Is Kumon any good?

A friend of mine recommended Kumon Maths and Kumon Chinese to supplement the kids' school work.


My daughter is currently at ESF.


Apart from reading to her everyday, I don't do anything else with her and have pretty much left it up to the school to help and her own abilities.


I am just wondering if anyone else send their kids to Kumon and how do you find it?

Is Kumon mandarin preferable over a Chinese private tutor? She has a tutor that comes over but does not give homework and hasn't taught her how to write (she loves writing).



What about Kumon maths?


I don't want to push her but at the same time I feel pressured to do something to help her grades.

Kumon books are quite good at getting children's interest in my experience. My kids had lots of fun when we got some. They would just zoom through doing every exercise.


Your results may vary.

Kumon is very rote and extremely repetitive. It is also very focused on repetition within a timed environment. It does give a child more practice and for many more confidence, but it only covers a very small side of mathematics. If you are looking for additional maths but want a more comprehensive approach, take a look at Selin or Enopi systems. Kumon does not provide instruction and is totally self directed. Selin provides teacher instruction/ support for each lesson, and then the child works independently. The Selin system is from Singapore; it includes both repetition, applied mathematics, and problem solving.


For Kumon Chinese, the system is also very rote; however, Chinese is a rote subject in the early stages. If your child likes writing and the tutor is not assigning any excercises, then I would speak to the tutor first. There are lots of Chinese practice books available.

ltxhk, I would love a link to Selin as well, thanks.

www.selin.com.hk