Anyone has anything to share about Kumon? I would like to send my kid to the centre to learn mathematics... but not sure if their approach is right.... as I read about their booklet, they claimed that their approach is 'practice, practice and practice'.

I just wonder if it is really effective?

Firstly, the instructor will give diagnostic test to see the kid's ability. Diagnostic test will be given according to the kid's standard, e.g; if the kid is in standard 3, standard 3 test will be given. Level where the kid suppose to start will be determined from the diagnostic test result.
Instructor will guide the student and explain to them how to do the exercise given. Student will have to do the same worksheets twice or until the student can master the skill. In Kumon, exercises or worksheets will be given based on level. e.g; if they start with level A, they will learn addition. when they have completed the level, they will sit for achievement test. if they pass the test, they will proceed to the next level. if not, student will have to take the same level one more time.
Hope this info can help you.

care to tell me about what is kumon centre?

Visit this page to know more about Kumon centre.
http://www.kumon.com.my/

I did personally see the achievement thru my niece the other day... he is only std 1 and he just went to Kumon centre for 6 mths... I can see that he can complete his Kumon exercises about 100 questions in less than 10 mins. I reckon the need to practice and practice for maths... but wonder if the approach adopted by Kumon is good enough? My concern is the exercises they gave is rather systematic... in another word, following certain patterns... Will the children still able to do it if they are given 'mixed up' questions?

On the other hand, if their approach is by practicing and practicing... can't the parent buy exercise book for the kid to practice... I was surprise to be told that my niece went to the class just to complete the exercises only... and at home, he has to do about 2 booklets each day..

Niece but it is a he?

Well, my cousin worked part time before in one of the Kumon centres in my hometown and she was there to mark their exercises. She said everything is done systematically, thus those kids won't feel stressed up being hammered by excessive exercises.

Give it a try!

I went to kumon when I was in primary school, and the teacher just gave us loads of papers with questions to do. multiply, divide, plus & minus, as we get better, our questions will be upgraded to the tougher ones & we'll keep on practicing..if i'm not mistaken, we have a time limit to finish the set of questions while we're doing it

This post has been edited by Orion Pax: Sep 7 2007, 12:33 PM

That's what my concern here... the centre basically just give u lot of questions to practice and practice. Can't parent just do this similar practice at home, why must they send their kids there since the teacher there is basically marking rather than teaching the student.

answer is simple. because most parents don't have the time

I went to kumon last 4years ..i found that it is good but sometimes the homework are too easy..and doesnt suit for some age..

The difference between sending ur kids to Kumon and teaching them at home is,

1. Kumon teachers are more experienced and they can see the progress of ur child.
2. Child will be more focused in Kumon center.
3. If child hav any problems they can discuss with their teacher,
as the teachers knows how to teach them to solve problems in a simple n effective way.
4. Everything is more systematic, a worksheet a day. If ur lazy to do it today u have to do double tomoro so that's not a smart way to 'curi tulang'. And here is the parents turn to play a part. Watch over ur child and make sure he does his worksheet everyday.

And everyone knows it's just about practice and practice, why not buy a buku latihan and let him practice at home instead? Kumon's worksheets has variety of questions, do u think buying one buku lat is enough? Kumon covers all types of questions and they have their own strategy to make u master the maths.

Well the only bad part is, it's a little pricey. RM120 for 12 yrs and below while RM130 for 13 and above i think...

It's really no harm for u to send ur child to Kumon, u will really see improvement! And send him in as early as possible!

well, yea..it's a tad bit pricey..but i think it's worth it to invest in ur child's education. the kumon method of learning enables ur child to learn at their own pace. for example, if they're in standard 2, but they have yet to master what they're supposed to learn in standard 2, they will start from a level that is suitable for them. gradually, they would be able to catch up. the teachers are there to guide the child if they face any difficulties.also, a child can set a target for them to reach within a certain period of time.by having a target, the child is motivated to work harder. of course, parents would have to cooperate to make sure that the child does his/her homework everyday.
that's just my opinion.

mm only math available at Kumon ? are there other subjects?

kumon and mental arithmetic.. which is betteR?

i think kumon only good for child, younger child, not the older 1

kumon is good. i personally undergo training there n found it quite good but i quit becoz got part-time job during my holiday.

n i personally think that the young 1 should be sent to kumon. but the fees kinda expensive....RM120/month

I disagree with cherryblossom,
Kumon is not only for kids tho, there's even until college level!

