Private tuition for preschoolers

[Minfor]

DS is 4 and about to start primary school. I've recently discovered that a couple of the kids who will be in his class are doing Kumon maths and English classes on Saturday mornings. My initial reaction was that they're far too young for extra-curricular tutoring but now I'm wondering if I'm the only one not doing it, in which case DS would be at a disadvantage going into school. I don't want to hothouse my children but also don't want to close off opportunities to them at such a young age.

The parents of the Kumon kids do not seem at all pushy or particularly academic themselves, although apparently one of the kids knows all his times tables!

Is it normal for kids to have private tuition before they even start school??

But arent the kids bored at school then? We took the relaxed route and our dc were fine (otherwise I would have stepped it up a bit). My dd did not begin prepping for 11+ until end of year 5, so she did not do any additional work outside of the bare minimum her state school asked for before that. Anyway, she was super bored at school because she already knew what was being taught and she was frustrated they kept going back to things they have already learning.

It unusually early for a third party to be doing it and we’re in a grammar school area! Every parent who is academically able is already teaching their child informally. I’ve a few friends who are teachers and tutor on the side. Their kids have never had “tutoring” because their mum/dad supports their learning at home.

As a teacher I'd say kumon is a waste of money. Rote learning.
Best think you can do is read with your child and talk to them!

This depends on the school. But due to smaller class sizes most selective privates are prepared to tailor activities for children.

My 8 year old does Kumon and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done for him, but that’s because I’ve been trying for 3 years to get him assessed for dyscalculia and the school have only just filed the paperwork (on the last day of term). When my son started Kumon he couldn’t even add 1, despite us being a family who regularly play board games, cards, and I generally do lots of play based activities with my children.

My ds has now been doing it for a year and is able to do his times tables quicker than me. Although that learning is just not transferring to school yet but he’s stopped being upset about not being able to do maths at school because he feels like he’s achieving something at Kumon.

My dd (6) will sometimes ask to do some maths like her brother does and one day I may enrol her in Kumon but she doesn’t show signs of dyscalculia so I don’t feel it’s necessary for her unless she starts struggling at school.

I wouldn’t sign a child that young up to Kumon, it means doing maths every single day and is a strain on family life. Unless the benefits outweigh the impact on your day to day life then it’s not necessary. For us the benefits are enormous but for most families it won’t be as significant.

Kumon is most popular in east/south-east Asia because it gets children accustomed to the extremely high-pressured educational system. Culturally, the learning environment in the UK is completely different to East Asia. There's not a big point in sending kids there unless you really like the idea of it yourself or have very specific reasons for doing so.

As someone who grew up in SE Asia, the tutoring and "extra study" culture there is eye watering compared to the UK. Tutoring takes up a huge chunk of all kids free time, holidays, weekends etc. However it's also normalised because everyone does the same thing and academic achievement is so celebrated. It depends a lot on each child's individuality whether they will benefit from being put through such a system. Some thrive and become very high achievers, others fail and hate it (but same goes for almost everything).

There is a disproportionately high number of East and South Asian students in the top selective prep/secondary schools in UK, there is no coincidence.

Ah yes, that is private school. My kids all go to state primary. My eldest will be going to an academic private school for secondary (and my ds should follow suit).

It's crazy! I remember seeing an advert 'get your child school ready/ahead for reception!' Ridiculous and so unnecessary.

At that age just read and have fun with your child. So much is learnt through play at that age. Age appropriate board games are brilliant too for starting to learn to count/add etc and you're spending quality screen free time with them too.

I heard from a friend that her in-laws were doing something like this. I wouldn’t say it’s common. She was appalled and said Kumon was all rote and no conceptual learning and was also against it for that reason. She’s an Oxbridge STEM grad and ambitious but wouldn’t consider snider it.

Some 4 year olds get prep (from their parents primarily ) in pre-school skills ahead of 4+ assessments for reception and more formal tutoring for 7+ entrance exams for independent schools.

It’s fine if your child is interested in math to support that interest in a fun way- lots of math games are available via apps etc that kids love. Drilling time tables into a 4 year old though is pretty unnecessary

If at the tender age of four years old you want to inject some English and Maths knowledge you're better off doing this:

For Maths - PLAY - play shops, count jumps, collect and sort leaves, shells, etc, count pairs of shoes, look at numbers in the environment.

For Writing - PLAY - hang from trees, use a range of messy mark making, paint, play dough...

For Phonics - spot the letters/sounds in your name on signs out and about, play with foam letters in the bath, say silly words and sentences with words that start with the same letters.

OR

just support your child to settle into school and teach them to share, to put their shoes on, to zip up their coat, to say please and thank you.

They're only little once.