What is the proper approach to studying Kumon?

Here are a few things that we encourage students to do at the center that you can provide support for at home.

1. Study with concentration.

We aim to ensure students form the habit of concentrating on their worksheets right from enrollment. There are a few indicators that children are fully focused while studying: their eyes stay on their worksheets and their pencil continuously writes answers quickly.

2. Read the information in the worksheets carefully before writing answers.

Students should read the instructions, examples, and passages on their worksheets before they start to write their answers. Although speed is important in Kumon, taking the proper study approach is just as important. If students are not in the habit of reading the instructions or examples and are in the habit of going directly to the exercise and writing answers, they may answer correctly while the work is easy; however, this poor study habit can cause students to make mistakes when the material gets harder. It’s important to establish the right approach to studying from the beginning, because habits can be hard to change later.

3. Write neatly and carefully.

Students should pay attention to the guides and write their answers within the space provided on the worksheets. Examples of guides include size of text on the worksheets, size of the boxes for writing letters and numbers, and the size of the line for the answer. Writing neatly and carefully helps to reduce the number of mistakes and leads to more effective learning.

4. Erase only what is necessary when making corrections.

When students are changing their answer, first they should decide what the right answer is and then only erase the incorrect portion of their answer. This is the most efficient way to study and students can fix their worksheets more rapidly. Students who are in the habit of erasing everything and then answer the question again sometimes mistakenly write the same wrong answer. By deciding what the right answer is first, and only erasing the wrong part, students will be prepared when they reach the higher levels.