What grade level is Kumon Japanese L for?
Kumon Japanese L is equivalent to high school level Kumon Japanese L. The J, K, and L materials are divided by scope of study rather than grade level, with the J and K materials covering ancient Japanese literature and the L material covering Chinese literature.
The J and K materials cover ancient Japanese literature, while the L materials cover Chinese literature.
What kind of Kumon Japanese L materials are they?
From A to I of Kumon Japanese, each material is divided into two parts, I and II, and it is necessary to complete 400 printouts to advance one letter of the alphabet.
Now let's check the official information about the Kumon Japanese L materials. First, let's look at the aim of the teaching materials.
The aim of the Kumon Japanese L materials is to take "critical reading comprehension based on material study" one step further than the K materials. The aim of this course is to acquire the ability to accurately grasp and summarize the correspondence between concrete and abstract expressions in the argument of the critic in response to the source text. Cultivate the skill of "summarizing the whole text after understanding the paragraph structure of the critical text".
This is the finishing material for the "reading comprehension of critical texts based on material study," which began with the J materials. The goal of this course is to understand critical texts based on the material (Chinese texts) at a level where the whole text can be condensed.
Let's continue to check the material that appears in the course.
Analects, Laozi, Buci, Enshi, Zhuangzi, Mencius, Huangzi, Han Feizi, Huainanzi, Shiji, Warring States Policy, Tao Yuanming, New Words, Li Bai, Du Fu, Liu Zongyuan, Han Yu, Bai Juyi, Su Shi, and Li Shang Yin
As with the ancient texts at the time of the J and K materials, there is a wide range of famous works of Chinese literature. I think it covers most of the famous ones.
The first half of the course is "Concrete and Abstract" and the second half is "Full Text Condensation." The first half of the L materials completes the preparation for understanding the whole text, and the second half is a summary of critical reading comprehension.
Chinese Literature as a Tool for Improving Reading Comprehension
The Chinese literature in the L material has the same characteristics as the ancient Chinese literature in the J and K materials. The purpose of the L materials is not to learn basic vocabulary and grammar of Chinese literature, but to improve reading comprehension using Chinese literature as the subject matter. In fact, at the very beginning of the L materials, it is clearly stated that the answers can be found by reading the annotations or the modern translations (critical review sentences).
Therefore, there is no need to panic if you decide to start this material in elementary or junior high school because you may not be ready to learn Chinese literature yet. Even if they do not have the prerequisite knowledge, they can proceed with their studies as an extension of their previous ones.
On the other hand, to get a good score on the exam, Kumon's Chinese literature alone is not enough. The overall picture is not much different from that of the classical Japanese. However, it may be said that this tendency is more apparent in Chinese literature than in ancient literature, since the ratio of knowledge questions in university entrance examinations is often higher in Chinese literature than in ancient literature.
Reading comprehension is a total mobilization of what you have learned so far.
What about reading comprehension?
I explained that the first half of the test is to understand the relationship between "concrete and abstract" and the second half is to do "whole sentence contraction. This itself is something that has already appeared in the previous materials. The material on reading the relationship between the concrete and the abstract was covered in the E material, and "full-text contraction" reached its conclusion in the I material. Of course, the level of the texts has risen, but this is not the first time the concept has been covered in the L materials.
What is different from the previous course is the presence of material sentences.
The presence of the material means that it is difficult to fully understand the content of the critical text alone. The reader must have the content of the source text in mind, understand the entire critical text, and then condense the entire text.
What is even more troublesome is that the source text cannot be understood by itself, because at the stage of learning the L materials, students do not have a basic knowledge of Chinese literature, so it is impossible to understand the content by reading the Chinese text alone.
It is impossible to comprehend both the material and critical texts by themselves. Then you have to proceed with deciphering the text little by little, referring to both texts alternately.
Each of these tasks is not impossible for a child who has progressed so far. However, in order to solve the problems in the L-material, everything must be done at the same time. To understand the source text, you must refer to the critical text, and to understand the critical text, you must refer to the source text again, and to grasp the logical structure of the critical text, you must condense the whole text.
What we have to confront in the L materials is not a single new skill, but the complexity of mobilizing all the skills we have learned so far.
How to multitask well
What is important in order to face such complexity?
First of all, it is important to have mastered each and every technique. If you are too occupied with understanding the critical text, your mind will not be able to think about understanding the source text, grasping the logical structure, or condensing the text. Only when you have mastered all of these elements to a level where you can do them with about 60% of your effort, can you use all of your strength to face the problems in the L-materials.
The second is to acquire the skill of how to multitask successfully.
The problems in the L-materials are designed in such a way that it is difficult to complete each element one by one. The L materials are not in a cause-and-effect format of "understand the source text, then understand the critique text," but rather in an interdependent format in which the two progress gradually, alternately.
Since we cannot complete one task at a time, solving L-materials problems is like constantly interrupting and resuming a task. Since humans are not good at multitasking, efficiency is further reduced.
Although multitasking is extremely troublesome, it is not without countermeasures. Even if the efficiency loss is unavoidable, it can be reduced through training.
Experience with multitasking is important.
As adults, we often experience multitasking at work. It is not uncommon for working adults to have a mountain of tasks with deadlines and irregular interruptions. In many cases, you will adapt to this situation over the course of many years in the workforce. No matter how many things they have to do, they are able to finish their work at a satisfactory quality without breaking deadlines.
Children, however, do not have such strict deadlines, so they are less likely to multitask. The episode of putting off summer homework is a classic example. Even if they have a month or more to complete a task, they cannot finish it unless they are urged to do so by others.
The difference is solely one of experience. You may not be able to put your child under the same amount of pressure as you do at work, but just asking them to do something a little more complex will change the outcome.
Multitasking also exists in everyday life. Cooking is a typical example. When cooking multiple items, you must cook them simultaneously under various constraints such as time and utensils. Planning a trip also requires a lot of thinking, and on the day of the event, you have to deal with various accidents and handle the event.
Studying is basically a matter of devoting yourself to it, which will lead to better results. Therefore, the more effort you put into your studies, the less opportunity you will have to experience other things. However, the ability to do multiple things at the same time is the kind of skill that can be efficiently acquired from situations other than studying. It is important to have a balanced life.