It is unlikely that Kumon Japanese alone will lead to an astonishing improvement in Japanese language skills. This is because it takes time to acquire Japanese language skills and Kumon alone is not enough to ensure that you read enough.
However, Kumon Japanese gives you the vocabulary, reading speed and interest in books that you need to increase your reading. By creating opportunities for children to come into contact with books based on these strengths, Kumon Japanese can be very effective.
Reading becomes closer to speed reading than close reading.
The first effect of Kumon as a whole is that speed is developed before accuracy.
In Kumon, you will just have to do a lot of work. In club activities and at work, there is the idea that you should get used to things rather than learn them, and I'm sure that you have had some experience of such practices as 100 knocks and study camps when you were a student, and in work, it is especially true for those who teach that you can understand more by actually being on the spot than by explaining things orally. This is especially true for those who are teaching.
No one wants to be at the stage where you have to get used to things before you learn them, and no one wants to be at the stage where you have to get used to every single thing. In study camps, you often feel exhausted and can't concentrate, and there is no way you can do the job without making any mistakes if you don't know what you're doing. By just doing it, you can experience a lot of information that you can't just talk about. Someone who has only learnt bookkeeping will not be immediately effective in the field of accounting, but once you have closed the accounts, you will be able to handle a lot of work.
This is also the case in Kumon, where even when learning a new field, the only thing shown is examples. Quality does not immediately follow, as the emphasis is on trying out both the problems and the amount of homework. This tendency is also strong in Japanese, which is more akin to speed-reading than close reading of texts.
Careless mistakes increase during the growth process.
What happens then? In the process of progressing through Kumon, careless mistakes increase.
What happens when you are doing exercises like 100 knocks or 100 smashes and you make one mistake? You don't reflect on it, analyse the cause of the mistake and take measures to avoid making the mistake next time. Before you have time to think about it, the next one comes along. Then, as you repeat the mistake over and over again, you get a sense of how you can make mistakes.
In the practice of 'practice makes perfect', repeating mistakes over and over again is a way of improving.
As a result, Kumon increases the number of careless mistakes. This is of particular concern from a parent's point of view in school tests. If the child does not feel that the school test is the main one to focus on, they will not pay as much attention to mistakes in the same way as they do with Kumon.
Sometimes they don't read the text properly if they look at it from the question's point of view.
Also, children may not read the text properly until around the F materials. This is because the question format is similar to fill-in-the-blanks and many questions can be answered without reading the whole text.
In Kumon, questions like summaries of the whole text eventually appear, and from around the G material (equivalent to first year junior high school), it becomes more difficult to answer questions without reading the whole text. At primary schools level, it is difficult to summarise whole sentences, and it is understandable that students progress step by step from the point where they can accurately understand a part of a sentence.
However, if you do not understand that the material is ultimately aimed at understanding whole sentences, you may also misunderstand that your child is reading incorrectly. If they make a mistake, they may be worried about whether they will be able to learn to read in this way.
Kanji is not enough for exams, but it can help with reading comprehension
Regarding Kumon's kanji, there are both opinions that it is good to learn and that it is not enough at all. I think the true meaning of this lies in the fact that "you can know the minimum number of kanji required for reading comprehension".
Kumon emphasises reading comprehension. The more difficult the text becomes, the more difficult it is to understand what is written without a certain amount of vocabulary. In Kumon, you can learn the minimum number of kanji required for that reading comprehension. Kumon Japanese kanji is highly regarded in the sense that it enables students to read difficult texts.
On the other hand, when it comes to whether or not you can get a perfect score on a Kanji question in an examination, the Kanji you learn in Kumon are insufficient. In examinations, kanji questions are basic questions that must not be dropped. To reach that level, Kumon Japanese alone is not enough, and you need to study additionally at the time of the examination.
Speed-reading ability is not reading comprehension itself.
The skills acquired up to the F materials are not necessarily reading comprehension itself. This is because the texts are only the subject matter and the main aim is to understand a part of the text properly, not the whole text. The ability to interpret a part of a text properly will eventually lead to an understanding of the main idea.
Therefore, in the process of learning Kumon, even if the reading speed is improved, it does not mean that the reading comprehension and thinking skills are fully developed. It is not as easy to read texts properly with Kumon Japanese F materials or at primary schools level as parents might expect.
Kumon Japanese is more effective the further you go.
As the Kumon materials progress to the junior high school and high school levels, it becomes necessary to understand the main meaning of the sentences. The ability to understand the meaning of a sentence is developed from simply being able to understand the meaning of a part of a sentence correctly to understanding the whole sentence more deeply and broadly.
And that's not all. The texts selected for Kumon teaching materials are all masterpieces, known as classics. Being exposed to some of the best texts simply adds to a child's education. Moreover, masterpieces have a quality that can be passed down through the ages. It can be said that one of the great merits of Kumon is that it allows children to experience the fun of books.
Reading is the only way to develop Japanese language skills
It cannot be said that Kumon prints alone are sufficient to ensure a sufficient amount of reading. The printouts are only excerpts from masterpieces. Compared to people who read dozens of ordinary books a year, the difference in the amount of reading will be 10 or 20 times greater. And the only way to develop your Japanese language skills is to read a lot of books after all.
So what is the point of doing Kumon Japanese in such a situation? It is to be able to read many books with the power acquired through Kumon.
Kumon enables you to read texts faster. The amount of reading is a prerequisite for finding good books. And not only does it give them a minimum vocabulary for reading, it also gives them an interest in reading by exposing them to masterpieces. They even have a list of recommended books for parents who are not book-savvy.
The benefits of reading a lot of books are mentioned in many places, but there are many barriers to getting into the habit of reading. Kumon Japanese removes these barriers. This is the biggest advantage of continuing with Kumon Japanese.