Kumon - how much and is it worth it?

[mixedmamameansbusiness]

DS1 in reception so probably not until next year in year 1.

Does anyone have any experience of Kumon and whether they feel it was worth it?

The literature they have sent me involves no costs but don't really want to contact them to find out we can't actually afford it. Apparently it is due to area running costs etc that they don't provide these as they differ. We are in NW London and reasonably central.

Any feedback on any aspect greatly appreciated.

[mrz]

Sorry but why on earth would you consider Kumon for a child who has just begun school?

The children in my school who have attended Kumon still struggle with applying

[BackOnceAgain]

We thought about it once but didn't take it up. IIRC it worked out about £50 a month, that was 2 classes a week but I think it is mainly home based.

But I agree that waiting to see what your ds's strengths are before shelling out.
Oh and they usually have a free taster session in August
HTH

[Decentdragon]

£50 a month, just over half the weekly C/B. (discount for 2 subjects) Child can go to centre 1/2 a week per subject according to desire.
Excercises done daily every day. (normal time maximum 20/30 mins daily according to age)

Worth it? Depends what you're trying to achieve.

Most here (not too far from you) seem to use it either for hothousing little ones (DC ahead/top of class) or as belt and braces (child may not be concentrating in class) or as back up for older (child at poor school/not good at subject/parents still learning English)

It's good for establishing study habits if used positively. (should think it could be disastrous if used negatively.) It seems to be good for habit forming for those expecting to do tutoring for selective schools later. It's good for child expecting parental involvement in learning.

We use the English as a fabulous diagnostic tool for semantic pragmatic language disorder and other problems with ASD teen, for which it's worth it's weight in gold to us. Tutor?s taken on board that we?re adapting using it and is very supportive.

Personally I wouldn't be getting it for a yr1 child unless I thought there was a problem that needed fixing, but different strokes for different folks. :)

[mixedmamameansbusiness]

It was just something that occurred to me as worth looking into. I am mindful that I don't want to compromise his in school learning so take on baord what you are all saying. Interesting that some children still struggle with certain things though Mrz. Will stcik it on the back burner and see how we go.

[CarrotsAreNotTheOnlyVegetables]

have never done Kumon but know some who have done the maths.

They found it very repetitive and boring, not really any good for instilling a deep understanding of the subject.

[kayah]

done maths, agree with Carrots
boring, repetitive
given up after around 5 months as in our case it didn't make any sense to continue

[FreudianSlipIntoMyLaptop]

Nope, not worth it. It just preys on paranoid parents, it's boring, it's a waste of money, it's death by worksheet... Need I go on?

I'm not just randomly biased btw, I worked there for a year, no way in hell would I send my own kids there.

[IntotheNittyGritty]

As your child is so young, you could always build a routine from the start that you do 10-20 minutes a day of something maths orientated, whether its a game, a board game, a computer game, or a maths website, or baking/measuring/etc. There is so much to do without it having to be filling in worksheets. Shopping is also great for maths - writing lists and pricing everything up, and eventually adding them.

Children learn more through play and experiencing physical items to represent numbers. Filling in worksheets helps no one.

You will also get lots of stick and negativity from other parents if you do this from an early age. (you definitely get it when the kids are older.)

There are lots and lots of suggestions on the web. Type in Maths KS1 and loads of stuff will crop up with thousands of ideas.
There are also subscription sites but you will get just as much data from the free sites.

Do an internet search on Kumon reviews as well, again you will get lots of feedback, both positive and negative.

[mixedmamameansbusiness]

Thanks everyone. We are already in our routine with reading etc so we will work on games etc. I can see how the worksheet thing could be boring for everyone involved.

[FreudianSlipIntoMyLaptop]

It is also very manipulative. They start the children off at a level far too easy for them (deliberately) so of course they race through the levels and make quick progress

I agree that physical representation is really important. Having the concept of numbers/arithmetic is at the start is better than the actual arithmetic IYSWIM. It's no good knowing that, say, 3x2=6 if the child doesn't understand what multiplication is in real life, e.g. Making groups of sweets etc. Kumon does nothing to really help with the concepts.

I just got a set of 'numicon' stuff, it's about £40, may be worth a look on their website. Can't wait to use it with DD :)

[bitsyandbetty]

I was speaking to a parent yesterday who was doing it but not sure whether to continue. Her daughter appears to have levelled out and is not really using her brain to do things because they are so competitive although parents who want their kids are using it to help their kids with the 11+ from age 4, which I find way too young. My DS (in Year 5) wanted some help with maths so went to a tutor group, slightly more expensive than the normal £50 but it targeted his weaknesses better and the one to one tuition has given him much more confidence now. He only had 6 lessons but that was enough to convince him that he actually could do maths and I found that very valuable. He realised he was a wizz at long multiplication. Therefore I would echo comments above. Leave it till older and look at tuition as an alternative.

[FreudianSlipIntoMyLaptop]

Yes. Kumon is NOT tuition. It is practice (which with some workbooks you can do at home anyway)

I realised that kumon was not the place for me to work when there was a 10ish-yo girl really struggling with long division. In tears some days :( I was not allowed to help - the poor girl was just told to keep practising.

I am not normally the rebellious type but at that point I thought Fuck The Rules - I furtively gave her some proper help (ie helping her actually understand what it meant, as opposed to learning the method) and she was so much happier after that.

[GadgetBusterDAD]

I enrolled my son 2 months ago, paid an enrolment fee, then monthly fee of £60. The reason why i sent my 7 year old son there, is to boost up his Maths skills because me and my wife have no time to do it, both working shifts! My child have to go their rented centre once a week for half hour, half hour of doing the same exercises that they sent as homework everyday. The system is not working for my child, my expectations were not met. My son got too bored of doing exercises and is not motivated to do them. I still have to sit down with him while he does the exercises and marking them as if i am the one tutoring him! Pointless, i spent 6 days a week coaching my child, while they only spent 30 mins, doing the same exercises in their booklet! They spent 2 hours in a month, while I spend 12 hours, doing their job. It is a rip off, i am the one spending more time than them when i am paying them £15 for half hour weekly! NO, do not think about it, listen to other testimonies and feedback.I am planning to back out my son the next month.

[JustRichmal]

GadgetBusterDAD, if you do not have the time to teach, have you tried Kahn Academy? It assesses the child's level, automatically marks and keeps track of what they need to repeat.

I cannot understand why people pay so much for something that makes maths so tedious. Dd ended up good at maths because she found it fun.

[Xiaoxiong]

I went to school in Asia and everyone seemed to be doing Kumon outside school. They were absolute whizzes at mental arithmetic but when we got to more conceptual stuff they struggled because there was no algorithm or method to follow. I ended up doing maths at university and none of us did Kumon when we were younger. I wouldn't go near it, I think it can genuinely set you back.