What is Kumon and how does it work? The method, the maths and reading levels, the daily worksheet routine, what the instructor does, what it costs, and which children it suits

"What is Kumon?" is the question behind a lot of the others parents ask about it: is it tutoring, is it a class, why do children do it every day, why does it start so far below their grade. Kumon is none of the things people first guess. It is a worksheet method: a child does a short set of worksheets every day, each one a step beyond the last, at a level set deliberately below what they can already do, until the work is fast and accurate, and then moves up. This guide explains the method, the daily routine, the levels, the instructor's role, the cost, and which children it suits. We teach 1-on-1 online, so we are an alternative to Kumon; we have kept to what Kumon publishes and what parents report, and say plainly where Kumon is the better fit.

Where it comes from

Kumon's own account: in 1954 Toru Kumon, a high school maths teacher in Japan, wrote short daily worksheets for his son Takeshi, each one a small step beyond the last, so that the boy could master each idea before the next. By sixth grade Takeshi was doing calculus. Other parents asked for the worksheets, and the method spread. Kumon's franchise site now counts more than 23,000 learning centres in over 60 countries, teaching maths and reading (and, in some countries, other languages). It accepts children from about three years old through high school.

The method in one paragraph

A child takes a free placement test. The instructor starts them a little below the level they find easy, on purpose, so that the first weeks are fast and accurate and the habit forms. Every day the child does a set of worksheets, about 30 minutes a subject. Each worksheet shows a worked example and then asks for the same step, so the child works out the new idea from the page rather than from a teacher. The set is repeated until it is done quickly and without errors; then the next set. The instructor marks, watches the timing and the errors, and decides when to move the child up. Kumon describes this as self-learning: the aim is a child who can read an example and teach themselves.

The weekly routine

Kumon Connect, offered in many countries, replaces the paper packs with a tablet: the worksheets are done on screen with a stylus, marked automatically, and the instructor sees the timing and the corrections. The method is the same.

Two things follow from the routine. Kumon is daily, and it depends on the family keeping the daily habit at home; a child who only does the two centre days gets a fraction of the benefit. And the centre visit is not a lesson: it is supervised worksheet time with marking, usually in a room of children of all ages working on different levels.

The Kumon maths levels, and roughly what school grade each matches

Kumon's levels are its own ladder, and a child is placed by the test, not by age. Each level is 200 worksheets. The grade matches below are approximate and are ours, not Kumon's.

Two things parents notice: a child often starts two or three levels below their school grade, which Kumon intends (the first weeks are easy by design), and a child who keeps the daily routine for years ends up above grade level, which is where "Kumon kids are ahead in math" comes from.

The Reading programme runs the same way from letter sounds and vocabulary, through sentence building and comprehension, to reading passages from literature at the higher levels. The exact level letters differ from the maths ladder and vary by country.

What the instructor does, and does not do

The instructor is the owner or staff of the franchised centre: they place the child, set the daily amount, mark, watch for speed and accuracy, decide when to repeat and when to advance, and talk to parents at progress meetings. They are trained in the Kumon method; they are not required to be qualified teachers, and many centre staff are students or part-time markers. What they do not do is teach a topic from the front: there are no classes, no lectures and no whiteboard. When a child is stuck, the instructor points back to the example and gives a hint; if the child still cannot do it, the sheet is repeated. For many children that produces real independence. For a child who needs an explanation to get an idea at all, it is the common point of failure, and the reason "Kumon doesn't teach" appears in so many reviews.

What it costs

Each centre sets its own fee, per subject per month. The figures that centres publish:

Maths and reading together is double. Over a school year, one subject in the US is about $1,800 to $2,500 with fees; two subjects $3,500 to $5,000. The full numbers, the notice rules and the questions to ask are in our Kumon cost guide.

How long children stay, and when it is worth stopping

Kumon is designed to be long: the method's promise is a child who is years ahead after years of daily work, and centres say openly that it is not a quick fix. Families who do well with it typically stay two to five years. Three moments when parents reasonably stop:

• The habit has broken. A child who is fighting the daily sheets, or whose parent is doing them, is not getting the method; Kumon's benefit comes from the daily repetition, and without it the fee buys very little.
• The child has reached their school's level in a course that needs explanation. From about Level I (Algebra 1) upward the ideas are new rather than fluency, and school and tutors teach them; many former students say the value is highest up to the middle levels.
• The problem is understanding, not speed. A child who is slow because they do not understand fractions needs the idea explained once, not fifty more sheets.

Which children Kumon suits, and which do better elsewhere

Kumon or a tutor?

They are not the same product. Kumon gives a method, a daily habit and a long ladder, cheaply per day, with very little adult teaching. A 1-on-1 tutor gives the whole session to one child, explains, follows the school's course, and can fix a specific gap in weeks; per hour it costs more than Kumon per day, and it does not create a daily habit unless the tutor sets work. Many families use both at different ages: Kumon for the early habit and fluency, a tutor when a course or a test needs teaching. Our side-by-side comparison is in Mathnasium vs Kumon vs RSM vs a 1-on-1 tutor, and our honest look at the complaints and the praise is in is Kumon worth it.

Our own classes are the tutor option at the low end of the price: a master's-qualified teacher, 1-on-1, the same teacher every week, the school's own course and method, every class recorded, US$10 to $13 an hour, billed monthly with no contract. We set short daily practice between classes for children who need the habit too. The first class is free, and it begins with a placement check much like Kumon's, written up for you whether or not you continue.

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →