fair bit of time daily to do the worksheets. Was thinking to quit but feel such a waste after so much effort being put in. Some told me it’s not worth the time while I feel it do help in his Maths some how or rather. Any suggestion?

[sleepy]

chrisho:

My son who's now in P4 started Kumo when he's in P2 and now in level F. It's taking him quite a fair bit of time daily to do the worksheets. Was thinking to quit but feel such a waste after so much effort being put in. Some told me it's not worth the time while I feel it do help in his Maths some how or rather. Any suggestion?

There's a thread on Kumon
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=995&start=130

Coincidentally, I withdrawn my girl at level F.

[goldenretriever]

I took my girl out of Kumon when I realised that she had too much homework from her school. It was really meaningless because she was rushing through Kumon worksheets, thus committed several mistakes. The centre would of course had to ask her to redo the same worksheets again.