In this issue, the features of Kumon's recommended books are introduced. Their real value lies in the fact that they show the path from the first picture book to the top level in a way that anyone can understand, thanks to the 'subdivision of difficulty levels'.
Kumon recommended books are subdivided into levels of difficulty
One of the major characteristics of Kumon teaching materials, not limited to recommended books, is the "subdivision of levels of difficulty". The level of difficulty is finely divided from infant to university level, so that children of any age can start learning from materials of the appropriate level of difficulty according to their level of understanding.
Although Kumon has an image of being for students in the lower grades of primary school, thanks to this feature of "subdivision of difficulty levels", even children in pre-school and junior high school can achieve great results.
This feature is also reflected in the selection of recommended books.
Reading can begin at any stage.
Kumon's recommended books are available for ages 0 to 15, with ages 0 to 2 being grouped together and divided into 13 levels of difficulty.
The grades and ages are only a guide. Kumon progresses according to the level of understanding, not the grade or age, so even with recommended books, you can start reading at a level that matches your current level of understanding. If you continue reading according to the level of difficulty, you will be able to improve your reading comprehension step by step.
You can acquire skills that can be used for university entrance examinations and beyond.
Then, naturally, the question arises, "What should I do after the age of 16?" The answer to this question is: "Read the recommended books". The answer to this is: "If you read all the recommended books, you can already read most of them. This is because the books listed in the highest level of recommended books are far beyond the junior high school level.
In Kumon's Japanese language materials, once you have finished the Grade I materials, you will hardly find any modern Japanese, and you will mainly be reading old and Chinese texts. This means that the Kumon method has a policy of acquiring all the necessary skills for reading modern Japanese up to Grade I. In fact, the last book recommended by Kumon is Tolstoy's War and Peace, and if you can read this, there are few other books you cannot read.
Although the target age range is up to 15 years old, in terms of reading comprehension, Kumon recommended books cover university entrance exams and beyond.
Most things can be learnt on their own.
Once you have sufficient reading skills, you will be able to study almost anything on your own.
Programming, for example. It is an addition to the subjects you learn at school, and if you don't have any experience of it yourself, you won't know how to learn it. However, in programming, all information can be found in the official documentation, and the better programmers refer to the official documentation. If you can read and understand the text properly, you will always be able to at least run the programme in an exam (alone).
University research is also based on reading papers and reference books, isn't it? Theses are not designed to be read like the best-selling books in a bookshop. The content is technical and difficult. However, if you don't read a lot of papers and gain a minimum of knowledge, you won't even be able to start your research. Conversely, most papers are published, so as long as you have the reading comprehension skills, you can acquire the necessary knowledge yourself.
In work, it's a world where it's natural to understand and be able to do what documents and manuals are still available. On top of that, there is something to keep the results in the parts that are not clearly documented or that nobody else is doing. Especially these days, with the availability of tools and the spread of remote work due to the Corona disaster, conversations have been greatly reduced and the weight of communication through documents and texts has increased dramatically.
It is often said that schoolwork is not useful in society, but there are many opportunities throughout life where learning is necessary. Being able to learn on your own will give you more options in life.
So where can I check the Kumon Recommended Books?
First, check the list of recommended books.
You can check the recommended books by grade. It is somewhat difficult to read, but you can print it out, stick it on the wall and use it to fill in the books you have read.
Let your child do what they want to do.
Let your child do what they want to do. This is one of the fundamentals and ideals of parenting. To achieve this, many people focus on being tolerant and making enough money.
But when you look back at yourself, how many of you say that the reason you gave up what you wanted to do was because of 'parental permission'? More often than not, it is because they didn't have the ability to fulfil their dreams in the first place, before they gave up their dreams because of their parents.
Many people quit sports or music that they have been doing for a long time because they realise that they are not good enough at the higher level, or because their parents decide that it is better to concentrate on the entrance examinations rather than continue. It would be a rare case when a student has received an invitation from a prestigious school or a business association with a recommendation, but gives up because of parental problems. Of course, parental understanding and financial resources are both important factors, but the higher priority is to improve the child's own abilities.
And reading comprehension is a very versatile skill. Being able to read books, articles and documents is essential when studying any subject. Reading comprehension takes time to improve, but it is a very cost-effective skill to impart through education in that it is definitely useful.