Kumon (1 Viewer)

[Rafy]

Thoughts, comments?

I last did kumon in year 7. I found it to be rather ineffective as they never actually tell you how to do anything. They just shove questions in front of you and expect you to be able to do them

 

[FroZenWaffleS]

Useless tutor centre. It apparently only helps primary school students.

I did Kumon in year eight for a while and I thought it was useless. I thought i was throwing money away because they made me do the same pages twice so I would do the problems (year 4 level) more quickly. They never thought me anything.

 

[nit]

I did it from about kindergarten to yr 6 -ish. I thought it covered the basics well and allowed you to get ahead of the maths level for your grade easily, which sets you up for understanding things much more easily later on. I'm skeptical of the usefulness of Kumon beyond about yr 7/8, however.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

I did Kumon for a month and a half when I was in year 3. I was already quite good at maths, but mum sent me cos another friend was going or something and the Kumon lady told mum I should go because I could do extension stuff and learn more maths than we learnt at school. I HATED it. I was the biggest crock of shit. I could already divide/multiply etc, yet they made me do work sheets that were 1+3=.... like it was shit. And we had to time doing them, and I used to do them really fast and get them all right. I would tell the stupid woman that I wanted harder work but she ignored me. And then when my mum made me do Kumon work at home I would get angry because it was shit and it was easier than the homework I was getting sent home from school. Even at that age I knew tutoring was supposed to extend you and teach you more. The teachers there paid no attention to you, you just did your worksheets and took them to the markers. I refused to go back, my mum was a bit peeved because she had paid for a term, but later on she also admitted that she thought it was shit and a total waste of money.

It could have just been the centre I went to, but if that is the system at all places then in my opinion you are far better off with a private tutor... I learnt nothing from it.

 

[nit]

A private tutor when you're in year 3? That's a bit much isn't it?

 

[Slidey]

Was failling maths in year 9, so I did Kumon (I do 4u now). I covered basic arithmetic (like 8+7=15) through to statistics, vector spaces and 4u integration. I stopped in year 11. I'm going to do it again after the HSC to both revise and increase my speed. Also because it's kind of fun (unlike textbook exercises).

If you're keen and motivated, Kumon is probably the most effective way to get good at maths, for a few reasons:

1) No calculators, so you become a quicker thinker at both mental arithmetic and everyday reasoning
2) Fast, accurate mental arithmetic and reasoning makes you faster in tests
3) Repetition means that you are far less likely to make careless errors or errors through lack of confidence.

I must admit, though, that some Kumon tutors are pretty lame and just give you the worksheets each time they see you and that's it. Mine was rated as one of the best in Australia. This is why I suggest you be keen and motivated. If you get somebody lame, you'll need keep yourself going.

Also, I think that after level K (basic calculus) the usefulness of Kumon maths drops off. Up to there it is superb.

 

[nit]

you must have concentrated heavily on maths to end up at stats and vector spaces etc in 2 years - it took me about 6 or so years to get myself up to complex, when I decided it was useless.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Yeah I sort of meant if you really needed help with maths/were older... you would be better off spending your money on a private tutor than Kumon, especially if you are struggling because they don't really sit down and help you... I didn't have a private tutor in yr 3 lol, the only tutor I ever had was for yr 12 chem.

I found the repetition boring, unfulfilling and frustrating. The centre I was at may have been particularly crap or something though. Do they do that repetition thing all the way through, where you do the same worksheets over and over again?

 

[Slidey]

You're only meant to repeat a worksheet if you made a lot of errors, or if later on you have forgotten the material which later worksheets rely on. Or if you want practice. If you were just made to repeat worksheets the whole time, then I can understand how you would find that frustrating.

Nit: Keep in mind I started when I was 15, and you started when you were probably 7 or so.

 

[nit]

true that - I started when I was 4

 

[~*HSC 4 life*~]

guys, you do realise Kumon is NOT a coaching centre, the method they use is developed so that the student can figure out problems THEMSELVES, it is why there isn't always a teacher there to tell you how to do every question. Braindrained Ash, Kumon will always give you easy shit to do when you join, even when you know you're more developed than that, its the way the system works and every student has to do it. Then gradually, if it's clear that the student can do it comfortably and within the correct time limit, they move up.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

It was so stupid, like I would always get all the answers right, and yet they would give me the same piss easy sheets over and over again. It got to the stage where I was doing the sheets in under 20 seconds because I had memorized the series of answers on the particular worksheets and didn't need to even look at the questions. Maybe the centre I went to was particularly bad or something, because even as an 8 year old I thought it was the biggest load of crap ever. When I used to go there they would give me a pile of sheets and tell me to do them all and write down the times and I always used to finish way earlier than my allocated hour so I used to ask for harder sheets and instead they would pat my head and tell me to play with the number board until mummy came to pick me up.... the number board was like the numbers 1-100 on a magnetic board. I remember telling the woman once "um I could count to 100 before I started school, what is the point of this".

