Kumon school experience

Ignoramus31542 wrote:
We have a 4.5 year old whom we try to get a little bit educated. So we
enrolled him into a "Kumon" to study English and math. After about 6
months of it, I ended up being basically shocked at the math program
and pulled him out of it. This article sumarizes my experiences and I
would like to invite some comments.


I wouldn't advise Kumon to anyone as an entry into the wonderful world
of mathematics. Especially a 4.5 year old. At that age, the child is
exploring the world and making sense of order and rhythm. Memorization
of "facts" will surely kill any curiosity or interest.

We sent DD to a Montessori school. Although Montessori is not known for
mathematics, DH and I always found the material absolutely fascinating.
Most children seem to love working with the math materials. By the
end of kindergarten, they knew the concepts, if not the names, of
multiplication and division.

Jeanne

Ignoramus31542 wrote:

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 20:50:23 -0500, Jeanne wrote:
Ignoramus31542 wrote:
We have a 4.5 year old whom we try to get a little bit educated. So we
enrolled him into a "Kumon" to study English and math. After about 6
months of it, I ended up being basically shocked at the math program
and pulled him out of it. This article sumarizes my experiences and I
would like to invite some comments.

I wouldn't advise Kumon to anyone as an entry into the wonderful world
of mathematics. Especially a 4.5 year old. At that age, the child is
exploring the world and making sense of order and rhythm. Memorization
of "facts" will surely kill any curiosity or interest.

Let's be a little clearer, dumb repetition cannot really appeal to
anyone but possibly very dumb people, if that.

The problem is that for memorization of the math facts, repetition is
necessary. It's better if it isn't mindless repetition, but there's
really no substitute for doing it a lot. That's where computer
programs come in IMHO - they give lots of game type activities where
you have to perform the actions over and over and eventually they will
be come automatic.

To give a non-math example - since I learned to read by the whole word
method, I never really learned to spell until I learned to type and
had to address all the letters in the word. Another non-math
example in addition to typing practice and shorthand practice is music
practice - you have to practice the movements until they become
automatic.

And for a math example, I had to learn some addition facts when I was
a cashier in a cafeteria which had items prices at 7 cents, 8 cents
and 6 cents. One lady got a 7 cent dish of cottage cheese, a 6 cent
glass of iced tea and an 8 cent hard boiled egg each day. I had to
process 200 people in an hour and a half, and I did not have time to
add on the cash register - I had to do it in my head. I got much
better at arithmetic.

Also, I might add - arithmetic isn't mathematics.

We sent DD to a Montessori school. Although Montessori is not known for
mathematics, DH and I always found the material absolutely fascinating.
Most children seem to love working with the math materials. By the
end of kindergarten, they knew the concepts, if not the names, of
multiplication and division.

Mine also goes to Montessori school.

Montessori school works well for some children, but not for all of
them.

grandma Rosalie

" I wouldn't advise Kumon to anyone as an entry into the wonderful
world
of mathematics. Especially a 4.5 year old. At that age, the child is
exploring the world and making sense of order and rhythm. Memorization
of "facts" will surely kill any curiosity or interest.



"Let's be a little clearer, dumb repetition cannot really appeal to
anyone but possibly very dumb people, if that."

Actually, I have met a couple of people who've sent their kids to Kumon
in order to get challenge in math. However, that wasn't in the early
years, it was in at least late grade school, and the kids progressed
rapidly into algebra and what not. I suspect using Kumon for
enrichment/acceleration is more common with higher-level math, and
better handled by the tutors who work at that level. It's not a course
I would particularly recommend, but it's cheaper than some and I've
heard of people being happy with it.

The OP may be interested in the book _Developing Math Talent_ by Susan
Assouline and Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik.

By the way, David Elkind is actually *not* against accelerated
instruction for gifted children, he's only against over-cramming
children who are clearly not developmentally ready yet. Unlike many
so-called experts, he's prepared to admit that "developmentally
appropriate" instruction can cut both ways.

--Helen

I agree that it is not appropriate to send kids to kumon. It is too repetitive and boring for the child. We want to encourage creativity and having new ideas. Kumon does not really promote that. It does help to drill the facts so that the kids remember but i am not so sure I want my kids to do it this way.

My kids are in montessori as well. They are happy there and I believe they learn a lot there. There are a lot of montessori in Singapore and not all are good. It is important to find a good one.

I may switch them to PAP next year so that they get more disciplined before they go to primary school.

cheng cheng
www.raisingconfidentkids.com