Confirming the Position of the C Materials in the Kumon Japanese Language Program as a Whole
First, let's understand the positioning of the C Materials by referring to Kumon's progress chart.
The C materials are at the third grade level of elementary school.
In the early childhood level, the number in front of "A" became smaller and smaller, from 8A to 7A to 6A. When you enter elementary school level materials, the materials progress in the order of "A I → A II → B I → B II". It is as if one letter of the alphabet moves forward one grade level.
What grade level are the Kumon Japanese C materials for?
In most cases, children in the 2nd and 3rd grades are doing it. If they started Kumon after entering elementary school, there will be few patterns in which they are still far ahead of their actual grade level. On the other hand, if you have a child who started Kumon at an early age, there are a certain number of children who reach the C material in their senior year. This is because Kumon's definition of "high progression" is generally three grades ahead of the current age or grade, and one line of progression is to finish the C materials before entering elementary school.
What is the content of the Kumon Japanese C Materials?
Then, what is the content of the Kumon Japanese C materials? Let's start with the C I teaching materials and check some explanations on the official website and some examples of teaching materials.
The Kumon Japanese C materials focus on the particles that connect words and phrases, and cultivate syntactic ability. The course also focuses on sentence-final expressions, changes in sentence-final expressions accompanying changes in position, and the use of adverbs and adverbials to further improve students' ability to accurately grasp the meaning of sentences. Students will study 90 Kanji characters from the 3rd grade elementary school curriculum to expand their vocabulary. In addition, students will review the Kanji learned in C I using idioms as a starting point.
In the B material, students learned the grammar of subject, predicate, and modifier, which is the core of sentence structure; in the C material, students will deal with more difficult grammar such as particles, infinitives, and adverbs. In addition, students will also learn about tenses, which will broaden the range of expression in sentences.
Many of you may have found particles, gerunds, and adverbs a little more difficult than in the past. Children who are learning Japanese grammar for the first time may feel the same way.
Next, let's check the explanations and examples of CII materials.
In the "Memo" section, students will organize the content of sentences using the memo format. In the "5W 1H" section, students will accurately grasp the various elements of "when, where, who, what, why, and how. In the "Question and Answer" section, students practice constructing appropriate response sentences in response to questions to solidify the foundation of sentence reading comprehension and basic syntactic skills. Students learn to read and write 96 Kanji characters from the third grade. In addition, students will review all the Kanji learned in CII using idioms as a starting point.
The focus will shift from the grammatical content of the previous classes to the use of sentences based on basic reading and writing. The "5W1H" and "Question and Answer" are not just grammar questions, but are the first step to extracting necessary information from sentences and connecting them to communication.
Also, idioms will appear. At the time of my own study, I did not have such a strong impression of Kumon's kanji, but at least up to the C material, they have ensured that the kanji learned in that grade are kept in check.
What are the key points of Kumon Japanese C?
To ensure that you can keep down the elements that appear in the C materials, it will be important that you are familiar with narrative writing.
In C I, you will find particles, impressive verbs, and adverbs; in C II, you will find "5W1H" and "Question and Answer". Both of these concepts appear more frequently in narrative texts, especially in conversations between characters, than in critical texts. In conversational writing, emotional verbs that express the emotions of the characters are more likely to appear, and "questions and answers" naturally appear in conversations. Adverbs such as "deliberately" and "more" are often used in stories, and it is in narrative writing, with its multiple characters and scenes, that it is necessary to understand the 5W1H.
Resistance on the part of parents to narrative can hinder children.
If too much emphasis is placed on the knowledge aspect, many people may consider books with stories to be somewhat vulgar. Some families may keep their children away from stories because of their negative influence on them, especially if they are the kind of stories that children in the early elementary grades like to read. Many people are resistant to things like Kamen Rider or Oshiri Tantei, which are aimed at boys, and include battles and undertones. It is understandable that they would be more likely to grow up intellectually curious if they were read illustrated books.
However, if we deprive children of the opportunity to engage in stories, we also lose the chance to develop the content they learn in C-learning materials in Japanese.
If the story is from a popular series, there is a greater chance that the child will be engaged. Compared to stories that are complete in a single book, the number of characters increases, requiring a higher level of accurate understanding of the communication within the story.
Reading is not necessarily the only way to develop this ability, because the ability required for C material is not the interpretation of the meaning of the text itself, but the ability to extract the important information from it. The best way to help students understand which information is important is to use their interest in the story.
It may be useful to have the child and father talk about the story
That said, it can be difficult to get them interested in children's cartoons, especially on the mother's side. Most stories for women are romance stories. Shoujo manga and romance are almost equal, and romance is also the mainstream in dramas. There are also stories about careers and families, but they are hardly suitable for children. Stories for early elementary school students rarely feature romance, and it may be difficult to interest them from the same point of view as children.
This is where we would like to focus on the father's side.
Anime and manga for men do not necessarily include romance in their stories. Of course, romance is a major genre for men, but it is only one of several popular genres. Battles, sports, robots, and solving mysteries. These elements are often found in children's anime, but there are many adult men who also like these genres. Once you start watching, it is possible that your father will be hooked, even if it is a children's anime.
It may seem like this is a story about boys, but the situation is no different for anime for girls. You can find any number of stories about fathers who became addicted to Pretty Cure if you do some research.
If children watch anime alone, they can enjoy the story even if they don't understand the content of the story that much. Just watching Kamen Rider fight or Pretty Cure transform, children can enjoy the story even if they don't understand the villain's motives or the worldview. However, in terms of Japanese language skills, of course, that is not the only way to acquire them.
If parents and children can talk about the content of the story, it will promote understanding of the story. Just by explaining a little foreshadowing or a motif, children will be able to understand the story much more deeply. And talking about the story is only fun if it is between people who enjoy the story.
Of course, everyone has different tastes. Sometimes the mother enjoys the story, and sometimes the father is not interested at all. However, you should keep in mind that even if you don't enjoy a story for children, your partner may find it surprisingly interesting.
C. What may seem unserious may affect the smooth understanding of the contents of the material.