Many parents find it difficult for their children to make progress in Kumon Japanese. The reason for this is partly due to the characteristics of Kumon itself, and partly because it is easy to feel that progress is particularly slow in Japanese among the Kumon subjects. In this article, we will explain the reasons why they feel that progress in Kumon's Japanese is slow.
Japanese language has a larger amount of teaching materials than math and English.
The first thing that must be kept in mind is that among Kumon's subjects, Japanese has a large amount of teaching materials.
In Japanese, each alphabet is divided into I and II between the A and I materials, and in order to advance to the next alphabet, students must complete 400 pieces of printouts. Normally, it takes 200 printouts to move on to the next alphabet, so the amount of study is simply doubled. The speed of progress is also halved, so it is natural for students to feel that they are not making progress.
It is grade-less learning.
Not only when progress is slow, but also when the speed becomes slower than before, you may feel that you are not making progress. And in Kumon, there will always come a time when the speed of progress slows down.
Because Kumon emphasizes the basics, students often begin their studies at a level earlier than the current grade level. Also, Kumon does not often deal with applied content, and progress is often smooth at the beginning.
However, Kumon uses a method called "ungraded learning," in which learning proceeds according to the level of understanding, not the grade level. Therefore, the material will progress at a level that is easy to understand, and eventually your child will learn material that is more difficult than his or her level. This will naturally slow down the rate of progress.
The "lack of progress" that you feel here is a barrier that you are sure to feel if you are doing Kumon, and if anything, it is better to think that the speed after you feel "lack of progress" is the original speed.
Difficulty in seeing results
Even if the speed of progress is not as fast as expected, if you feel the effects of Kumon, you will not be so concerned about the lack of progress. Even if you are stuck in the same place for a long time, you do not need to worry about the lack of progress if you can see an apparent improvement in your test scores.
However, with the Japanese language, there are few opportunities to feel such visible effects. Unlike math or English conversation, reading comprehension is not clearly quantified or competed.
Reading comprehension is similar to infrastructure such as transportation, electricity, gas, and water in examinations. It is very rare that good reading comprehension is highlighted, but when a problem arises, it can have a serious impact. When problems do occur, it is very difficult to get things back to normal, and the cost of improving quality is significant.
The trouble with infrastructure is that, despite its importance, it is not cost-effective for the investment. Even if we could double the production of electricity, it would probably not improve the economy, and even if we replaced the sewage system with the latest equipment, few people would feel the benefit.
Similarly, the cost of Kumon Japanese is significant, but it is not likely to make a discernible difference in areas such as scores or deviation scores.
Expecting too much preemptive learning
Even if your child is objectively making good progress, there may be a difference between expectations and actual results due to too high expectations.
I think it is the psychology of many parents to have high expectations for their child's performance. For example, many parents may be concerned about the popularity and deviation score of their child's school if he or she is taking an entrance examination, or about the ranking and score of his or her child on a school test. In Kumon, people tend to be concerned about how far ahead they are compared to their actual grade level.
Especially with school tests, you can actually know who you are comparing yourself with because they are in the same class. How much they are studying, which cram school they are enrolled in, what subjects they are good at, and what subjects they are weak in. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Based on this specific information, you can get a somewhat realistic idea of what you need to do to catch up, or whether you should give up trying to catch up.
However, Kumon is not a cram school where classes are held in groups, and learning progresses at the pace of the individual. There are many Kumon classes, and it is not unusual for students to attend different Kumon classes even if they attend the same school district. Because it is difficult to see a comparative figure, it is easy to set goals and have ideals that are far from reality when it comes to Kumon.
Then it is an extreme case that becomes easy to see. There are those who have completed high school level material in the early grades of elementary school, and on the other hand, there are those who had a complete disagreement with Kumon and left the school in tatters after a dispute with the teacher and their children. Both are shocking and attention-grabbing cases, but they are not patterns that have a high probability of occurring.
However, when we are too blinded by these cases, our expectations and reality become totally out of proportion. As a result, it becomes a reason to feel that we are not progressing as much as we expect.
It is wrong to expect progress.
Kumon, especially Japanese, is something that takes a considerable amount of time to work on. It is worth the time, but it is not easy to feel that you are making progress or that you are getting results.
Even if it is not Kumon, things that you work on for the long term have similar characteristics. If you look at your savings account every day to see how much money you have saved, the balance will hardly change, and if you are on a diet and get on the scale every day, you will get tired of being swayed by a 0.1 kg error.
It is not short-term motivation that helps when tackling these things. It is to make it part of your daily routine, just like brushing your teeth or eating.
Instead of rushing to make faster progress on something that is not progressing, a good attitude is to accept that Kumon Japanese is a language that does not progress well.