Contrary to its high profile, not many people understand the specifics of Kumon's curriculum. While there are some features that are partially understood, such as calculation speed and anticipatory learning, some aspects of the overall picture are difficult to comprehend.

However, Kumon, due to the scope of what it deals with, has an impact on your child's entire learning plan. Because of the high degree of influence, it is very important to understand the whole picture and plan accordingly.

In this article, we will focus on Kumon's Japanese curriculum, which is particularly difficult to grasp in its entirety due to the sheer volume of Kumon materials and the ambiguity of the units. Let's proceed with understanding the large volume of Kumon Japanese one by one.

Check the curriculum

In Kumon, each grade level is assigned a letter of the alphabet, and the materials are taught in order.

For the Japanese language we are discussing here, the curriculum is divided into 31 levels from 8A to O (excluding the research course). The target age range is also very wide, from 3 years old to university students.

Check how to proceed with the curriculum

So how does Kumon proceed with these materials?

Basically, Kumon does not relate the actual grade level to the progression of the material. If you understand something quickly, you can go ahead as many grades as you want, and if you are not sure about something, you can go back a few grades. This is one of the reasons why Kumon is attracting so much attention, especially because it is called "pre-emptive learning" in that it allows students to move ahead regardless of grade level.

The level of difficulty of the content emphasizes the basics, and Kumon does not delve so deeply into each field that it can be used as an entrance exam for difficult schools without modification, whether for junior high, high school, or university entrance exams. Instead, the fundamentals are thoroughly repeated, allowing students to acquire a very high level of skill, especially in terms of speed. In Japanese, Kumon is unique in that students are able to understand the main points quickly and accurately even when confronted with difficult texts.

In Kumon, the curriculum is basically self-study, with students solving printouts at a set pace each day. Since there are no difficult problems that require thinking and application skills, students are expected to solve problems in new fields on their own with the help of example problems. In most cases, students will attend classes twice a week, but they will not have lessons in the classroom; instead, they will be expected to answer homework and solve the day's handouts.

Understanding the curriculum in more detail

So far we have looked at the big picture. Next, let's take a closer look at which materials and what kind of content will be covered. In the text, Kumon Japanese is divided into 8 stages, but if you would like to know more about the contents of the materials in more detail, please refer to the links to the explanatory text for each material.

In 8A, you will encounter language through sounds and shapes.

The first material is 8A, which is the very first one.

Newborn babies are not yet aware of language. They do not yet distinguish between noise and words, or letters and other visual information that has no meaning. From this point, they gradually learn to recognize meaningful sounds, shapes, and words.

At Kumon, this is approached through "singing to children" and "Kanji cards.

Many people may find it surprising to learn kanji before hiragana, but kanji have distinctive shapes and, unlike hiragana, are associated with concrete objects such as "dog" and "sky," making them more familiar concepts for babies than hiragana. Kanji learned here may be forgotten by the time they enter elementary school, but it is an effective approach at this stage of character recognition.

In 7A to 5A, reading aloud becomes the theme.

From 7A to 5A, reading aloud becomes the main focus.

After encountering the sounds and shapes of words in 8A, the next step is to connect the "shapes" of letters and the "sounds" of pronunciation by reading aloud. For example, in the case of an apple, an illustration of an apple and the word "apple" are written side by side, and the parent reads the word aloud to the child while pointing to the illustration and letters.

At this stage, it is often the case that the child's understanding has not progressed to the point where he or she can read the letters by themselves. At the word level, there are some short term memories, but when you get to the short sentences that appear around 5A, it may be a little tough to be able to read the sentences at this stage of this material. However, as your child gradually understands the connection between the illustrations, letters, and sentences, he or she will gradually build a foundation for understanding the words and sentences themselves.

If your child started Kumon at age 3, he or she may feel the first obstacle around 5A. However, in general, the material in this area is relatively easy to tackle because it is based on reading to the children.

From 4A to 2A, we deal with hiragana.

Up to 5A, students have become familiar with the concept of words. From this point on, we will be dealing with the concept of hiragana.

