Hi,
I enrolled my daughter into Kumon a few months ago, shortly before she turned 3. She’s been reading at what I estimate to be a 1st grade level, and due to her reading ability, is able recognize numbers up to 100. I had been trying to teach her math, but it was difficult for her to pick it up. Also when counting objects, she tended to skip numbers.
I thought Kumon would provide some structure, and the repetition and drills made sense to me. I checked out several Junior Kumon centers nearby us, and though the method is the same, the centers vary by location and by the personality of the instructors/franchise owners. There is only one instructor per location, with several assistant teachers. The Junior Kumon is held in a little room, with a maximum of 5 kids.
The monthly fee in our area is $110 US dollars per month for a math course. Another $110 per month for a reading course. I decided to do only the math course. We would attend 2 classes per week, half hour slot each. 10 pages of homework (20 sides) per night.
She was given a diagnostic test, and was put in the level where she would begin to write, mostly tracing and connecting the dots exercises. Although I had done the Kumon tracing workbooks with her at home and she could hold a pencil somewhat properly, her writing still needed work.
A couple of weeks after beginning the program, due to her age, I requested to bring her only once a week, and to limit the pages to only 5 a night. It turned out to be more difficult to finish the homeworks than I expected, but we managed to finish the homework before class. The homework is sometimes tedious and repetitive. The instructor distributed repeat homework we had already completed until I told her we were ready to move on. Apparently, this is typical. My daughter does not always want to do the homework, she has to be in the mood. Still, she does manage to get it done, but it requires a great deal of motivation/commitment/time on my part, especially at this age.
The Junior Kumon class is like a revolving door, with kids coming in and out every half hour. They are each doing different assignments according to their level in math or reading, and mostly older children. The Junior Kumon instructor sets her up with an assignment for the day, or a number board, and jumps in when she appears to need assistance while helping the other students with their respective assignments. There is a reward system - so far she has been receiving stickers to place on a sticker map for homeworks done.
She has now begun a new level, and starting to actually practice writing numbers - these assignments are now timed and move a lot quicker.
She is more confident in her writing skills and clearly shows interest in writing numbers and letters, so in the short term, it does work. We haven’t begun addition/subtraction yet and won’t do so for awhile, so I can’t say much about that.
Having purchased Kumon workbooks in the past, and the Kumon dry erase flashcards, I would say it is a different experience than just doing it on our own with the workbooks. At this young age, it is a big commitment, and it might been too early to start. People who say it worked for their children had them enrolled for years and started early. The homework can be tedious and repetitive, but it does provide structure and consistency. Now that we’ve started, however, I’ll continue to keep her in the program.
