Kumon Vs. Sylvan

my dd does Kumon and she is WAAYYY ahead of the rest of her class. They have worksheets that have to be done every day and, although she doesn't like to do them all the time, it has really paid off. Granted, a lot of it is memorization, but the schools don't really make kids memorize math the way I did as a kid. Even though memorization is not "application", it helps them move on to other things since they're not spending time with the basic stuff.

The other kids are really weak in math and I feel bad for them that they're not made to learn it the way my dd has. We only do their math program and we plan to stick with it up through 6th grade (we are third grade now). We only go in once a week, but most of this stuff is just practice practice practice at home. It's nice to have them "forcing" us to do it. If we weren't in that program, we would probably let it slide and she'd wind up like most other American kids...way behind.

I teach at a community college and I can honestly say, many kids come out of high school and they can't do basic math, fractions, decimals, rounding, etc. Kumon is based on Asian teaching methods and they use international standards, which define "grade level" much higher than American's define "grade level.

my niece worked at Sylvan & hated it. She hated how the kids were piled into the class, regardless of age. She felt the children should be with their peers, allowing her to teach the entire time as was contracted. She truly felt the kids/parents were being short-changed.

Once she was established with the school district (as a sub), she found that the principal kept her busy thru personal recommendations for tutoring. This appealed to her more + paid much better!

Soooo, my suggestion would be: check with your school's prinicipal & take it from there.

In our school system, the teachers, etc prefer a child go the route of a private tutor who is a teacher, retired teacher, or teacher on leave for maternity, SAHM. Etc.

Why? Because the child will be taught the skills in the same manner they are taught in the classroom. Some children do go to a place of business for tutoring . Keep in mind... That is a place of business (Kuman/Sylvan) looking out for their profit margin as #1. They are in business to make money #1 then help children.

Some children who go to a place of business learn different ways to solve problems, etc and when they get back to the classroom... Confusion sets in and the child is no better off.

Just food for thought because I do work in the school system as well and I see it.

Get a good reference from your school guidance counselor and teachers.

Good luck

We've used Sylvan and it was great. I've heard good things about Kumon too.
I wouldn't recommend either for a very young child. It's too much head stuff and not enough heart stuff and hand work

I worked at Sylvan for a few years and LOVED it. Our center was amazing and the results were incredible. I was a lead teacher/asst director, so I was able to test the kids and really see progress. I wish we lived closer to one now because I would enroll my son (for enrichment). The only downside is the cost. I think our center charged $45/hr back in 2007. If you wanted something less expensive, I would look for a private tutor.

Sylvan does homework support and follows what the teacher does in the class. Kumon has their own curriculum and the work is rote and speed.

There is a lot to be said for both. The teacher and Sylvan teach how math works, and Kumon teaches how to do the problems efficiently, piecemeal. I think of it as teachers and teacher support (Sylvan) teaching the big picture, and Kumon teaching the little pieces within the big picture.

Dawn

My granddaughter started Kumon at age 3, the math class. She is now totally efficient in her 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's and 10's tables, it so cute to watch her recite them. She can also add and subtact 3 digit numbers, and go from adding, to subtracting to multiplication without a hitch, she's not quite 4 yet. Kumon wanted to exploit her about a month or so ago and my DIL didnt want that, so she's pulled her out for now. She's doing 2nd grade math for the most part.
So, I say Kumon- only because I have no idea about Sylvan.

We did Kumon for a short while. They provided worksheet packets for us to do at home. That is why we only went there for a short while :)