Subjects like Math and English is available in Kumon.

i worked at one of malacca branch last year...next to kings hotel

it wont be so much benefit for college students.
i) it doesnt focus what college students desire which is to "understand" the concept of certain questions. a Math tuition center at least guide you along the way..... in the right way...
ii) most teachers there do not fit to teach high level math. they can point out simple mistakes in calculation involving subtraction, addition, bla bla but they go ga ga when it comes to logarithm. its in booklet I i think... i knew it cos i am working part time there.
iii) they provide math questions and requires the students to speak numerics in english but truth is, they are self development centre for kids. pusat perkembangan diri. They provides the necessary exercises for kids to develop, not providing tuition for high level math.... the math exercises can apply till form 3, form 4 onwards if you are struggling with add math or so, its time to find a proper math tuition center.

Just would like to share the good news.

Kumon Free Trial Campaign
17th - 30th June 2008

For a limited period, Kumon Malaysia is offering students FREE lessons for two weeks! Experience how the Kumon Method of Learning has cultivated the love to learn among thousands of Malaysian children.

For more information, visit www.kumon.com.my or call 1800 88 1010 to locate the nearest Kumon centre to you.

I went to Kumon before secondary school. Thinking about it as a child's point of view, I hated it. Thinking about it as an older person, I think it is a good concept for learning basics.

Still have my second place Kumon medal hanging in my room.

I work at Kumon part time like for half a year. I do not think that the teachers are more experience in Kumon because they are usually part time teachers that are either studying in college to earn extra income or working during semester break. But this varies between centres.. Another thing is the location of the centre, some centre have more students that other centre so students will get less attention in the busier centre than the quieter centre. Plus some centre also offer Mandrin or Japanes depending on the instrutor. The Centre that i work have math, english and mandrin.

Kumon does not work for every child because the main objective of kumon is able to solve the problem on your with minimal quidelines from the teachers. Some may excel and some will struggle. Furthermore, if the child have an early start and they understand the concept, then they can go far but i Have seen that students in secondary school just enter Kumon and they find it boring because they are doing lower level of maths than what they are learning at schools. So they will be bored with the lower level and not motivated to do the homeworks.

I used to work as an assistant in a KUMON center near my hosing area for 6 months after my SPM. Well, my job is to mark the students worksheet given to them each week for each day of the week.And i still wonder how it can improve ones mathemathics by sheer repeating the same question over and over again until the student get a 100% for the level. starting from A3,A2,A1,B,C and so on until Q(i tink so). each week they come to the center, given wrksheet for a week(which may be the same for each day) do thei worksheet for tat day at the center, i mark, they do the corrections and they go home. the maximum time a student spend time there is only 10-20 minutes depends on the number of students there. And the monthly fees cost a whopping Rm130!!
i personally feel mental arithemathic is way much better, i take classes in it from age 4 until form3 and stop to focus on my SPM. during my time it only cost RM250/level. The duration of each level is depends on u. this course really helps a lot to do qucik calculations during my lower forms. in SPM the usage of calculator kills my speed of calculating. LOL

Ps. the fact that a child is able to finish a few hundreds of questions in just minutes is questinable. the child might have done the same question for a dozens of times. and the questions in each worksheets are repetitive. for eq. 2+5 , and juz a few questions after tat is 5+2...

This post has been edited by loveuallso: Jun 13 2008, 11:02 PM

I am interested to go to KUMON since my friend who go to KUMON always get 100% for her math.

Looking forward to go to KUMON beyond JULY

Math in school has no single connections with KUMON math! School math are way much complicated than KUMON. And one more ting, KUMON don't work for every person. I dont go for KUMON but i still score an A for my MM and AM. Same goes for my classmates who score A's for AM and MM too.

