Kumon, Tutoring for children

babybimbles

Idiophreak wrote:

teehee....

being challenged academically then? Were you trying to be helpful? I don't suppose you have children to worry about then?

lizzie_dripping

I have a bright child in year 1 (and another in year 6).

I encourage reading as wide a range of books as possible, building up their vocabulary and using that vocabulary in everyday situations. Also get them used to following instructions and learning where to find out information for themselves. Use money for problem solving with numbers, or play number games in the car, bus queue, bath etc.

School should be able to tell you how well your child is achieving compared to others in the class, make sure that they are challenging him too. It was a year 2 teacher that noticed my older son's aptitude for maths, and the school have pushed him on ever since. He should be aiming to get level 6 maths in his KS2 SATS.

I don't know much about Kumon as I haven't looked into that, although I do know parents that send their children.

Let them join Beavers/Rainbows/Brownies or other youth groups as they will learn independence and self sufficiency - just as important as academic achievements! Sport will also teach them about self disclipline.

We all want to do the best we can by our children, so good luck.

Nicki

I did Kumon with DS when he was 6 for a year. He was bobbing along at average on maths before he started but his reading was very very good and I felt his maths could be too if he could just build his confidence. He started off just doing maths then asked if he could do english too. TBh some nights it was a real chore to get him to do it though, and we had to resort to a system of rewards and encouragement.

After a year, he was at the top of his class in both maths and english (and his teachers commented on how much his writing in particular had improved over the summer holidays). He was also able to use a range of strategies to solve maths problems which he had worked out for himself (helped I think by the confidence Kumon had given him). He asked though to stop Kumon after the year, because he wanted to spend time on history (which he loves) and science and he was finding Kumon took up too much of his time. I would have to say since he stopped he's probably done less "academic" work in his free time but what he has done has been self-selected, and the progress and confidence he got from Kumon was IMHO worth it.

Scarlett1

babybimbles I have a 5 year old in YR1 who is bright and is happily reading green eggs and ham as a reading book in school, I help her with her weekly homework (reading, spellings and maths) and we sit down together and read. I want the best for my child but think that children should be children and pushing them for extra work at such a young age is unnecessary, I think the routine is more for your benefit than your childrens and think that they should be drawing cause they want to do it not because they have too, let them have their fun whilst they are young enough cause when they reach secondary school age they will be pushed enough to work towards GCSE's

mamamia

My DD is in year 2 now but when she was in yr1 we used to have 1 hr studying time M-F and she enjoyed it and it has now become a routine in our home. Kumon is good if your child is struggling at school and you don't have the time to read or study with your child. A friend of mine whose son used to do Kumon thinks it helped her and her son to be more discplined studywise. You can have a look at this site https://www.nc.uk.net, it was mentioned on this forum not too long ago.

hobo28

Can anyone explain Kumon to me?

Is this a system where you have to work each day? Is it just worksheets at home or more go to a centre? The website isn't clear to me.

Does anyone here who has used it recommend it (or not)?

I have a 6yr old who seems to be falling behind at school. She is really really keen but when she has a problem she "switches off". Plus she has problems concentrating for long periods and I've found that short 10 minute bursts more frequently works better with her than one long slog to get it out of the way.

babybimbles

Thank you all for your great advice.

Yes it's a balance that I want to achieve. I want my little girl to build on her childhood experiences through play and discovery. She's never been into dressing up or make believe and I do try to encourage her to have fun rather than just sit down to write (which I am still glad of).

Making time is an issue as I have a 13mth old too. But I think I will try to give an hour after school to both of the older ones and see how things go. I might consider just the Maths with Kumon but not before I havent tried other ideas (work books etc etc).

I just bought dd (6 this month) the set of 'My Naughty Little Sister' series from the bookpeople, as I loved reading these. She read the first page to me without any help - is this advanced?

Her teachers say she is bright and she forces my husband to sit down with him every night with her picture dictionary. She's memorising the words (her choice)!

Any more suggestions/advice please carry on! xx

Scarlett1

babybimbles have a look at this site as a guideline of what is expected of child at different ages (literacy and maths)

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primaryframeworks/foundation/early/

http://www.qca.org.uk/3.html

tanith

I think that comparing your child to others children is pointless , they all develop differently and at different speeds they may be better at certain things at different stages of development.. and apart from supplying good books and plentiful supplies of paper and pencils and taking time to encourage your child to read I think they should be allowed to develop in their own time ...... and I found that children that were pushed to do things then fell back later on or got bored and lost interest............ JMO of course...:rotfl:

lizzie_dripping

The other thing that I found with both of my boys is that they love writing lists!

Christmas lists, birthday lists, menus, guest lists, lists of their favourite footballers or songs. I find dozens of sheets of paper all around the house with lists on.

It's all writing, but something that they choose to do rather than be made to do.