Kumon - Discussion

[foreverj]

hi shiningstar


check your pm.

[sleepy]

I feel that Kumon Maths is not quite in sync with MOE’s model drawing & heuristic type of questions


In my opinion, seem more suitable for preschoolers, to build a strong foundation in addition & subtraction

[shiningstar]

shaynamommy:

Just my expce : perseverance is the key for Kumon. I started my 5 yo one year ago for maths, then started with English too. Today, I signed her up for Chinese as well. Her maths has improved tremendously but it is always a struggle to get her to do the worksheets. She always kicks up a big fuss when it's Kumon time at home. Strange thing is that she loves the lessons at Kumon Siglap Centre. Personally, I find the worksheets repetitive but I believe that that's how kids should learn maths ie thru rote learning. Now she knows her sums and subtractions by heart. It definitely helps to boost her performance in school maths. It is a constant struggle for me n her but I'd tahan as long as I can since discipline is also another good virtue for our kids to have.

Hello shaynamommy,

wow...it seems that you must have lots of perseverance as a parent (not just the child) to continue the program. I salute your 'endurance level'! It must be tough to struggle with your gal to do her work based on what you described. So besides addition and subtraction, what does she learn in Kumon? I am curious about the long term benefits it brings to a child besides good discipline.

miss_clean mentioned about 'self-learners' in the forum but what exactly does that mean? any idea if that applies to your gal?

[shaynamommy]

shiningstar:

Hello shaynamommy,

wow...it seems that you must have lots of perseverance as a parent (not just the child) to continue the program. I salute your 'endurance level'! It must be tough to struggle with your gal to do her work based on what you described. So besides addition and subtraction, what does she learn in Kumon? I am curious about the long term benefits it brings to a child besides good discipline.

miss_clean mentioned about 'self-learners' in the forum but what exactly does that mean? any idea if that applies to your gal?

Okay, based on what I see so far, things she has gathered besides discipline:
1. Accuracy with sums within a prescribed time limit ie. 10 mins. If they are not good with their worksheets during the class work, they may be asked to repeat the whole set.
2. Intense concentration during that 10 mins ie. no chit chatting, no doodling around, no nonsense
3. Getting a sense of achievement as she is given a chance to work on levels beyond her academic level. For instance, my dd is in K1 but she is working on P1 maths and english. So she earns a bronze medal under the Kumon system and she feels really good about it.
4. More defined logic with the sums. She came back and taught me that there was some way of doing the sums as she was taught by the teachers. It didn't register in me cos I assumed that those methods are of no use to me. But at least I knew that she has learnt some technique instead of just the \"practice by heart\" kind of learning. During the PMT session, the teachers told me that they can even do additions of 2 3-digits numbers eg. 245+378 horizontally and not through the traditional vertical method. I dunno how they do it but she told me that they can do it. So, I think it is not all self-learning, the teachers do coach the students as well.

My nieces and nephews have been with the Kumon method for many years and now they do their worksheets without any complaints. When they first started, they were sama sama as my dd. Also, I see even ang-mohs and the India Indians attending the classes too. My Indonesian and Malaysian colleagues who relocated to Singapore also said that they were doing Kumon in their countries! Looks like this is a program with Asian appeal...

[foreverj]

sleepy:

I feel that Kumon Maths is not quite in sync with MOE's model drawing & heuristic type of questions


In my opinion, seem more suitable for preschoolers, to build a strong foundation in addition & subtraction

hi sleepy, understand your dd1 did kumon for a few years right? in your opinion, how has she benefitted from it? and if given a choice, would u have signed her up for kumon for other enrichment classes?

thanks in advance for your sharing

[sleepy]

foreverj:

sleepy:

I feel that Kumon Maths is not quite in sync with MOE's model drawing & heuristic type of questions


In my opinion, seem more suitable for preschoolers, to build a strong foundation in addition & subtraction

hi sleepy, understand your dd1 did kumon for a few years right? in your opinion, how has she benefitted from it? and if given a choice, would u have signed her up for kumon for other enrichment classes?

thanks in advance for your sharing

She has a strong foundation in Maths. Hence Kumon meets my objective in that aspect.

I stopped her Kumon for reason cited above. I prefer a Maths programme that follows MOE syllabus for primary school level.

[foreverj]

i see, thanks agree on the strong foundation of math. can see improvement for my dd in span of 2 weeks. but stil unsure of the committment... :? dun want end up in fighting session every night b4 bedtime

[sleepy]

foreverj:

i see, thanks agree on the strong foundation of math. can see improvement for my dd in span of 2 weeks. but stil unsure of the committment... :? dun want end up in fighting session every night b4 bedtime

Speaking of fighting session, mine super 'nua' when comes to doing worksheets. Ups & downs, mostly downs though, must nag nag nag, chase after her to complete worksheets.

On one hand, I want to leave it to her own pace, don't pressure her. On the other hand, if really at her own pace, one week she would probably complete only 5 pages, the outstanding worksheets get piled up in lightning speed!

Must strike a balance somewhere. I told teacher to assign 3-5 pages a day only, 10 pages a day is mission impossible for her

Surprisingly, despites all these struggles to complete worksheets, she loves Kumon. I think she enjoys the glory of going on stage to collect her Kumon award every year

[netchat]

kumon in pasir ris got 3 centre… 2 of them is by the same teacher…


was wondering which is a better one… any1 could advise…

thank you so much…

Cheers

[liliansim]

I am new to Kumon. Some say there is character devt value. Though Kumon started with Math, I thought that the English language can be self-taught and the language knowledge shouldn’t be "categorized" into different years. So, I feel that it is fine if the child learns beyond his age or different from school curriculum.


Can parents of Kumon English kids are to shed some light?

Thank you.