All worksheets come with an answer key; however, you need to click to the answer key page immediately after generating a worksheet, because the answer key also is generated 'on the fly', and won't exist later on, should you come looking for it later.

*** Kumon Pluses *** The basic idea of Kumon is very sensible. Forget age, forget grade; a "comfortable starting point" is determined and the student works through thousands of incrementally graded worksheets at his own pace, progressing to the next "level" when he has shown good mastery of the material based on his accuracy and completion times. Practice makes perfect; slow and steady wins the race. The "comfortable starting point" is a mildly euphemistic way of saying a low, low, low starting point. At first glance, many parents would be shocked at how low it is, viewing it as an insult to their child's intelligence. But there are good reasons for it. Review can only be beneficial. Looking back upon more basic material after you've progressed further "up the mountain" allows you to see it in the bigger picture. (I'm thinking mainly of math here.) If you were already "good" at it, you can become even more solid, perhaps superlative. The student gets off on the right foot with Kumon. He'll have fun blasting through the easy material, showing off his brains. The typical tutoring approach, jumping in at the point where he's having problems, would likely have him kicking and screaming at Kumon from the beginning. But also understand that a student's apparent problems are almost always due to weaknesses in more fundamental material. Don't be surprised if the ridiculously simple review material turns up gaps in the student's skills. The review phase goes quickly; the amount of time spent is insignificant in the scheme of things. It is time very well spent. Schools take note: If you ever have a mind to get back in the educating business, you would do well to implement these ideas - progression based on mastery, and frequent reviews from the beginning. Students would never be "behind", and there'd be no need for supplemental education.  

Back to index of justice, government, and education pages by Donald Sauter. Kumon - a look at the pluses and minuses  
I ran a Kumon Center in Dover, Delaware for two years, from April 2004 through March 2006. I'm a firm believer in the teacher doing everything he forces his students to do; I might even call this the Number 1 rule of education. After all, how can a teacher presume to judge a student's performance on anything he hasn't done himself? But based on my own observations - in public education, in higher education, or in supplemental education (such as Kumon) - I'm afraid that when this happens, it's the uncommon exception rather than the rule. I plugged away at the Kumon worksheets mercilessly throughout my time with Kumon. The point was not merely to "do" them, but to put myself in the position of a student seeing the material for the first time. I continually asked myself what I would say to a student who might ask for help with any particular problem. I believe that of Kumon's approximately 2000 North American instructors, there are quite possibly none who have looked into Kumon as deeply, critically, and honestly as I have. I know few people will want to read every word here. If you have to skip around, please don't miss my arguments for a parent doing every Kumon worksheet the child has to do. If you think this page may be interesting or useful to others, please feel free to link to it. A suggested link may be: Kumon Math and Reading - a Kumon instructor's observations. Thanks.