It is better for a child to learn deeply and with understanding than to race ahead if the understanding is not there. What works for one child may not work for another.
The bolded quote is suggesting the opposite of "one size fits all." The idea is to mesh math education with the development of the individual child to enable that strong foundation in math to be built. No edicts here, just taking into account what scientists say about how humans learn. One size does not fit all as in your household. I know many adults who have reached the "appropriate level of mental development" with math ability and skills no higher than a bright and eager Vietnamese middle school-aged child. Why are Americans so behind in Math? I would seriously caution anyone against taking your advice about math education if you are an American. Why issue edicts? Let performance and data dictate who, what, where, when, and how a child should learn Math. They will end up with stronger foundations in math if they progress through levels at times that dovetail with their mental maturity. Just as we wouldn't force a two month old baby to walk, we should not push children to study higher levels of math for which they have not yet reached the appropriate level of mental development. We know now that the brain does not fully mature until the age of 25. He has seen kids coming into college having taken and received good grades in higher level math courses who just don't have that deeper understanding they need to go on in math.ĭevelopment of physical and mental maturity proceeds in a certain order and time span. He believes that there is an element of mental maturity that is necessary to truly understand algebra and that kids need to be over 12 or 13 to have attained that level of maturity. This is anecdotal, of course, but I have spoken with a college math professor who believes it is a huge mistake to encourage sixth and even seventh graders to take algebra. It is the very, very, very rare child who is ready for AP Calculus BC in eighth grade. Or, many of them end up having trouble with higher level math in high school because their understanding of algebra is superficial because they were just too young to have a deeper understanding of what they were learning. Then they go to USC because they ran out of math courses for high school. I am slime, and I could have been great!Īh, the song of the truly desperate! This area must be really special after all, as I had never heard of 7-year old "underachievers" needing Kumon to excel in their lives before moving to NoVA.Īnd those 7 year old "underachievers" take AP Calculus BC in 8th grade. I could have won A Nobel Prize.instead, I am a lowly government contractor. Anonymous wrote:Dang, I wish I had Kumon when I was a child.
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