Kumon - Discussion

[foreverj]

candy02sweet:

Hi Forever,

I share your sentiments and I guess we have all grown up in that type os situation where math can never be fun.
However, my boy is now in MathMonkey, its an american math enrichment program but their techniques are asian so its something with solid foundation after research. I used to have my kid at kumon and the same thing happen as you. But over at MathMonkey, my boy is actually WANTING TO GO to class.. I have only attended the trial class to see, but what i have seen is that they have a game-based curriculum and thus eliminating the \"boring\" worksheet part that math always require.
Instead, it is thru this game that the kids will practise their skills and I guess my boy doens't really think that he's practising, but rather they are playing a game! ( kids always love to play i suppose! )
This games are individual as well as team so it also promotes the teamwork and social skills at the same time too. as my boy is a little shy, but after just 2-3 lessons, he seems much happier after lessons.
just sharing my expeirnce, i hope it helps and maybe you could give it a try!
by the way they are located in katong area.
Cheers,
Candy

hi candy
many thanks! have never heard of this mathmonkey! wil do my own research and check with u if i have more qns ya?

[sleepy]

foreverj:

hi sleepy or anyone who can share his/own thoughts


my dd (this yr n2) is currently in kumon math doing level 3A. so just started learning basic addition. i like kumon for its structure and systematic way of teaching young children foundational math. problem is - after doing it for 6 mths already, she's stil complaining and groaning everytime i ask her to do the worksheets. only 3 or 4 pgs a day and she's stil complaining. i see the value of kumon but wonder if this is a signal that this program is not suitable for her. she wil do eventually but not before a dramatic display of her unwillingness.

Once the child enters primary school, there will be daily homework. I suppose it's good to cultivate the discipline to complete homework on a daily basis.
On the other hand, we won't want the child to burn out too early. Take a couple of months break when necessary. I've done that a number of times.

[foreverj]

hi sleepy, ya decided to stop it and take a break. break for myself and break for dd haha… not so kanjiong abt advancing her now. cos i prefer her to enjoy her childhood too and also to maintain my own sanity. take a break first n maybe explore other math enrichmt. enopi math or mpm. very likely mpm cos its got many locations n heard the worksheets need only be completed at centre n no need to bring home. spare myself the pain… wil update soon…

[greentea2005]

Hi All, need your advice.


My kids have been in kumon since 2.5yrs old. One is currently 5yrs old and the other is 3 yrs old. Both telling me the same question. they don’t like kumon as alot of worksheets. thus I’m thinking whether should i switch them to mpm.

Had went through the link of mpm in this forum. But would like to know, do they have trial and is there alot of worksheet?

[AgDearie]

Hi Greentea2005,


i would suggest you should talk to the chief instructor, understand their progress. Usually the reason why they lost interest and even think of stopping is because they are no longer in their comfort zone. If they are doing 1 or 2 years ahead of their school level, they have no patience to try and once they are repeated too many times they get bored.

As a Kumon parents, you have to understand why your child needs to repeat. Do you want your child to have a strong foundation or "just know" foundation. My elder son in P4 has been with Kumon since middle of K1. He will be a English completer earliest end of next year, hopefully he can make it before P6. His Maths, he had done more than 3 years ahead learning in school level. He had wanted to give up many times, countless times. I believed that if I allowed him to drop out than I may be sending him a wrong message. In future, he may just give up easily as long as he does not want to pursue or fail just over one or 2 trys.

Give them more support or maybe rewared them with stickers or even create score cards - each homework complete will have a star and the number of stars will be rewarded etc. they are young, you have to be creative and I am not asking you to bribe your kids but once a while, it is ok, as long as you managed well.

When your child in P1, you will see the beauty putting them in Kumon. Not only they already have the foundation to count and even able to apply the 4 operations with confidient. Not forgetting giving them good english foundation is also very important. some children in P1 are not able to read and especially doing problem sum will be a headache. Have all the foundation started early before P1 will be helpful. As you know the teacher in school may not able to focus 100% on every child and they canot pause too long if the child can read or understand, they have to move on.

My boys are already in P4 and P2, and Kumon does helps my boys and which I think even tuition teachers may not be able to teach in such a systematic way.

[dreams]

hi,


can anyone recommend a good kumon centre around sgoon/hougang/bishan/thomson area?
:?

[AgDearie]

Kumon Novena is a very popular branch,

You may look for Mrs Josephine Raj.
My boys used to be with this branch before we move them to
Kumon Parkway Centre.

Her husband has a branch in the Yishun Branch - I have no idea of the address.

My gf said the branch in Whampoa is small and new but the Chief Instructor. is friendly.

You may check the Kumon website for the add / tel.

Importantly you must have very good rapport with the chief instructor

[dreams]

thanks a lot. i will go check it out now. My son is currently at a branch in Hougang area but i feel that the chief instructor is not very helpful and not very attentive to the kids. Whenever i speak to her with regards to my son’s progress, she doesnt really give me enough feedback and usually will somehow brush me aside. He has been there for 9 months already and i don’t really see any significant improvement in his attitude towards his work or self learning skills. in fact, his mental calculation is also very weak and somehow they kept advancing him to the next level. Now i am teaching him his kumon work at home because he claims that nobody teaches him in the centre even when he doesnt know how to do it.

[sleepy]

AgDearie:

He will be a English completer earliest end of next year, hopefully he can make it before P6.

Hi, can you share what does Kumon cover for level D & beyond? Wondering what's the coverage at higher levels?

Mine stopped at level C. I'm considering whether to continue. My impression of Kumon English is mainly comprehension. I find its coverage too narrow...

Do you see value in Kumon English? How's your son's grades in English? Is he good in creative writing too?

Thanks for sharing your experience

[AgDearie]

Hi Sleepy,


Currently he is doing GII, for a P4 kid is really tough. Subsequently in H level onwards is a single level, no HI/HII so the Chief Instructor is targeting him to complete by next year hopefully before he start his P6.

Level D which my P2 son is doing, it is a start of sentence construction. It does helps in the comprehension in School. The construction of sentence will starts with copy from passage, then partly self construction then narration and so for. They used those classic novels, publication etc. as the comprehension passages, and usually they encouraged the kids to read those books. You can get a copy the books to read for each level, and also the books that will copy for each level. Even Ronald Dahl’s books are also one of recommended books.

So far does helps in maintaining my son’s standard in schools. He comprehension and creative writing does helps. From P3 onwards, the challenge in school is always vocabulary… no sure about other schools.