Hah, all these bogus replies are probably kumon owners trying to ruin the social lives of more kids

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, but those you work with who have a diagnosed learning disability may have been referred to you rather than a learning specialist precisely because what they need is basic, structured remediation. In other words, arguably, what you've said reflects more on your niche than on what most kids with learning disabilities need.

No, I don't think so. (I'm the reading tutor... I am also an elementary school teacher). Students aren't exactly referred to me -- they have been diagnosed with a reading disabilitysuch as having severe difficulty with phonological processin, and are referred to learning specialists such as practitioners of Orton Gilligham, Wilson method, etc. But parents can't afford that, so they come to me. In only one case have I had a student who could not be helped through basic remediation.

Curious, have you ever come across a bright kid who has trouble with reading because of hearing issues as a baby/toddler that resulted. From multiple ear infections to the point of hearing impairment?

Not the PP, but I am a school psychologist. Yes, many bright kids who have trouble with reading had ear infections, ear tubes, intermittent hearing loss. From 18 months until just before he turned three, had several ear infections and fluid that lingered. He has had intermittent hearing loss along with a speech and language delay. At one point he had a mild to moderate hearing loss. He is about to turn 6 and is now on his third set of ear tubes. His vocabulary is now fantastic but it has been a long road to learn how to read. I was concerned enough when he turned four to test his phonemic awareness (rhyming, blending, etc.) because many kids who fit his profile end up having a lot of trouble learning to read. His phonemic awareness was awful. I started working with him and taught him to read. We have practiced almost every day for at least 15 minutes and sometimes up to 30 minutes. It is now literally over 700 lessons later and he has slogged through learning to read. His phonemic awareness went from the 10th percentile rank to the 90th. He just started kindergarten and can read at a mid-second grade level, but I am pretty sure most of his classmates will catch up with him by second grade. I wanted to give him a chance not to start school behind. I don't think he would have learned to read without the one-on-one instruction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, but those you work with who have a diagnosed learning disability may have been referred to you rather than a learning specialist precisely because what they need is basic, structured remediation. In other words, arguably, what you've said reflects more on your niche than on what most kids with learning disabilities need.

No, I don't think so. (I'm the reading tutor... I am also an elementary school teacher). Students aren't exactly referred to me -- they have been diagnosed with a reading disabilitysuch as having severe difficulty with phonological processin, and are referred to learning specialists such as practitioners of Orton Gilligham, Wilson method, etc. But parents can't afford that, so they come to me. In only one case have I had a student who could not be helped through basic remediation.

Curious, have you ever come across a bright kid who has trouble with reading because of hearing issues as a baby/toddler that resulted. From multiple ear infections to the point of hearing impairment?

Anonymous wrote:Son in second grade, has 45+ of homework. Just signed up for Kumon 2 programs. How do families juggle this? As soon as DC catches up on reading will drop reading and just do math.

What does DC need to "catch up on" ?

Just Quit

Anonymous wrote:Well, but those you work with who have a diagnosed learning disability may have been referred to you rather than a learning specialist precisely because what they need is basic, structured remediation. In other words, arguably, what you've said reflects more on your niche than on what most kids with learning disabilities need.

No, I don't think so. (I'm the reading tutor... I am also an elementary school teacher). Students aren't exactly referred to me -- they have been diagnosed with a reading disabilitysuch as having severe difficulty with phonological processin, and are referred to learning specialists such as practitioners of Orton Gilligham, Wilson method, etc. But parents can't afford that, so they come to me. In only one case have I had a student who could not be helped through basic remediation.

The screening doesn't cost anything after you're enrolled. Their instinct is to start a K grade level kid in the lowest math level. I instructed them to place him at an appropriate level since he had already mastered the content. They sent a screening test for him to take and subsequently placed him in a level that would give him both some review and challenge.

What type of math work was your kid doing and for what are they screening? How much does the screen cost? Is the screening in person? We should qualify with WPPSI from k.

Thanks PP!! I'm one of the PP re CTY. I had no idea that we could go straight through EPGY and save $$. We NEVER use the tutor - didn't realize I was paying extra for it. What a racket.

