anyone have kids in Kumon?

[hemants]

Good experience?

Looking to put my 11 y old in the math program.

[esidirop]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

no, but i am thinking of sending a couple of my staff!

[fourputt]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

Good friends of mine send their 6 and 9 year olds. Both are reading at high school level and are tops in their classes. According to them it is time consuming, but the results speak for themselves.

If you as a parent are prepared to put in the time and can afford it, go for it.

[SingleWalking]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

Not necessary ideal. Kumon gives the kids worksheets to do but the staff there are not teachers hence they will not teach the kids how to do something. They will just give you worksheets to do there while they mark those from last week. The problem with kids learning math is you are not sure how to teach them even if you know how to do the problems. Note: you have to pay 6 months (predated cheques) in advance and you cannot cancel.

Take a look at Oxford. They charge a bit more but the staff are actually teachers from public schools getting extra money working there. They actually teach the kids how to do it. For Oxford you buy a block of time.

My son started at Kumon last fall when he as in grade 1 and falling behind in both math and English. It helped him back then. He started Oxford this summer and he learned more.

[Mersey]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

Good friend of mine sent his daughter to Kumon for years probably 6-8 years. She was tops in math in high school and won the overall math award.
She's now at Queen's studying engineering. Whether Kumon helped, I don't know but I like to think it did.

[golferguy27]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

My two kids did Kumon math and it was a valuable exercise. It does take family commitment, but i found it useful again to connect with the kids and what hey were doing,as wellas sharpen up my own skills again. I actually enjoyed it but the samewas not true for my wife.

I firmly believe the public school system falls short in these core skills so supplement, to me,now seems required.

[TourIQ]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

My two kids did Kumon math and it was a valuable exercise. It does take family commitment, but i found it useful again to connect with the kids and what hey were doing ...
I firmly believe the public school system falls short in these core skills so supplement, to me,now seems required.

tasker it's amazing what you can teach kids beginning as seniors in public school, all the way up to advanced topics / subjects, if you keep it simple to start and find an application in-line with their personal interests. Then after they master the subject material, tell them it was so advanced, that guys/gals at work shy away from learning this stuff

I once told the principle of the public school, when they wanted to eliminate an important topic (high on learning and effort). He learned more while investing 150 hours of focused integrated learning (outside of the school system to supplement his formal education), then being in class (your school) for his required 1,200 hours of instruction. 2 years later, the advanced topic he learned and applied, he was invited as a keynote speaker to an international symposium and followed the VP of Ford on stage to address 200 attendees (20% Ph.D.'s) ... while he was 14 years old (grade 9)

Kids have an amazing ability to learn, never tell them its hard and yes it takes personal commitment, and worth every hour invested

Not sure what Kumon is but it sounds promising

[golferguy27]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

Totally agreed, and in our case we experienced how well they can learn with the active support of parents.

Our feeling was that we needed to get them to a higher base level than they were experiencing in primary and middle school. I have no doubt they can amp it up as required, but we wanted to make sure that they had the best starting point possible.

Kumon is as exercise program designed to teach skills by frequent repetition. I must confess it does what it says on the can, but it is not automatic - a commitment is required.

tasker it's amazing what you can teach kids beginning as seniors in public school, all the way up to advanced topics / subjects, if you keep it simple to start and find an application in-line with their personal interests. Then after they master the subject material, tell them it was so advanced, that guys/gals at work shy away from learning this stuff

I once told the principle of the public school, when they wanted to eliminate an important topic (high on learning and effort). He learned more while investing 150 hours of focused integrated learning (outside of the school system to supplement his formal education), then being in class (your school) for his required 1,200 hours of instruction. 2 years later, the advanced topic he learned and applied, he was invited as a keynote speaker to an international symposium and followed the VP of Ford on stage to address 200 attendees (20% Ph.D.'s) ... while he was 14 years old (grade 9)

Kids have an amazing ability to learn, never tell them its hard and yes it takes personal commitment, and worth every hour invested

Not sure what Kumon is but it sounds promising

[bogeytrain]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

I have my kids in JEI, which are supposed to run by certified teachers. This can be paid on a monthly basis, so I like that flexibility.

We may take them out of it in October and restart them with our private tutor who is also a certified teacher but could not land a gig this year.

During downtime while I am watching TV with the kids, I pull out the iPad and sign onto Khanacademy.org. Pretending that I need help with problems I ask them to help me out and before you know it they take over it. It's an interactive sight, it's free and highly interactive. Thanks to Bill Gates' foundation it's does not cost a cent.

[TourIQ]

Re: anyone have kids in Kumon?

Totally agreed, and in our case we experienced how well they can learn with the active support of parents.

tasker as you have found, it takes more effort to be the teacher, but very rewarding for all parties involved.
I viewed it as a mentoring relationship to my best friend, and this is what we became
Some responsibilities in life are just too critical to delegate, but every now and then you do need some outside help