Kumon - late starter

11 Plus Maths – Preparation and Information

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Fran17
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Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:16 pm

Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by Fran17 »

moved wrote:Mine have never been, but pupils who have are very good at basic skills. However, they lack problem solving skills or creativity in their maths. If your son likes repetitive exercises then it probably won't do any harm.
I agree with this. My eldest DS started Kumon aged 11 and did it for two years. It was extremely beneficial to him however, as moved said it became apparent that he was lacking in the above mentioned skills. We stopped the Kumon and at his request found a wonderful maths tutor. Having always been a little scared of maths he actually began to enjoy it and became very good at it.
First-timer
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Location: Essex

Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by First-timer »

It's never appealed to me but the children I know who do it are extremely secure and speedy at performing basic computational tasks. Wordy problems where it's not immediately obvious which numbers need to be manipulated in order to find a solution can flummox them, though. I think you could easily replicate the desirable aspects of it yourself. From what I gather, it's a case of doing a little work every day and repeating question types until (way beyond) they become second nature. My DC would be mutinous if they had to do the same thing every day for weeks. Maybe keep the little and often ( but not necessarily daily) approach but mix up the question types?
layla22
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Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by layla22 »

My DD did kumon when she was about 6yrs old- for 9 months. I HATED IT MORE THAN HER! I really got frustrated with the marking, didn't feel it was beneficial, switched to schofield- VERY GOOD, espeicially if you time the sections. Now DD is in top set for maths at super selective and is doing both Maths and Further Maths GCSE this year. There were some girls in her school still doing Kumon up until last year!
However, I did use the principle of Kumon when getting my DS to learn his timetables, ie. repetition and timed tests and it was a great success.
I think kumon is like marmite.....
Guest55
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Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by Guest55 »

Further Maths GCSE? It doesn't exist I'm afraid - is it the pilot twin award GCSE she is sitting?
mad?
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Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by mad? »

Perhaps it is IGCSE? I thought Edexcel and AQA had introduced Further maths at this level?
mad?
Guest55
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Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by Guest55 »

No AQA and Edexcel are trialling a Twin Award GCSE - the two bits are 'methods' and 'applications'. The best mark counts for the league tables :D
mad?
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Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by mad? »

Ah, now then I am confused. Sorry for going OT but G55 could you help me understand what the level 2 certificate of further maths is and what these are?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13808371" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.edexcel.com/quals/igcse/igcs ... fault.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
mad?
Guest55
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Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by Guest55 »

"The AQA further maths qualification is not a GCSE and is subject to totally different rules regarding grading."

These would not be taken by state school pupils as they do not count as GCSEs ...
mad?
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Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by mad? »

Gosh :shock:
mad?
moved
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Re: Kumon - late starter

Post by moved »

Guest55 wrote:"The AQA further maths qualification is not a GCSE and is subject to totally different rules regarding grading."

These would not be taken by state school pupils as they do not count as GCSEs ...
Can you elaborate on this point please? Many state schools are now taking IGCSE, including some that have not been established for two years. I don't know why these are different and I am genuinely interested.
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