Kumon Japanese is a subject whose effects are difficult to see from the point of view of those who have not actually studied it. This is because, unlike arithmetic, there are no easy-to-understand indicators of excellence such as "amazingly fast calculations" or "solving factorizations in elementary school," and even when reading difficult books, for example, it is not clear how much of the effect is due to Kumon and how much is due to the power cultivated through reading other than Kumon.
However, from the point of view of those who actually learned Japanese through Kumon, the benefits gained from Kumon are very significant. In this article, I, as a former Kumon student who has advanced Kumon Japanese up to the J level, would like to talk about how Kumon's Japanese actually is.
Starting Kumon Japanese from grade 5
I started Kumon from the 5th grade of elementary school. This is a relatively late age to start Kumon. I joined Shinkenzemi several times, but it did not last, so Kumon was my next choice.
At that time, my grades were not so bad. I went to a public elementary school in a rural area, and although the academic level of the school was not high, my grades were a little above average. I was a relatively good reader, but most of the books I read were children's stories like "Kaiketsu Zorori" and "Zukkoke Saninin Gumi.
Advancing through the material was a struggle.
Kumon emphasizes the basics, so the material often starts below the current grade level. Also, since Kumon does not deal with applied content, it is possible to move on to the next grade level, if only a little bit. I think I was able to progress smoothly up to the G course material. However, it was from there that I had a hard time.
Kumon does not have much of a relationship between the actual grade level or age and the progress of the material. If you are lacking in the basics, you can start learning from material that is several years old, and as long as you understand the material, you can move forward to any grade level. If you have a good understanding of the material, you can move on to the next grade level.
In other words, no matter what your ability is, if you continue with Kumon for a certain period of time, you will endlessly solve problems that are slightly more difficult than your ability.
Kumon learning does not allow you to stay in your comfort zone.
You may have seen the word "comfort zone" when researching growth topics. Comfort zone means "a comfortable place" and refers to the state of being able to get through things effortlessly with your existing abilities and experience. The word comes in the context that the key to growth is to get out of this comfort zone and keep challenging yourself.
This is true for any subject. For example, a junior high school student cannot expect to grow by repeating single-digit addition as many times as he or she wants. On the other hand, if they try to learn differential and integral calculus, in many cases they will not make any progress at all in understanding. By learning factorization based on the fundamentals learned in elementary school, students are able to develop their academic skills appropriately.
However, it is not easy to get out of the comfort zone. It takes a lot of energy to get out of the comfort zone. You may have heard people say that they will never use factorization in the real world, but this is more an expression of a desire to escape from the pain of challenging the unknown than a lack of a real need for it.
Kumon has a system in which students are required to solve problems that are a little more difficult than they can solve with their current ability, and they continue to solve them endlessly. It is Sparta.
In the case of regular school tests, the scope of study is fixed, and you can cut corners on subjects in which you can get a score that satisfies you. However, in the Kumon Method, you have to keep giving it your all to complete the daily homework. This is because the difficulty level of the material increases as soon as you are able to do it comfortably.
Therefore, my experience while doing Kumon was always painful. Even though the material progressed, the questions were all at a level that I could not easily solve, and I did not feel that I was making progress.
Discovering the Interest of Critical Writing
Kumon Japanese, however, was not all pain. I was able to discover the fun of critical writing.
Kumon publishes 50 book recommendations for each grade. The recommended books are all good books, and Kumon Japanese questions are also taken from the recommended books.
The recommended books tend to be old classics that have been read through the ages rather than trendy books. While these masterpieces have intrinsic value that is timeless, they are not naturally read by elementary school students. This is because the binding is old and it is obvious that the books were not written for their age group.
Kumon allows you to read a few of these masterpieces in the course materials.
The book that struck me was called "The Structure of Amae. I remember reading that the various emotions expressed in Japanese are built around the emotion of amae. In the past, I have experienced surprise and excitement when various foreshadowing lines were recovered in a story. It was a great shock to me to realize that such intellectual surprises existed not in the world of fiction but in reality.
