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Poll for parents of long term Kumon Kids in Primary...

11 replies

Strix · 26/03/2010 10:56

I'm looking for opinions of Kumon maths if you started fairly early (say before mid year 2) and stuck with it through Primary.

Why did you start Kumon?

Did your DC go tto state or private school?

When it came time for 11+ or private (senior) entrance exams, did you feel Kumon or the national curriculum did a better job of preparing your child for the exam?

How long did you stay with Kumon and why did you stop when you did?

At what point in the National Curriculum did you find the Kumon really revealed it's success?

Did you find that Kumon compliments or fights agains the national curriculum?

And, again, I really want to hear from long term Kumon parents. We have been with Kumon for a year. So far I like it. But, I'm wondering about the long term advantages (and of course disadvantages as well).
Thank you!

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Strix · 26/03/2010 10:57

its, not it's

(excuse my typing)

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Strix · 26/03/2010 17:05

Nobody?

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passmyglassplease · 26/03/2010 17:26

just marking my place

ds (9) started Kumon Math in Feb this year

I would love to know the answers to all your questions

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willali · 26/03/2010 17:44

just finished 4 years of Kumon with 2 DC's

The eldest needed to get up to speed for his age. He did 3 years (Y3-6)and then we gave up because he had mastered the 4 rules and we felt the work was not supporting him at school eg no shape work, no word problems etc. HE was however king of the times tables!! WE have opted for a private tutor now for 13+ CE who is a better back up for what they are doing at school.

Younger child started only because we were waiting at the centre once a week and so we thought she might as well go in and join in. SHe sailed thriugh levels far quicker and got to Silver medal standard after 3 years (Y1-4). We stopped because her other activities and school homework meant no "down time" for her.

Private school, no SATS so can't comment on that aspect. I still think it is better as a remedial exercise than a stretching exercide because it is so focussed on the absolute basic arithmetic for sooooo long and the curriculum is far wider than that
HTH

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Strix · 26/03/2010 18:21

Very useful Willali. Thanks. And my younger one has started for exactly the same reason!

I am starting to feel that Kumon should pick up the pace. Maybe we will stick with it until we have really mastered the addition, subtraction, multiplication, division rapid recall.

What do you mean by the 4 rules?

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snorkie · 26/03/2010 20:13

strix I don't quite fit your criteria but you may be interested in any case. dd started in yr 3 on the advice of an ed psych (she had mild dyslexia & was behind in maths from where her ability would suggest). She stuck it for about a year, so not really long term, and got the basic addition/subtraction rules memorised. Then after a year off she restarted to learn her tables/division and again stuck at it for about a year. If we had the patience to sit & do tables with her regularly that would have been as good I think, but neither of us were sufficiently motivated & we needed the 'ritual' of kumon to make us do it. She has the kind of mind that needs a lot of repetition to learn number bonds/tables etc and kumon certainly gave that! She was at private school, but we did it more because she needed it than to pass any exams (the pass threshold was low enough that she would I think have passed in any case). In terms of what was the best preparation, I'd say kumon was best for arithmetic (in our case) & the NC best for real maths, but of course you need the arithmetic to support the maths.

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Strix · 26/03/2010 22:39

Thanks, snorkie. That is useful iformation. Perhaps I made my criteria too narrow.

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willali · 27/03/2010 09:51

4 rules = add, subtract, multiply, devide - up to and including long multiplication with numbers of 3 figures and long multipliucation ditto

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notanidea · 27/03/2010 10:32

DD is in year 4 and started it at the end of year 2. so not lot of experience but she loves it.We are happy with her progress and just have to wait and see. Lot of parents who we know have their children in secondary school and almost all of them vouch for kumon as the reason their chilkdren have done so well in maths.

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Optimism · 07/04/2010 22:40

From a teacher's perspective, Kumon is great for children who like repetition and the confidence it can bring when dealing with the four rules. It does not, however, help a great deal with mathematical reasoning and the 'using and applying' which are so fundamental in maths.

It could, of course, be argued that children who are more adept at the calculation side of things will consequently be more confident in applying this knowledge. In my experience, though, this is not always the case with Kumon as the children don't really need to think about what they are doing in a mathematical way, they are just learning to follow a pattern.

In my opinion, for what it's worth, I do not believe that it helps much to prepare children for 11+ as these exams are much more centred on the understanding and reasoning side of things. It can, however, help some children to gain confidence and this is never a bad thing.

I will add that most teachers I know don't like Kumon for the reasons I have mentioned above and the fact that they teach different methods from those those used in schools which can, in some cases, result in confusion rather than confidence.

In short, I think its benefits are very dependent on the child and the school.