Your thoughts on Kumon

[Guest55]

So it is not based on improving mathematics in THIS country - in my opinion it's a waste of time and money.

[quasimodo]

[quote="mystery"]Kumon likes to keep itself as a bit of a mystery and one should never have to pay for a mystery -- especially not a boring one.[/quote]

The mystery made me smile.

[daddylonglegs]

I do not know much about Kumon, but the posts seem to be overly negative so would just like to add that I have two nephews who both enjoyed participating in Maths Kumon. One of them graduated in Maths at University having earned prizes as top student and earned a 1st, my other nephew is currently studying maths at University and seems to be doing well. They both credit Kumon with developing and giving them confidence in their maths ability.

[Guest55]

Kumon teaches arithmetic not mathematics - it's FAR more likely that their success was down to good teaching at school and uni.

I have studied effective teaching of mathematics for many years and it is from that background I comment.

[timothylewin]

I have put my kids through Kumon and it has paid dividends for their grades in Maths, its horses for courses

[anotherdad]

I do not know much about Kumon, but the posts seem to be overly negative so would just like to add that I have two nephews who both enjoyed participating in Maths Kumon. One of them graduated in Maths at University having earned prizes as top student and earned a 1st, my other nephew is currently studying maths at University and seems to be doing well. They both credit Kumon with developing and giving them confidence in their maths ability.

I have put my kids through Kumon and it has paid dividends for their grades in Maths, its horses for courses

Correlation or causation?

[timothylewin]

if you have money to spare then it won't do any harm will it?

[piggys]

Kumon is named after Toru Kumon, the Japanese maths teacher who created the system in the 1950s, initially to help his son learn maths and study-skills.

According to their website.

The English-sounding name is just coincidence, fortunately!

I never knew that! thanks Perpetual You learn summat every day.

[piggys]

And there was me all geared up to castigate the Kwik Fits, Rice Krispies and Krispy Kremes of this world....

[anotherdad]

if you have money to spare then it won't do any harm will it?

Quite true, but that's the argument some offer in favour of homeopathy. In isolation, homeopathic "remedies" don't do any harm (they're all just water), but if they're taken in place of something that is effective then there is "net harm".

It seems to me that there is a wealth of free, challenging maths resources which genuinely improve mathematical ability and reasoning. To pay for something that is much less effective seems odd but as with homeopathy, it's the patient's choice and I'm sure there is something analogous to a placebo effect from Kumon classes.