The words and sentences we have learned so far have meanings. Whether it is "apple" or "today is sunny," words and sentences have meaning and can be illustrated and experienced in real life.

However, hiragana itself, such as "a" and "ka," basically have no meaning. At least in the teaching materials, hiragana are treated as phonetic characters. Since they have no concrete meaning, they are more difficult for young children to understand.

In addition to reading, writing will also be included in the course materials.

If the material is read aloud, the child can move through the material passively to some extent. It is the same as a picture book, so there is no need to study at a desk. However, "writing" is different. If they do not move their hands on their own, they will not be able to finish the printouts, and without a desk, they will not be able to write.

Most children who learn these materials will have not yet entered elementary school. They naturally do not have the habit of learning, and it is difficult for them to concentrate for long periods of time due to their age. It can be said that the burden on parents is greatest in this area.

Learning basic grammar in A to C

The A materials are just at the first grade level of elementary school.

From B, reading comprehension problems are also introduced. It is around this time that students will begin to feel as if they are studying in a real sense.

Reading comprehension is mainly narrative texts rather than critical essays. This is because the narrative style based on events and conversations is more natural and easier to understand than the logical style of writing. However, since there is no set pattern for the setting and development of a story in narrative writing, the degree of understanding of the material depends on how much you have read picture books.

From D to F, students understand sentences in a coherent manner.

From the D material, students will move on to the stage of understanding the relationship between multiple sentences and paragraphs, rather than short sentences.

From the C material, students have been reading and answering questions, but the questions are mainly about understanding single sentences such as 5W1H. From the D material, students will be asked to read the connection between sentences and paragraphs and what they are trying to say as a whole.

From an adult's point of view, "being able to read a text means understanding the whole content," but in reality, it is necessary to learn many things before understanding the whole content. The most important thing is to understand the connections between the D and F materials. If the students do not have sufficient skills in this area, they may seem to be able to read the text, but when you ask them about it in detail, they may not actually understand what is in the text at all.

Therefore, it is easy for both the child and the parent to be at the mercy of a situation in which the child seems to be reading but is not. The child will be confused by the fact that he or she understands the meaning of a single sentence but cannot solve the problem, and the parent will be upset that the child did not read the text as well as he or she had hoped.

However, the ability to read connections is being developed as you work through the material.

Often there are students who listen attentively to class and take good notes, but for some reason do not score well on tests. These are the children who are good at simple memorization, but have trouble with written and applied problems, and at some stage they lose track of the content of the class. The main reason for this phenomenon is the inability to understand the connections. In this sense, it can be said that the D to F materials deal with highly important content.

Kanji also continues to cover all the Kanji learned at each grade level. It is in this area that students will benefit the most from Kanji.

Summarizing Modern Japanese from G to I

In Kumon Japanese, the study of modern Japanese language will come to an end at the I material, because from the J to L materials, students will study ancient Japanese and Chinese texts. I is a compilation of modern literature.

The texts covered in the course are also books that even adults would find challenging if they wanted to read the original texts.

I personally believe that the final Kumon Japanese course should be the goal, but if I were to set another goal in the middle of the course, I would set it as the completion of the I course, because once you complete the I course, you will be able to read almost any book. If you can read books, you will be able to learn almost any subject on your own, not just Japanese.

Those who aim to take the junior high school entrance examination often aim to complete the F materials by the fourth grade, since completing the F materials will complete the elementary level Kumon Japanese materials. However, for junior high school entrance examinations, completion of the F materials will have limited effect. This is because the problems for the junior high school entrance examinations tend to be more difficult in terms of thinking and reading comprehension than in terms of knowledge, since they do not cover the range of junior high school. For example, even if factorization is not allowed in the math section of the junior high school entrance exam, there is no limit to the difficulty of the sentences in the exam.

Therefore, the Japanese language proficiency required for junior high school entrance exams tends to be well above the elementary school level. If you can set your goal in Kumon Japanese before the F materials, it will be easier to obtain good results.

Old and Chinese literature appears from J to L.

