At what age are the 6A Kumon math materials?
In Kumon math, the 6A materials are the very first Kumon materials. Since most children can start Kumon at the age of 3 years old, many children will start working on 6A at the age of 3 or 4 years old.
What kind of Kumon Math 6A materials are they?
First, let's check the explanations of the Kumon formulas.
Through illustrations, counting ● and reading numbers, children become fully familiar with numbers up to 10 and develop the ability to move on to the 5A materials. The goal is for students to be able to read and easily recite numbers up to 10, and to be able to count the number of pieces by counting illustrations and ● up to 10.
You can see that the concept of numbers is approached from various aspects such as objects, symbols, and numbers.
What are the key points of Kumon Arithmetic's 6A strategy?
The important thing to keep in mind here is to clearly understand the difference between "counting" and "recognizing numbers.
Counting" here means being able to point at something and say, "1, 2, 3..." while pointing at something. From an adult's point of view, this stage can be mistaken for the child's ability to recognize numbers. The child can now count from 1 to 10. Next, we will move on to numbers above 11." In many cases, children may mistakenly think that they have mastered numbers up to 10.
But in fact, this is not the case. At this stage, for example, if you point to the letter "9," your child will not yet understand that this is the number 9.
At this stage, counting is no different from singing a nursery rhyme to your child. There is no big difference between singing "On the big chestnut tree" and "One, two, three, four..." There is no big difference between singing "under the big chestnut tree" and singing "one, two, three, four...". They are just imitating the sounds they hear, not understanding that there is a word "ichi" or that "1" is read as "ichi".
In fact, when I point to the number "3" and ask my child at this stage, "What is this?" They count, "One, two, three, four..." or they say, "Seven...". He counted the number and answered "seven. Understanding numbers is not a simple concept.
Number recognition" is not a required task in 6A.
When any person learns something new, he or she tries to understand it by relying on some information he or she has already learned. The less it relates to what you know so far, the harder it will be to learn. It takes a lot for someone with little athletic experience to improve in a new sport, and it can be hard for someone who has stayed away from science to learn physics.
The same is true for your child. It is often numbers, not hiragana, that first expose them to the connection between letters and their meanings and sounds. It naturally takes a certain cost for children to understand what they are learning for the first time.
And Kumon is trying to address this issue by suggesting that it is not necessary for children to recognize numbers at the 6A stage.
The explanations in the official Kumon 6A materials list "number counting to 10" and "counting the number of pieces" as tasks. Both of these tasks require the students to recite the numbers in order from 1, and do not emphasize the need to recognize numbers. Recognizing numbers will be an issue that comes up in the next 5A materials.
Keep your child warm by understanding the exact intent of the material!
It is difficult for adults to recognize the difference between "counting" and "recognizing numbers. However, Kumon teaching materials make a clear distinction between the two. Therefore, if you do not recognize the difference between the two, it may seem to adults that your child is doing the same thing forever, even though he or she is actually growing up.
Kumon is a material in which parents also bear the burden of home study. A lack of perceived progress can easily lead to frustration and impatience. One wrong move and you could see your child struggling with "number recognition" in the 5A material and become frustrated, wondering why he or she can't do what he or she used to be able to do.