Often there are cases in which it takes a long time to complete homework assignments in Kumon Japanese around the 4A level, because until 5A, the material is reading-only, but from 4A onward, the child begins to write letters. There are many cases where a child who had been making good progress with the printouts loses interest in doing them.
In this article, we will explain the 4A barrier in Kumon Japanese.
What kind of teaching materials are Kumon Japanese 4A?
First, let's check what kind of Kumon Japanese 4A teaching materials are used.
Check the image of Kumon Japanese 4A teaching materials
Unlike the previous teaching materials, the main feature of the Kumon Japanese 4A teaching materials is that "writing" appears. In the first half, you will write a single character by following the stroke order, and in the second half, you will write a coherent sentence.
While in 5A, the previous material, the students read the sentences aloud, in 4A, the students have to write the sentences.
Check the explanations of the Kumon Formulas
Next, let's check the explanations in the list of Kumon Japanese language materials.
Students will learn the basics of writing hiragana (stroke form, stroke order, etc.) and develop the ability to write with sufficient writing pressure. As a way to expand vocabulary, we will cover nouns by genre to acquire vocabulary. Students will deepen their understanding of the content by learning to read sentences and reading what appears in them, further improving their hiragana reading skills developed in the 8A-5A materials.
The level of difficulty in reading is more like building on what has been learned in 5A, rather than learning something new. 4A can be thought of as the writing part of the course.
At what age is it suitable for study?
The target age for 4A is 3 years old. The progress of learning in early childhood is greatly influenced by the speed of development, so it is not too much to worry about, but it can be used as a guideline.
Kumon Japanese up to 5A is reading, but from 4A, writing starts.
At the timing of entering 4A, the Kumon materials that used to be for reading printed words aloud together will change to materials for writing hiragana.
Kumon materials are reviewed from time to time, so it may be 5A or 3A when they start writing letters, depending on the time of year. Anyway, it is around this time that they start practicing writing hiragana.
There are several reasons why your child may hit a wall at this time.
Reading aloud can be done passively, but writing requires the child's initiative.
With reading aloud, the print can proceed even if the child loses focus somewhat. Since it is the parent who takes the initiative in reading aloud, the child can proceed somewhat passively, and if there are 10 or so printouts, it can often be done in about 10 minutes.
However, writing cannot be completed unless the child moves his or her hands on his or her own. Concentration is also necessary for proper writing. A small child, who still has waves of concentration, may be confused by the daily demand for a higher level of concentration than before.
Many children are not good at writing in the same Kumon Japanese language.
Reading and writing are both the same Kumon Japanese, but for small children, they require something completely different.
What is required in reading is more like studying, such as knowing the names of things and learning how to read hiragana. For a curious child, this can be a genuinely enjoyable activity.
On the other hand, in the case of writing, it is the physical part that is more difficult for children. For a small child, holding the pencil correctly and drawing a line without going out of the frame is more a matter of being able to move the body well. Especially for children around the age of three, the bones in their arm joints are not yet attached. Because the bones are not attached, no matter how hard they try, the lines will be squishy.
And since we have seen hiragana in previous teaching materials, they do not contain new information that satisfies our curiosity. The more a child has worked hard with curiosity as the driving force, the more likely he or she is to hit the brakes here.
Children are not yet accustomed to holding a pencil.
Some may not be used to holding a pencil.
There are few opportunities to hold a pencil as a child. If anything, they are much more likely to hold a crayon when drawing. However, crayons are thicker and easier to hold, and there is no need to draw straight lines when drawing.
To write hiragana, you need to draw straight and curved lines precisely, and you also need to balance the whole drawing. It must be difficult for children to do this with a pencil that they are not used to.
Kumon offers Zundun, a pencil exercise to help children practice drawing lines with a pencil. Check the explanation of the effectiveness of Zundun below, and if you feel that it is beneficial, you may want to consult with the teacher.
It's amazing how little kids can stay at their desks for tens of minutes.
For these reasons, children take longer to do their homework once they get into hiragana writing materials.
But it can be difficult for a child to stay focused for long periods of time. Even after entering elementary school, not many children can properly concentrate for 15 minutes, and for children old enough to do the 3A materials, 10 minutes is a good amount of time. As mentioned above, extra concentration is needed to write hiragana. There is no doubt that it will gradually become more and more difficult for them to finish their homework.
No matter how unmotivated your child may seem, if he or she seems to be at the desk for a long time, you should acknowledge that this is a great thing.
Taking too long is a sign that your child is losing motivation.
However, if it is taking longer than 30 minutes, it is a strain on both the child and the parent.
It is easy for parents to see that their children are losing motivation, without having to measure the time. It must be unpleasant for parents to see their children working on Kumon in an unmotivated state.
However, it is also easy to imagine that almost no child would be able to put up with something he or she doesn't want to do and work diligently at it. Parents are also under pressure to get their children to do their homework. If the children do not do their best, there is no small number of families who end up fighting, and in the worst case scenario, they end up deciding to quit Kumon.
It is the parent's job to stand between Kumon and the child.
Concentration does not last. It takes time to solve printouts. There are times when it is inevitably difficult for children to complete their homework because of individual differences. And, as a matter of course, children cannot negotiate with their teachers to reduce the amount of homework they have to do.
Also, the teacher's detailed follow-up cannot be expected to be that great. One Kumon teacher takes care of a large number of students, and the Kumon system does not allow the teacher to play a very important role.
When homework is a big burden for a child nowadays, only parents can coordinate with the teacher.
Of course, there are not many teachers who will reduce the amount of homework when asked to do so. This is because Kumon wants its students to work hard every day on their homework, even if it is a little more difficult than usual.
However, parents also want their children to work hard. If the pace of their children's homework has slowed down, they are probably taking steps to make sure that their children can finish their homework. It is not desirable to push a child to the limit when there are still insurmountable obstacles. It will be the parent's role to communicate with the teacher and find a good drop-off point.
Let's get them over the 4A barrier and get the benefits of Kumon Japanese!
The greatest merit of Kumon Japanese is that through reading comprehension problems, students are exposed to quality problems and acquire reading comprehension and culture, which are the foundation of life. It would be a waste to quit Kumon at this point.
In order to overcome the 4A wall, first of all, parents need to recognize that there is a big wall here. Then, they should not be impatient when their children hit the wall, but know that the children themselves are working hardest to overcome this point, and if necessary, they should consult with the teacher or negotiate with him or her.
In many cases, children who do the 4As will be old enough to start elementary school. Starting Kumon early and developing basic reading skills will give them the groundwork to improve not only their Japanese, but also all other subjects. It may be a lot of hard work, but let's do our best to overcome this obstacle.