To Kumon or not to Kumon. That is the question.

[megabored]

DD is starting school in September. Below are the Pros and Cons I have been debating recently.

1. She is bright, so should be okay without extra help in school
2. It is too early to put her through this
3. Kumon is expensive and time consuming.

The Pros

1. It may give her that bit of extra confidence at school
2. Earlier is better as then she can grow with that system
3. Its not so expensive as to be prohibitive.

I really cant decide either way. Please someone help?

Not suited to me then!

People have some interesting preconceptions about Singapore which are often about 10 years out of date IMO. Look at Sentosa now, Marina Bay Sands etc. It's like living in Chelsea-on-sea in parts but with better weather. The people are friendly, charming and more creative than many seem to think. The gum thing is all a bit of a myth, you can buy it everywhere - although usually in chemists. If it rains you know it's all going to stop soon, it won't keep going constantly for days and days. Ok it's humid but the very best days are almost Mediterranean even with the gentlest of breezes :)

@mega - How did you manage to cope with the heat?

On day 1 I left the hotel for the 10 minute walk to the office. I did about a hundred yards before catching a taxi. The heat was just too much. I never tried to walk it for the remainder of my two months there.

Wimp, Poosh! :) You get used to it, really. Now the UK seems beyond freezing.

posh I worked there for a while. Everything is air conditioned so I did not have a problem. Infact I remember going out and buying a small cardie to wear in the office as it was so cold!

hamish- uk is beautiful but for the weather and because of the weather!

I have been within the last year and staying with friends who have lived there for over 10 years so my observations are pretty much up to date.
It was like London - nice to visit as long as you can go home after a few days!

I was impressed by the fact that there was so much choice of where to eat out and the places were generally full and yet the overall impression was that the people were slim and stylish - I came to the conclusion that it was a very different diet. Maybe if I had pots of money I would like it better!

I was there for two months, armed with a company credit card. Ate at a different place every night. Those were good days [looks wistfully out of the window]

exotic I know what you mean. I was at the time a size 10 in the uk but had to buy Large size clothes over there! Not good for the ego!

The opposite of play is not work. It?s depression.

The first time I went clothes shopping in HK I had to double check that I hadn't accidentally walked into the children's section by mistake because of all the 'small' sizes on the racks :)

exotic I also know a lad who played chess for UK - he, however did kumon as well (but a long way ahead of the norm for his age).

mrz did u make the last one up? It does not rhyme, does not have a nice ring and nor is it witty or funny so it's not a nice quote. sorry.

The opposite of play is not work. It?s depression.

Brian Sutton-Smith

The very existence of youth is due in part to the necessity for play; the animal does not play because he is young, he has a period of youth because he must play.

Karl Groos

As astronauts and space travelers children puzzle over the future; as dinosaurs and princesses they unearth the past. As weather reporters and restaurant workers they make sense of reality; as monsters and gremlins they make sense of the unreal.

Gretchen Owocki

I see you're still avoiding those reports, mrz. As I am, of course. Have totally and utterly run out of steam!

Completely irrelevant but since there's an abundance of quotes I'll just add (from a friend's t-shirt) "a city built on rock and roll would be structurally unsound"

Another quote from a T-shirt:
'Never trust a beachball'.
[The picture was a beachball in a locked cage. Tickled me it did!!].

A friend used to say "never trust a balloon. They either blow away or get punctured"

www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/06/dragonbox/all/

Something for those who like play AND those who like to make sure all corners of the day are filled with improving activity.

Seriously, it's great fun, my five year old has nearly finished it and she wants more. We are fighting over my phone to see who can get onto the next level first.

haberdashery looks great fun. We love angry birds in my house! Thank you.

An iPhone game about algebra?! how did I not know about this before?

Thanks haberdashery :o

(incidentally when I saw this on threads I'm on, and saw the first few words of mega's post, I was wondering how on earth the thread had got onto the joys of selling material :o)

Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.

Stuart Brown