Yes, I had a bit of an attitude when I was in yr 3 because I was bored at school....

 

[~*HSC 4 life*~]

It was so stupid, like I would always get all the answers right, and yet they would give me the same piss easy sheets over and over again. It got to the stage where I was doing the sheets in under 20 seconds because I had memorized the series of answers on the particular worksheets and didn't need to even look at the questions. Maybe the centre I went to was particularly bad or something, because even as an 8 year old I thought it was the biggest load of crap ever. When I used to go there they would give me a pile of sheets and tell me to do them all and write down the times and I always used to finish way earlier than my allocated hour so I used to ask for harder sheets and instead they would pat my head and tell me to play with the number board until mummy came to pick me up.... the number board was like the numbers 1-100 on a magnetic board. I remember telling the woman once "um I could count to 100 before I started school, what is the point of this".

Yes, I had a bit of an attitude when I was in yr 3 because I was bored at school....

lol yeah sounds like a shitty centre, i work at Kumon now and the supervisor there is good, she helps all the kiddies, but most of them are in pre school and primary school years 4 and less...and one guy who is in high school doing english

 

[nit]

I worked in my old kumon centre for a little work experience last year....it was something handy to have in interviews etc. I didn't do it for too long though - it's hard to keep something regular during school and uni times.

 

[chingly_choo]

GAH! KUMON WAS THE BANE OF MY EXISTANCE! However it did help me in my alegbra etc, BUT BY GUM I HATED IT SO!!! THE HOMEWORK!!!! THOSE STUPID KUMON FOLDERS!!!!

 

[Rafy]

lol come on! I know you all got excited when you filled up that little booklet with stickers, so you could go claim a 20c prize

 

[alphatango]

Some thoughts:

I did Kumon as a way to get away from the boredom of maths at school. Started it in mid-97 (so this would be Yr 4) and completed the program (Q, which is as far as it goes in Australia atm) by some time which I can't recall. 2001, I think. Given that the stuff I was doing was *ahead* of what I was doing at school, I think it turned out to work fairly well for me. The repetition gets a bit useless past the L/M levels -- the worksheets themselves are good though. As long as you have a supervisor who's willing to give you some leeway in deciding what you need (and most supervisors will), it works fine as an extension program.

From the other side, viewing Kumon as a "catching-up" type of study, it works much better at lower levels than at higher ones. I worked there both during and after my completion of the maths program, and I felt that it really helped some people with getting up to speed on basic calculations (especially the E/F levels, with fractions). As with all things, you did have to put in the work to achieve results though.

Although I never did the English program, I marked a fair bit of it, and I didn't feel that was so useful. It allowed students to keep a check on their basic grammar and spelling, but a far smaller proportion of people seemed to benefit from the program.

 

[chingly_choo]

lol come on! I know you all got excited when you filled up that little booklet with stickers, so you could go claim a 20c prize

What is this mythical 20c prize you speak of? My Kumon mentors must have been tightwads, for I never recieved any monetry reward!


And yes I probably would have stuck stickers on if it has gotten me money, that's the mencenry person that I am

 

[nit]

I was rewarded with these delicious japanese coke lollies for completing my 100 squares. That was initially my incentive.

 

[Slidey]

Some thoughts:

I did Kumon as a way to get away from the boredom of maths at school. Started it in mid-97 (so this would be Yr 4) and completed the program (Q, which is as far as it goes in Australia atm) by some time which I can't recall. 2001, I think. Given that the stuff I was doing was *ahead* of what I was doing at school, I think it turned out to work fairly well for me. The repetition gets a bit useless past the L/M levels -- the worksheets themselves are good though. As long as you have a supervisor who's willing to give you some leeway in deciding what you need (and most supervisors will), it works fine as an extension program.

From the other side, viewing Kumon as a "catching-up" type of study, it works much better at lower levels than at higher ones. I worked there both during and after my completion of the maths program, and I felt that it really helped some people with getting up to speed on basic calculations (especially the E/F levels, with fractions). As with all things, you did have to put in the work to achieve results though.

Although I never did the English program, I marked a fair bit of it, and I didn't feel that was so useful. It allowed students to keep a check on their basic grammar and spelling, but a far smaller proportion of people seemed to benefit from the program.

I agree with all this.