Thanks, I will look into EPGY. Is there an advantage to taking a CTY course vs. EPGY if you want to apply to CTY later. My DC has the scores to take courses now but is not in a grade to qualify for CTY. Thanks.

There is no advantage to taking CTY course vs. EPGY if you want to apply to CTY later. Eligibility for there summer programs is based on the SCAT score (Grade 2-6) and SAT score after that. It has no bearing on whether you take or have taken CTY or EPGY online courses.

PS: you do not have to be in the 2nd grade (year eligible to take SCAT and access summer programs if one makes the cut) to avail yourself of the online courses. JHU accepted my kid's WPPSI score in K, gave him a screen and recommended he start off in their Grade 3 level online program.

If you have ERB, WPPSI or other metric I am sure you can work it. Remember for JHU this is a business. They need the customers and it's easier to make access to the online program available provided you are prepared to pay the cost.

If I understand your question: your child has qualified through SCAT? If so, JHU administration can place him in the appropriate level via a screening test? My son was placed in grade 3 level when in K based on a screening test. We switched to EPGY for Grade 6,7, and Algebra 1 when we became wiser about cost issues and learned JHU uses the EPGY software for mathematics though has its own software for language, arts and writing.

One advantage of CTY is you get feedback from a tutor assigned to your child reviewing the progress on the computer and a final grade after the final exam for the grade level. And the child can get feedback through emails and ask questions during the course. My child never really took advantage of this feature. This grade and written evaluation from the tutor may be helpful in later advocacy for your child in the school -- though my experience with the elementary private schools is of rigidity and "one size fits all" approach.

EPGY is bare bones with no tutor but extensive summary of daily performance with trends and graphs in the different mathematical domains that are useful for parents to follow and chart areas of weakness, strengths and overall performance.

Another tidbit: both CTY and EPGY outsource to THINKWELL (yearly online courses) when you get up to Algebra 1 and above (this is even cheaper on an annual basis) and the Williams College mathematic professor is legendary and quite humorous. Kids seem to like his humor and love his mini short lectures prior to math exercises.

There is a plethora of fine programs in math for the youngsters (online) and kids respond to some and not others.

Thanks, I will look into EPGY. Is there an advantage to taking a CTY course vs. EPGY if you want to apply to CTY later. My DC has the scores to take courses now but is not in a grade to qualify for CTY. Thanks.

FWIW - CTY takes a very different approach than what is described as the Kumon method in these posts (we've never tried it ourselves). It moves very quickly along and only if your child struggles in an area is s/he given more work to do to learn the skill - it is not mind-numbing or repetitive. If you are looking for enrichment, I would strongly encourage you to try CTY.

My kids have done both Kumon and CTY. Both strategies emphasize different mathematical skill sets. First kid finished CTY K through Algebra in elementary school (3 to 4 months per grade level). So, it's also fun but moves quite fast if you work 1/2 hour a day. There is more geometry and probability than Kumon. Kumon, on the other hand, has very little geometry (none) according to DS but is very extensive in Algebra 1, 2, and Trigonometry (particularly regarding the variety of ways/tricks to factor and treat polynomials). In elementary school DS says he could factor "a ham sandwich" and Algebra was far more extensive than CTY or EPGY Algebra. in fact, the Kumon experience made him blow through CTY on the computer. Art of Problem Solving Algebra (1, 2, and 3) is by far the deepest and most rigorous treatment with requirements for proofs when completing the problem sets every 3 weeks. This group has now introduced a preAlgebra series rigorous but popular (nationally) that had not hit the production lines when DS was in the early elementary years.

I would also recommend CTY if your child likes mathematics. EPGY is the cheaper version -- same software but no tutor and an electronic transcript of performance (CTY outsources to EPGY - Stanford). For those that are not trust fund babies math via EPGY is cheaper (EPGY open enrollment -- even cheaper).

FWIW - CTY takes a very different approach than what is described as the Kumon method in these posts (we've never tried it ourselves). It moves very quickly along and only if your child struggles in an area is s/he given more work to do to learn the skill - it is not mind-numbing or repetitive. If you are looking for enrichment, I would strongly encourage you to try CTY.