Kumon
 

hi guys,

i was just wondering if any of you has tried enroling their kids in the kumon math or reading program? i discovered a kumon centre quite nearby and was planning to try it...

hope you can share any experiences/ or any feedback you may have heard from others.....

thanks!
:)

Re: Kumon
 

They are Huge back in UK, & a lot of people swear by it, so all I say try it, if its not good than take your kids out.

Re: Kumon
 

my SIL sent her youngest son to it in scotland. He was below average and stuggling , although he will never be brains of britain he is now an average student and much happier and confident at school. She swears by it , she said they take the kid right back to basics and relearn them, its all about learning how to learn apparently:confused:

Re: Kumon
 

I have heard fairly positive reports about Kumon but....

My kids are enrolled in Mathletics (www.mathletics.com) which was recommended to me by the maths dept at our school. When we moved over here, I felt that the curriculum was a bit of a gamble - but Mathlectics (you need to go on the website to see what I mean) allows you to follow, I think, 3 major countries' courses at any year level - so you can kind of keep tabs on what your child is studying at school.

The only disadvantage(!) is that to get the best out of you do need to sit with your child. We spend about 40 minutes a week on it. $100 for a one year subscription.

Re: Kumon
 

Thank you for the helpful replies guys! :)

thanks NKSK for posting that math website, i will check it out right away since i am also quite concerned with the academic curriculum here.... :p

i guess we can squeeze in 40 mins a week to "tutor", plus the $100/yr fee sounds pretty cheap.....

cheers!

Re: Kumon
 

My eldest did it for four years in the UK and she came on in leaps and bounds, really helped. I assisted the Kumon teacher with all the backroom stuff and learnt a lot and saw how kids improved from start onwards. Very very few didn't get something out of it and they were mainly the kids of parents who either didn't have the time or inclination to help.

Re: Kumon
 

Kumon is brilliant in my opinion.

$100 per month for 1 subject (maths in our case) - this includes 2 sessions at the centre a week and homework for all the other days.

The homework takes 20-30 mins per day to start of with and rises to 30-40 mins. our daughter has come on loads in maths and is now above her year level in maths (she was struggling and a bit behind) 0 this has been achieved in around 6 months!).

Couldn't recommend it more - their methods make total sense and were just wgat we were looking for.....

Jane

Re: Kumon
 

yep money agree totally, my bros has', 3 kids, their eldest is a high flyer and 'fast-tracked' through school to go to uni a year earlier than most, her second on track, but will go to uni like the average kid, her thrid (and all we all love him to death), was the one struggling, she was straight on to it, as was my bros, and they thought kumon would help and it did, it brought him on leaps and bounds, my SIL works part-timie so she can be there for her kids, ok, my bros works hard, but inbetween times he helps the lads at the scouts and is a swimming coach for kids,

Re: Kumon
 

My two are both on Kumon and it is well worth the money IMHO. Its improved their technique and confidence enormously.

We sometimes sit with them although now they have been doing it for a couple of years, they tend to just get on with it. And its only about 10-15 mins each day. They do it after school (but before playstation!)

As the elder one was slipping a bit in English, we switched him onto that and its making a slow improvement i think.

Re: Kumon
 

I often recommended Kumon to parents because it is a highly structured program and it allows the kids lots of practice at different tasks. They do gain a lot of confidence from it, especially the maths program and it makes up for some of the shortfalls in Aussie teaching where rules and practice are not necessarily an integral part of the curriculum. It is expensive and parents need to be fully on board, as others have said - dont just expect them to get on with it because after a while they can see it as a bit of a chore.

Re: Kumon
 

Brisbane also has Kip McGrath tuition centres which are even better.
My brother in law sent all his 4 kids there and the kids loved it as much as him.
It's much less repetitive than Kumon and the kids are actually taught by teachers for over an hour each week.
They give children the understanding, it's not total repetition. There's loads in Brisbane apparently.

Re: Kumon
 

My friend is a nanny and her mindees follow the Kumon scheme - she rates it very highly.

My girls also use mathaletics and it is fantastic - we are lucky in that the school pay for all the childrens subscriptions :D but the girls love it and it is good fun. (Even though my 6 yr old is better at math than me:o)

Re: Kumon
 

I've used Kumon and so have my kids. They thought it was boring and repetitive and their 'teacher' wasn't a qualified teacher.
They don't have to be.
One year down the line they still couldn't do long multiplication even though they'd done it a thousand times there before.
Problem was they hadn't understood what they were doing in the first place.

Re: Kumon
 

This can be a problem in other areas also. The franchising of music teaching for example - can lead to unskilled people delivering the skills - with often predictable consequences.

Re: Kumon
 

Hi, new to this site, but Kumon caught my eye, as I have worked in 2 different Kumon centres.
From my experience the kids aren't taught but just given work sheet after work sheet, and it's up to the parents to do most of the work. Kids come in to have their work marked and that's about it.
They're not taught like in other tuition centres.
I'm not a teacher, have always been a mum, but I was bored and think lots of the kids were !!