Kumon, Tutoring for children

bonnie_2

i have been looking into this for my daughter who has special needs and it looks quite good, but is it worth the £85 a month.
As anybody used it.

Miss_Behaving

Hi Bonnie, both my children do Kumon Maths and have in the past done the English - it became too expensive so they had to give the English up.

Basically it is just a set of worksheets each day which the child needs to complete within 10-15 minutes. It does take a lot of discipline from both parents and children to do it every day and I have regularly had arguments with my children about completing the work although DS (12) now admits that it does help him (that's 6 years of Kumon and £3,240 later:eek: !!) My DD (8) has been doing Kumon Maths for 4 years and loves the subject.

You don't say how old your daughter is but I would recommend that you start off with just the one subject to see how things go. It is recommended that Maths be completed before the English as maths worksheets develop speed whereas English developes accuracy. I found it a struggle fitting in both subjects after school when homework also needed doing and found the children uncooperative when asked to do 15 minutes of maths before school :rolleyes:

If you need any more information let me know and I'll try to help (alternatively I'll get my children to reply and then you'll find out straight from the horse's mouth so to speak!)

HTH
Sharon

Nicki

My son who is 6 started maths in January, then asked to do English as well, which he has been doing for a couple of months now. The idea is that each worksheet should take around 10 minutes, so that's 20 minutes a night which I think is quite a lot for a little boy. Most nights he is happy enough to do them, though we have had to institute a rewards system to keep him motivated (basically if he does them both within the correct time frame, he gets a "mystery prize", which is usually a token which I have made which he can exchange for an extra bedtime story, extra time on the computer, etc at a time of his choosing).

I would say that the maths has helped him, and he now finds it easier at school and is more confident. It's a bit early to say about the english, though his handwriting has certainly improved, but his english was pretty good for his age before he started.

I have another child who has moderate learning difficulties and the worksheets would be beyond her as would the time spent each night doing them. It depends on the nature and severity of your child's special needs whether Kumon would work for them I think. You could make an appointment to meet the Kumon tutor and try out a few worksheets to see whether they are suitable for your child. We did this before my son started and there was no charge for this session. The idea is that your child should always find what they are doing quite easy, because the aim is to build confidence, so you would need to be sure that your child could cope easily to get the most out of the programme.

You should also prepare yourself for the fact that there might be a long waiting list - we had to wait for about 5 months before we got a place

chaliepud

Thank you! We are considering this also

H

silvercar

If you can sit down with your child for 20 minutes each night and study, your getting the same benefit. Kumon gives you the discipline of an outside force persuading you and your child to do this.

The other benefit of Kumon is that the work sheets are set exactly at the child's level, so they continually get a high score, boosting their confidence.

They have the time to do this because you are spending an extra 2 hours a week solely on the one subject, so the increase in work level between worksheets can be so small that you continually improve in tiny steps.

This can be a great help to children who are average or struggling. I would suggest that well motivated and bright children benefit less, they are already confident and could find the repitition tedious.

ajr

Both my sons do english,my 12 yr old started at the age of 9 shortly before being diagnosed as dyslexic.He had been really struggling at school and his teacher recommended it.It has made a huge difference,he has gone from a child who hated school to thriving.My 10 year old asked to start it a year ago so both now do english.I agree it takes discipline and we do have rows over it sometimes and its especially hard in school holidays but worth it.I gave my 12 year old the option of stopping when he went up to high school but he chose to continue.Both my boys do it in the morning before school ,we adjusted our routine to get upbit earlier,works for us. It is expensive but worth it amd this year my 10 year olds teachers have been awful so at least this is helping.Good luck

shykins

my sons school teacher mentioned this to me today but from wat i am reading its for those needing help cos they are behind

my son is working maths a year ahead of his school year and his reading is way over his year age

so really would this be any help to him or is there something else anyone can suggest??

he just attended a gifted and talented maths day but they dont seem to take it any further then that where we are

thanks in advance
x

Nicki

No it's not just for kids who are behind. The work is set to the child's actual level, not his school age, so if your child is very bright, then he will start at a higher level than other children of his age might. My son does both maths and english - at school he is with the pack in maths, but at least a year ahead in english, and the kumon he does reflects this.

babybimbles

Not sure if that was the right way of putting it!

Basically I have a near 6 year old who I consider to be quite bright. My near 4 year old is happily plodding along at pre-school and I don't mind if he doesn't know his abc's etc. fully as I believe in learning through play and just as long as he is progressing, i'm happy.

Now my question is that how much as a parent do you do at home to help your child?

I'm looking into Kumon, I like the way it creates discipline at home. My dd loves free writing and drawing and I want learning to be fun, not a chore so that part does put me off but I do think we need some form of routine.

Also how do you know if your child is bright? What / who do you compare them to?

And if anyone has a child in year 1 - tell me what kind of activities do you do with them at home.

Many thanks in advance x

Idiophreak

babybimbles wrote:

academically challenged

teehee....