We started going to kumon for math because one of our children needed remedial help. She was 2 grade levels behind. It took one year of kumon to reach grade level and then sail right past it to about a grade level ahead. It was wonderful to see her confidence and eagerness to learn grow. She went from feeling dumb to feeling fully capable and comfortable with taking on hard work. She continued to do kumon math for 5 more years because we didn't trust the school math instruction. Because of this lack of trust we started sending our other children to kumon for math when they were each starting 3rd grade. They never were behind at school and probably had no need for kumon but the extra math work put them ahead and gave them confidence.
Kumon is old-fashioned drills of math facts. In my opinion it's basic education that should be happening at school. If it's not, there are lots of ways to teach your kids math facts - kumon is just one way. I like kumon because it's like piano lessons. We need the accountability of weekly visits with the instructors (we went to kumon twice a week for years but only go once a week now) and daily practice.
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