From that time on, I began to read not only novels and manga, but also critical essays.
Withdrawal from junior high school because life there became too busy
However, as I entered junior high school, I became busy with club activities and could no longer afford to continue Kumon, so I withdrew from the class. I withdrew from Kumon in the middle of the J materials. I regret that I started Kumon so late because I was making good progress, but fortunately for me, I had already finished the I materials.
The foundation for reading comprehension of modern Japanese is solidified in the I materials.
The study of modern Japanese in the Kumon Japanese Language Program comes to an end with the I materials, since the J, K, and L materials deal with ancient Japanese and Chinese texts, and the M materials begin a comprehensive study that covers modern, ancient, and Chinese texts, so it does not mean that modern Japanese ends with the I materials. However, from the M materials, the nuance of developing the ability to think based on texts becomes stronger, so I was able to complete the foundation in terms of understanding modern sentences.
The real effect of Kumon will be seen after you leave the school.
What kind of state would you be in if you had progressed to this point? Even after they leave Kumon, their Japanese language skills will continue to improve as time goes by.
I mentioned that the foundation of reading comprehension of modern Japanese has been solidified after the completion of the I material. I also explained that I found the critical writing interesting.
What happens now? You will be able to read most of the books in the world on your own, and you will find them interesting.
Moreover, you can go to the library and borrow books for free. Libraries are available both in schools and in cities and towns, and you can stay there for hours without getting angry, and you can even take books home to read. If your parents have a reading habit, you can look at their bookshelves and get book recommendations from the people who know you best. They can even ask you to buy the latest best-selling books at the bookstore, and your parents and teachers will even praise you for reading.
Reading can be tough if you are forced to read passively, but as soon as you take the initiative, reading becomes very interesting.
My reading habit continued even after I quit Kumon. Although I did not have the ability to pass the university entrance exam when I quit Kumon, my Japanese language skills improved by continuing to read, even though I was not conscious of studying.
If I could have, I would have started earlier.
My regret is that I started too late.
On the one hand, I would have liked to have continued my study of the Kumon materials further into the future, but if you ask me if I could have continued Kumon even after I started junior high school, I would have concluded that it would have been impossible with the busy schedule I was in. This may depend in large part on the club activities to which the student belongs. If your child had belonged to a less active club, he or she might have been able to continue, but at the very least, you cannot expect your child to accurately grasp the busyness of the club before joining it, or to change the club he or she joins to a less busy one for the sake of Kumon. It is also difficult to intervene in a junior high school student's club activity decisions.
Therefore, I still think that the only way to achieve better results would have been to start Kumon earlier.
Even so, I think I was able to continue Kumon for a long time. This is because there were no private junior high schools within my commuting distance and I had no connection with the junior high school entrance exam. If I were to take the entrance examination for junior high school, it would be very difficult to manage both Kumon and the school during the fourth grade when I would enter a cram school for the entrance examination.
Although Kumon materials themselves cover a very wide range of grades, in order to benefit from Kumon in today's environment, it was necessary to consider entering Kumon in the lower grades of elementary school.
Kumon is high-cost, high-return
In this article, I have explained what it was like to actually study Kumon Japanese. There are many situations in Kumon learning that are difficult for the learners themselves, and the higher the grade, the more difficult it becomes to continue. It takes a long period of time for the effects to appear, and a certain amount of energy needs to be put into it in order to produce results.
However, once you get to a certain point, the benefits are immeasurable. Once you have the ability and motivation to read difficult texts, you have the potential to acquire the irreplaceable asset of a spontaneous reading habit. Even if you don't go that far, reading comprehension is a skill that is difficult to develop even if you repeatedly memorize and practice questions during the year of studying for entrance exams. Acquiring basic reading comprehension skills before the full-fledged study for the entrance exam begins will be a reassuring advantage at any stage of the exam process.