I am happy to say that my daughter’s love for books is
very evident at such a young age. And she is always saying that she already
wants to go to school. She got the idea from her cousins who are already grade
schoolers.
So when I saw an ad about a Kumon 2-week free trial
sometime last September, I decided to sign up my daughter for the reading
program. It is a great opportunity to test if my daughter is ready for a school
setting. Well it is not really a school setting because it is more of a
tutor-student type. I am also curious about Kumon method and it’s great that
the orientation they gave to all parents who registered for the free trial is
comprehensive and inspiring.
After the trial, I decided to enroll my daughter
because when I ask her, she said she wants to continue and she seems to enjoy
the worksheets. I think it is also a good way to prepare her for pre-school. Although
it is not really a classroom type- she gets to see other kids and mingle with
them a bit and get to be comfortable with a teacher.
I find the enrollment fee a bit high though. First-time
enrollees need to pay Php2300 because there is an additional Php500 for the
miscellaneous fees. Then it becomes Php1800 a month per subject (they offer
reading and math) for gradeschoolers and below. The fee for high-schoolers and
older is Php1950.
My daughter needs to go the center two times a week and
a session is supposed to be for an hour but sometimes it only takes 30 minutes.
Anyway, my daughter also gets to take home worksheets for the days when she is
not in Kumon. I am quite shocked that they also have worksheets to do for
Christmas and New Years day. They said they do this to instill the discipline
of studying but I think it is a bit too much.
These worksheets forced me to take an active role in my
child’s studying. At first, I am tempted to just research and print my own
worksheet because I feel like I am the one who is actually teaching my my
child. Maybe I might consider this in the future, but for now, I don’t think I
have the luxury of time for that option.
I think the Kumon system works though it is also very
doable at home. As for me, I am happy with my child’s progress so I would still
recommend it to parents who want to give the best to their children.
One downside though is that the center where my
daughter goes to is quite small and on times when there are so many students, I
am not sure if the teacher can still devote lots of attention to my child.