The modern Japanese language will come to an end with the I materials, and from this point on, the ancient and Chinese literature will be the subject of study.

There are several times when you may wonder whether or not to quit Kumon. One is when your child's life becomes busy with higher education or entrance exams, and you no longer have time to continue Kumon. The other is when the parents lose the meaning of continuing Kumon.

And from J material to L material is the section where parents find it difficult to find meaning in Kumon.

This is because the high school entrance examinations do not include ancient or Chinese literature. The age at which students reach this area should generally be during their junior high school years. If you are not in an integrated junior and senior high school, you cannot avoid taking the high school entrance exam, but the ancient and Chinese literature basically do not appear in the high school entrance exam questions. It is undeniable that it is difficult to find meaning in studying for the university entrance exam when the high school entrance exam is right in front of you.

However, when looking ahead to the university entrance examinations, being able to read even a little bit of ancient Chinese and Chinese literature is a tremendous advantage at the stage before full-fledged exam study begins. This is because even at national universities, the amount of text and difficulty level of reading comprehension questions in ancient and Chinese texts is not that much of a barrier when compared to modern texts. It cannot be said that you can acquire sufficient knowledge in terms of grammar and vocabulary for the entrance exam only from Kumon, but once you have solidified that knowledge, you will be able to score points in the ancient and Chinese literature at almost all university levels.

The earlier you invest, the harder it will be to get a return on your investment. There may come a time when you will have to think about how you should face the J materials and beyond.

Learning Critical Thinking from M to O

The final Kumon Japanese course is the O course. To put it in a larger context, the M to O materials are the climax of Kumon Japanese.

From the J to L materials, students learn to comprehend the content of ancient and Chinese texts, but the goal is still the same.

From the M materials, however, students are encouraged to think from the premise of understanding the text.

One of the major trends in Japanese education is to shift from cramming to emphasizing the ability to think for oneself. This is the trend after the "Yutori" education. Although the negative aspects of Yutori Education itself have often been highlighted, there has not been a reversion to cramming after the end of the program, but rather a shift toward education that develops thinking skills in a better way.

The "ability to think for oneself," which was perhaps even a stumbling block for our parents' generation, is now becoming a standard requirement, like reporting and communication skills. In the world of entrance examinations, which may seem useless in the real world, learning at Kumon will lead to the cultivation of the basic skills needed to survive in society.

A few years are not enough time to complete the curriculum.

We have looked at the contents and position of each material in general. I have hardly touched on the detailed contents, but I believe that the volume was still quite large.

This volume is the greatest feature of Kumon. The range of ages covered is extremely wide.

For example, let's say you start with A I. Each alphabet is allotted 200 prints, so you have to go through 4800 prints to finish all the materials. Moreover, you must answer all questions correctly on each printout at a certain rate before you can move on to the next material. Since there are at least three repetitions, you must solve more than 10,000 printouts to reach the final Kumon material, no matter how smoothly your study progresses.

And in Kumon, Japanese is the material with the largest number of letters in the alphabet. Japanese has 31 alphabets from 8A to O. Compared to arithmetic, which has 22, and English, which has 23, the amount of learning is extremely large. Naturally, the learning period is also longer, and it may be necessary to consider a span of 5 or 10 years.

At what point in the child's life will Kumon be incorporated into the child-rearing process? This must be considered as early as possible.

Understanding the Curriculum and Gaining an Edge in Strategy

In this article, we have discussed the Kumon Japanese language curriculum. We have outlined which materials and what kind of content Kumon covers from pre-school to university entrance examinations.

What do you mean by the wide range of topics covered? Kumon is not limited to individual examinations such as junior high school entrance examinations. Kumon is not limited to individual entrance examinations, such as junior high school or high school, but can have an impact on all of your child's examinations.

And even though Kumon is a material that has a great impact on overall learning, very few people understand the big picture when they enroll their children in Kumon. However, this means that if you have a correct understanding of the material, you will be able to get a big advantage over others in your examination strategy.

We hope that this article and this blog will help you in this regard.