Kumon

Hello! I can't remember if I have written about this before but I am so lazy to check my archive :)

Anyway, last few months I started sending Adam to Kumon. Before you start judging me and feel Kumon is too much for a 2y10m old boy, let me explain what makes me decided to send him to Kumon.

Adam on his first day of Kumon

1. Adam stays at home with Bibik the whole day while I am at work. He has no friends and not really that good in socializing with other kids because at home, he always get what he wants. So, the idea of sharing or playing together is alien to him. 
2. At 2++ Adam could barely make long sentences. I guess he had not much practice. Bibik speaks Indon to him, I speak English with him while his daddy speaks English and Malay with him. I am good with this arrangement though cause I believe language should be taught since young. When they start from young, the pronunciation and grammar will come naturally. 
3. Adam has no idea what school is and the whole idea of having a teacher, following their instructions and how to behave in class. 
4. I have no idea how to teach a child! Though Adam knows his ABC since he was 1+, that was by accident. Adam and me loves to play with the Animal ABC in the Fisher Price website. Initially we just imitate the animal sounds but one day, I realized he can recognize most of the alphabets :)
5. So, my intention was just to send him to some sort of play school that is on weekly basis where he could have some ideas on what is school all about and help him to converse more. Initially, we went to Cambridge English. They did a test on Adam and he passed! Unfortunately, the teacher felt Adam was too young for her class. Major disappointment :(
6. From Kumon website, I found out that they provide 1 to 1 coaching for Preschool Kids. So I called Sec 7 centre and talked to the headmistress, Pn Norlaila. She asked me to bring Adam to do some assessment. When we went there, I was attracted to the friendly and warm welcome we received from Pn Norlaila. 
7. My initial plan was to enrol Adam for English program, but according to Pn Norlaila, the program is not for conversation but more to reading which she felt is too early for Adam.She did the assessment and recommended for Adam to start with Maths. Based on the Assessment, Adam could already skip 1 level and start with Level 6A right away but I asked them to start Adam from Level 7A. Alhamdulillah now, after 3 months, Adam has already started Level 4A.
8. What I like about Kumon is that it follows your child's pace. And, they provide 1 to 1 coaching for pre-school kids. Where else can you get that for RM120 a month? :) The idea is to have the kids to discipline themselves for a 10-20 min work every day. This helps me so much because now I know what and how to teach Adam :)



Pre-School Section in Kumon Sec 7

9. Though it's 1 to 1 session, Adam gets to mix with other children too. 

So far, Adam seems to enjoy his Kumon classes and asked to go to Kumon when we are out. As for his homewrok, he's OK with it though sometimes if the timing was not right, he refused to do his homework. I try not to force him to finish it and sometimes spread the session to suit his mood. 

So do I recommend it? Yes! But make sure you always remember the very reason why you want to send your kids there. Else, you'll end up like those competitive parents we always heard about.