What age did you start Kumon

Anonymous
A friend recommended starting at 3, thought this was way too early for reading. Any try it? Benefits?
Anonymous
never crossed my mind to add something like Kumon to "enrich" the education of a perfectly happy little boy.
Anonymous
I know they have preschool materials. My daughter's in-home daycare uses their curriculum for their 2-3 year olds.
Anonymous
I'm not a huge Kumon fan for reading. Kumon is based on memorization and worksheets. I think Kumon is GREAT for math, but I'm definitly not using the method for reading. For math, we are starting in 6 months, when he is 5.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:never crossed my mind to add something like Kumon to "enrich" the education of a perfectly happy little boy.


Another pointless poster.
Anonymous
Another pointless poster.


Yep, that would be YOU. What did your post add to the discussion except snark?

I'm with 18:34. We never did Kumon, never saw the need for it, and the kids are thriving in the advanced academic program in elementary school.

There are lots of other fun, enriching things to spend money on besides structured "educational" classes and workbooks, and there's no benefit or advantage (except bragging, I suppose?) to teaching or trying to teach a 3-yr old how to read. They will learn to read when they're ready, and the vast majority are not ready at 3.
Anonymous
Teacher here. I'm one of those types who is anti the use of too many worksheets, especially for young kids. And everything in Kumon workbooks, you can recreate with hands on fun interactive games at home which are much more meaningful in the long run.
Anonymous
I use the following as my gauge for what makes sense in terms of child development: I imagine a hyper competitive mom I'm not too fond of talking about the activity (where can I get flashcards?, etc). If my reaction is neutral, then I know it's in the realm of normal caring parental behavior (where can I find cheap soccer cleats?). If my reaction is suspicious, I know it's not good for my kid.

On Kuman at age 3, definitely neurotic and unnecessary. Big chunky blocks at age three? Sounds good to me.
Anonymous
I wasn't trying to be "useless" - I'm the poster who never thought to use Kumon.

I have a heck of a lot of training, and have read the research -- there's no long term gain from having your children read that young. Your child will read when your child is ready, and if there are problems, three is WAY TOO YOUNG to diagnose.

My child is now in elementary school, and I can tell you that there's plenty of time for structure. Enjoy the freedom from it while you can.
Anonymous
What the hell is Kumon?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:What the hell is Kumon?


They're workbooks/flash cards that go from preschool to 6th grade. And they're against my religion.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I'm one of those types who is anti the use of too many worksheets, especially for young kids. And everything in Kumon workbooks, you can recreate with hands on fun interactive games at home which are much more meaningful in the long run.


I'm a teacher and I LOVE Kumon.
To each their own.
Some kids do GREAT with it, some don't. I urge parents to try it out and see if your child likes it and if it fits their personality. If it does it's a wonderful learning tool for both, reading and math.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I LOVE Kumon.


makes your job easier
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I'm one of those types who is anti the use of too many worksheets, especially for young kids. And everything in Kumon workbooks, you can recreate with hands on fun interactive games at home which are much more meaningful in the long run.


I'm a teacher and I LOVE Kumon.
To each their own.
Some kids do GREAT with it, some don't. I urge parents to try it out and see if your child likes it and if it fits their personality. If it does it's a wonderful learning tool for both, reading and math.


pp here

Worksheets can be ok to occasionally supplement/practice learning. However, they can definitely be overused and I don't see the point in using it with a 2-4 year old. especially since young kids often don't connect a worksheet with real life. Or even some first graders for that matter... I can remember assisting a teacher once who was teaching money and they had a practice sheet to work on and they did not connect the pictures of money with real money and the monetary value. However, give them the same problems with real or play money to work with and they got it.

I'm definitely more of the constructivist/progressive type, and I find it much more fun for me, and the students, to do as much hands on/student centered learning and activities as possible. It also addresses more learning styles and multiple intelligences that way. We do a combination of group/pair/individual work, combinations of activities for different learning styles, etc.

Instead of having a 3 year old fill out a worksheet on counting or sorting... why not have them count or sort their trains? Cars? Instead of tracing letters in a book, make letters with playdough or in shaving cream or paint. Instead of circling letters on a worksheet, play games with letter blocks or with foam letters in the tub. Instead of writing the alphabet in order, do a crazy animal alphabet train puzzle and act out the animals. That's what we did (when interest was shown) and he knew all of his letters and could count to 10 by 20 months, and began learning the order of the alphabet around 3. He also knew his colors at 1, and shapes by 2. Never used a worksheet or flashcards, and still haven't.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I'm one of those types who is anti the use of too many worksheets, especially for young kids. And everything in Kumon workbooks, you can recreate with hands on fun interactive games at home which are much more meaningful in the long run.


I'm a teacher and I LOVE Kumon.
To each their own.
Some kids do GREAT with it, some don't. I urge parents to try it out and see if your child likes it and if it fits their personality. If it does it's a wonderful learning tool for both, reading and math.


pp here

Worksheets can be ok to occasionally supplement/practice learning. However, they can definitely be overused and I don't see the point in using it with a 2-4 year old. especially since young kids often don't connect a worksheet with real life. Or even some first graders for that matter... I can remember assisting a teacher once who was teaching money and they had a practice sheet to work on and they did not connect the pictures of money with real money and the monetary value. However, give them the same problems with real or play money to work with and they got it.

I'm definitely more of the constructivist/progressive type, and I find it much more fun for me, and the students, to do as much hands on/student centered learning and activities as possible. It also addresses more learning styles and multiple intelligences that way. We do a combination of group/pair/individual work, combinations of activities for different learning styles, etc.

Instead of having a 3 year old fill out a worksheet on counting or sorting... why not have them count or sort their trains? Cars? Instead of tracing letters in a book, make letters with playdough or in shaving cream or paint. Instead of circling letters on a worksheet, play games with letter blocks or with foam letters in the tub. Instead of writing the alphabet in order, do a crazy animal alphabet train puzzle and act out the animals. That's what we did (when interest was shown) and he knew all of his letters and could count to 10 by 20 months, and began learning the order of the alphabet around 3. He also knew his colors at 1, and shapes by 2. Never used a worksheet or flashcards, and still haven't.


17:07 here. Good for him.
But some kids don't do great with overloading their senses with colors, shapes and textures. As I said before TO EACH THEIR OWN! If the child likes it and if it works for them it's a wonderful tool (like blocks, shaving cream and macaroni). Some children do wonders with worksheets. I'm one of them. Up to this day I love filling out forms and people usually laugh at me because of that. Most people hate filling out forms, right?
I'm the first in line when the matter is experimenting and we have to be open to what works best for each child. And what most parents fail to see is that sometimes what the child likes is not necessarily what the parents want them to like. Very sad truth that I face every day while at work.
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