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[quote=Anonymous]Kumon style math is not everyday American math, new math, calculator-based elementary school math or fuzzy math.  It's old and traditional math  many American students can't perform nimbly and hence are handicapped when tackling creative and abstract math or physics down the line.

Mathematics is much more than Kumon style; however, if one neither understands nor has a sense or intuition for numbers, the mathematical alphabet and computational rules; one is severely handicapped for higher mathematics and problem solving.  In my opinion, these are drills and skills that are mastered before leaving elementary school.  The majority of our children lack these skills before leaving elementary school.  This explains our perfrmance later in in math, science, engineering, technology and computer science -- a domino effect.

Children without cold mastery of fractions, decimals, proportions, percents and basic elementary algebra by the age of 11 or 12 are slowly slinking behind the eight ball; regardless of how adept the child may think he or she is with a calculator!

If your children don't meet this simple bench mark I would be wary of deriding those children using Kumon style daily 20-30 min drills to accomplish these goals in math before leaving Grade 5.  I would never deride an elementary school child who spends at least 30 minutes per day reading.  On the contrary, if our children can spend 40 to 60 minutes a day reading and doing math while in elementary school, this is laudatory.  Such preparation builds a solid foundation for middle and high school and doesn't deprive them of their childhood.  In fact, this stratergy returns them a hazzle-free and quality childhood!

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