A friend's kid has been doing Kumon for awhile and I managed to search under this thread. Can anyone share the following?
- what is the tip (or trick) to encourage a Kumon student to practise the worksheet every day with good discipline?
- apart from making students think "in advance" on arithmetic, is there other benefits that Kumon student can reap eg improve in overall analytical thinking etc?

Fret not, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

What about making useful of those practices? Kumon seems to be only focusing in brute arithmetic solutions but not on application.

You see, when a particular student undergoes intensive Math class which is beyond his current level, they will be exposed to many topics that are even considered 'out-of-syllabus'. For example, there is a student who completed the whole Kumon maths course and he even did several pre-university questions when he was at the final stage. FYI, all of his practices paid off when he was chosen to take part in the International Mathematics Olympiad competition and he was able to apply all of his knowledge that he had acquired from his numerous training in Kumon. Though he didn't win any medals,he got the consolation prize as he was still able to complete numerous portion of questions in the renowned competition. If it wasn't for the practice he did in Kumon, I doubt he will solve even a single question in the competition. Clearly enough, this is where his application of his knowledge from his previous practices comes in.

This post has been edited by RED-HAIR-SHANKS: Jun 13 2013, 12:32 AM

Well, this could be one of the success route that a Kumon student may end up with.
But in order to achieve this, the student must have strong passion in maths, be able to remember all the stages that he/she gone through while completing different levels etc etc. What concerns is that via this sort of brute learning, it might develop more on the left brain rather than the right side, which is creativity & more on artistic.

for me.....it does train the children's mental arithmethic..... but most of them just follow what the teacher says blindly, they have the arithmetics skills to calculate but not ability to think and solve problems....and most kumon teacher's arent actually teacher.....most of them dont even have a degree/diploma......
experience: worked at kumon for 3 months

for me.....it does train the children's mental arithmethic..... but most of them just follow what the teacher says blindly, they have the arithmetics skills to calculate but not ability to think and solve problems....and most kumon teacher's arent actually teacher.....most of them dont even have a degree/diploma......
experience: worked at kumon for 3 months

I think the qualification of the Kumon teacher is not that critical. More importantly is that they must have the patience and provide encouragement to the students. Because ultimately, it is up to the students themselves to learn at their own pace. Of course the centre "headmaster" must be capable to manage either "interpersonally" or technically.

what is the appropriate age to send my child to Kumon?

Kumon instructors don't teach, do they?

Guess the topic is dead.Anyway, I was really angry when I saw my gal didn't do her kumon HW on yesterday which I walk through with her on the English subject but found out that she dont actually know or understand more than 80% of those wording inside and not even pronounce it. They are teaching her past & present tense now which she dont seen to understand any of those..

I went to meet up with the Kumon Center teacher at Puchong Jaya and ask about how do the teacher coach them and it seen like they dont really coach them but just giving them hw and do and mark and ask them to do correction.. I do not know whether this is effective particularly for the English subject which I dont see it beneficial at all.. Maths perhaps do more exercise will be ok.. but perhaps we could just buy books for them to do and mark it ourselves as the cost for me to send 2 kids there is RM640/month and been sending them there since Aug last year but will terminate it now as didn't allow them to go on yesterday. I would guess that Puchong Jaya Kumon center is too crowded beside their teachers are keep on changing and I dont think they can handle the number of kids there effectively beside causing jam outside of the shop.. Perhaps other Kumon center elsewhere is better but would think they should control their teacher quality and not just keep on taking student without limit..

Just waste of time and money.

enrolling my 4 yrs daughter in kumon pulau meranti...hoping for the best!

HI , can I ask everybody's advise. I'm about to join Kumon as a part time teacher. Any feedback on how the treat their employees? Are teacher overworked with paperwork ,forced to stay extra hours to work or moved around centre's at managements will ?

Im studying Masters , so i need to be sure i wont be working beyond the hours they have advised currently

Appreciate your advise