Kumon maths

[Becky99]

i need advice please. My DS needs a bit of a boost with his numeracy, he's going into yr.3 in September. I want something simple to work on with him over the summer, not too intensive. Is Kumon a good idea? If so where to start?

NO. boring, expensive and doesn't fit with the national curriculum. Why do you think he needs a boost? Could you ask the school for some work to do over the summer?

His literacy is good but when it comes to maths he is hesitant & below NC standard. We've yet to get SATs results yet but he struggles and I want to help him. I'm an English teacher myself & don't want to side line Maths!

It's SOOOOOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOring.
If you want to put him off maths go right ahead.

There are loads of free resources on line that he might enjoy.

Try Topmarks and Primary Resources or Ict games

Kumon Maths will give him great basics, yes it's boring but it does work and gives many more skills other than just Maths. It can be dull like the others have said and takes lots of discipline as you have to do it every day etc. However, it isn't right for you if you're looking for something over the summer as they have a longer term view.

Sorry, don't think I was clear, what I mean is that if you want to see results you need to stick with it for at least a year and for long lasting results they say longer than that 2-3 years +.

Mathletics is brill. Would that work for you as an alternative ?

And not that expensive when you think about how much you have access to for the year.

If you want access to zillions of worksheets as well join the American site and not the British one. I'm still sulking slightly cos the UK version only lets schools access the printables NOT home users.

But in the UK's defense, the UK customer care person is an absolute star and helpful politeness itself.

There is also Mathswhizz as an other option, but I like the flexibility of being able to choose myself what kiddo does next that Mathletics offers and Mathswhizz does not.

There is another one, can't remember the name, but when I did the trial I though the layout was messy and the navigation too confusing. But I'll post the name if I remember it.

Www.arcademicskillsbuilders.com is free and good fun for the basics.
Also www. Tutpup.com.

you could try some of these

you might find he resists Doing Learning in the holidays, so you might be able to pass these off as 'games'- if you're lucky

and they're free

Similar issue with DD2, goiing into yr4 so did SATS last year. Way above average in all things literacy, slighty above average in Maths. but beginning to have difficulties. Ended this year just about average in Maths.

She prefers paper based workbooks to anything online, so I have just got her some of the CGP workbooks and study books - all based on the year just completed, so she can start yr4 confidently.

If she gets on well with those, will get the yr4 set part way through next year.

Also got her the history study guide as a 'reward'.

Definitely don't do Kumon just as a summer activity - I'm a former Kumon instructor and think that even Kumon themselves would warn you against this. It's very much a long term thing as Senorita Viva said. Kumon does work but it is boring - I've written a post about the pros and cons Kumon, The good, The Bad and The Ugly

You can definitely do it yourself. Take 15mins a day with a Bond or CGP book or even playing maths games. If you do go the workbook route, I suggest you get the Yr 1 book as well as the Yr2 book to make sure your child is really solid with the basics. Strong foundations are essential in maths and the summer holiday is a good time to get that sorted.

Hope that helps!

Take a look at Smath board game on Amazon. DS yr2 will get down voluntarily! It's also easy to vary by ability.

Thanks so much for this!

You could try Kip McGrath. They are run by qualified teachers and I think some of them run brain active 'summer school'?

It's good that you want to do it with him and workbooks and websites would work probably, it's just making it a habit each day, and don't make him do too much-let him see an end in sight!. We had home tutor (rubbish) then did Kumon for a year and it helped DD a lot when she was 7 but I myslef found it a trial making her and helping her, and heartless-even doing it on Christmas Day if we accepted the every single day rule. We then moved to another area and discovered Explore Learning Centres, they have been the best for me and the DCs, we've been there 2 years and still going happily.

We also do Mathswhizz, it's good too. Might try Mathletics, I know an AS child who loves it.

kumon is great. i did it from the age of 12 just to help me a little bit for GCSES. I ended up doing maths Alevel and getting an A. definitely worth the money!

Kumon is rote learning, plain and simple. The idea is to keep doing the same simple thing again and again until you don't need to think about it, and can do it very fast. You need to have the discipline to make your DC do it EVERY DAY (should take no more than 20 min per day) until they realise that they HAVE to do it everyday, and the quicker they do it the quicker they can go and do something less boring instead! The DC move up the levels when they get high speed/accuracy on the current level. As a parent you will be horrified at the "far too simple" level Kumon will start your DC on, but the idea is to build solid foundations and that means going right back to the start.

My 3 eldest DS did Kumon for about 3 years each (from about 8 or 9 year old), and despite the tedious nature of it, I think it had a positive a lasting effect on their maths skills. DS1 got an A band 1 at Scottish Higher (the highest possible grade) last year and DS2 is expecting the same in his Higher results next month.

I think good foundations are the key to maths success and rote learning has it's place....... and schools just don't seem to do it anymore.

However, as a parent you will grow to hate it and it costs a lot.