vividlaurel:

Hi,


My kids (K2) started Kumon maths from Jan and have moved up almost 5 levels in that time. I find that their maths ability has improved and I have also signed them for the free trial in English and will continue that also as I feel my DD needs more coaching in the language.

In retrospect I wish I had started it earlier (when they were in K1), may have more benefits.

Hi Vividlaurel,

Wow...seems that your kids are enjoying their kumon lessons. You mentioned about wishing to start them earlier to gain more benefits...so in your point of view, what will be a suitable age to start and what can I do as a parent (besides practising on his fine motor skills) to prepare my son to be ready for the classes?


And to Foreverj,
Long time no hear!! How's your dd doing? Still coping well in Kumon? HOw much time do you need to spend doing those worksheets with her everyday? i thot it seems that the children really need to stay focus for quite a while in order to work through the worksheets...is that right?

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?

Hi foreverj


Thanks for sharing your firsthand experience on the Kumon worksheets with your gal! Seems that its quite a challenge to do 10 sheets at one go. Your sharing gives me a good idea on how the program works - its more like a daily study kind of thing which involves quite a fair amount of parental support.

How much time does she take to work through the worksheets and does it involve a lot of writing? let me know more about the centre (environment and teachers involved) after the trial...who knows i can send my son to the same place too in the future if its not too far. Hope your gal is enjoying the work and not feeling frustrated at this stage. i will continue my work on the Kumon workbook for the time being :lol:

hmm…not sure about the 2 centres you mentioned but the one my relative sent her boy to was at Siglap centre. She mentioned that it was quite good n that is probably why her son manage to graduate from the kumon English program. Is this centre anywhere near the ones you mentioned at Katong or parkway? If so, you may check it out.

Hello Mummyloves,


I managed to find out some info from one of my relatives about kumon language program. She enrolled her son at around 4.5 YO and he completed the program when he was 9 YO last year. I flipped though some of the worksheets he did and find it pretty impressive too. He was reading stuff like Macbeth from Shakesphere and Classics like Pride and Prejudice!! i understand from the mother that this language program (i think applicable to both English and Chinese) is more for building reading habits and improving comprehension skills...but will take a while to see results like his son did.

Hope this information i've gathered helps

WOW...thank you guys!! U all r really fantastic parents...i thought i have been doing alot by getting my son to read books and recite numbers everyday but i didn't know there are still so many things to expose him to...i MUST go popular bookstore today to get all those Kumon workbooks and scissors and playdough and try those 'no need $ ideas' too :lol:


By the way, do i need to buy big pencils or crayons to encourage drawing and scrawling? Previously, i bought some triangular crayons but seems to be too small for his hands to grab....any suggestion what is the 'ideal length' i should get so that it is not too tedious to hold yet big enuf to grab?

And one last thing to Foreverj, since you are starting your child in Kumon for the trial, please share with me after the trial on the things that your dd goes through so that i can prepare mine to be ready for the next time round if there is any...
:celebrate:

Thank you guys once again for your wonderful ideas!!!

Hello foreverj,


Thanks for your great advice! So have you started sending your kid to Kumon yet or what do you think of the benefits it will bring to your child?

As for my son, i guess i will buy him some kumon workbooks like you suggested to start him with something first. By the way, you mentioned about fine motor skills. Can you advise me what is the ideal age to develop fine motor skills. I’ve tried getting my son to hold a pencil to scribble but he seems not comfortable with it and uses the pencil to poke on the paper in instead…help!!

yep, reading when she is alert is a good idea...and one more thing, dun give up when you see her showing no signs of interest (that's what happen to some of my friends as they feel like they are reading to themselves). at this stage, even though they do not maintain eye contact with us at all times, its still good to give them input and keep up the routine. Your efforts will be pay off eventually when you see your girl taking an interest in flipping the books and asking you to read to her :lol:

oh yes, one more thing you can do is to introduce some nursery rhymes in the form of songs (I played CDs to my son on a daily basis since birth and now he can remember quite a dozen of them). i guess that helps them in building their language ability too.
Keep working and enjoy this nurturing process of our children :celebrate:

Thanks for sending the link!


I’ve read the testimonials and realised that some students started at a pretty young age (in their pre-school years).
Trial starts from 18 July…hope i can make it for registering of any centre can accept my child…anyone knows of any centre that accept young children?

Hello…just to share my 2 cents worth…

have you started reading to your baby? if not, start SOON! i started reading to my son since birth and now he can turn pages by himself, and read some simple words at 20 months. important thing is set a routine. i am a working mom so i usually set reading time at 830pm…it really works WONDER! everynight, my son will take some books and ask to be read. so start now!!