Checking the positioning of the C Materials in the overall Kumon Japanese
First, let's understand the positioning of the C Materials by referring to the Kumon progress chart.
The C Materials are at the level of third grade primary schools.
In the early childhood materials, the number in front of the A became smaller and smaller, such as "8A→7A→6A". When you enter the primary schools level materials, the materials progress in the order "A I → A II → B I → B II". It is as if when one letter of the alphabet moves forward, the grade level also moves forward by one.
What grade level are the Kumon Japanese C materials for?
In most cases, children in grade 2 or 3 are doing it. If they started Kumon after entering primary school, there will be few patterns where they are still significantly ahead of their actual grade level. On the other hand, if a child started Kumon at an early age, there are a certain number of children who reach the C materials at an older age. This is because Kumon's definition of "high progression" is generally three grades ahead of the current age and grade, and one of the lines is to finish the C materials before entering primary schools.
What is the content of the Kumon Japanese C-learning materials?
So what are the contents of the Kumon Japanese C materials? Let's start with the C I teaching materials and check some explanations on the official website and some examples of teaching materials.
Focusing on particles that connect words and phrases, the Kumon Japanese C-learning materials cultivate syntactic skills. The course also focuses on sentence-final expressions, changes in sentence-final expressions accompanying changes in position, and the response of adverbs and adjectives, to further improve students' ability to accurately grasp the meaning of sentences. The 90 kanji characters from the grade 3 primary schools dividend are studied to expand vocabulary. In addition, students review the kanji learnt in C I, using idioms as a starting point.
In B, students learnt the grammar of subject, predicate and modifier, which is central to sentence construction; in C, more difficult grammar such as particles, verbs of emotion and adverbs are dealt with. The students also learn about tenses, which broadens the range of expression in sentences.
Many of you may have found particles, gerunds and adverbs a little more difficult than in the past, as grammar concepts naturally appear in English learning. Children learning Japanese grammar for the first time may feel the same way.
Next, let's check the explanations and examples of CII materials.
In Memo, students organise the content of sentences using the memo format. In "5W 1H", students accurately grasp the various elements of "when, where, who, what, why and how". In the 'Question and Answer' section, students practise constructing appropriate response sentences in response to questions to consolidate their sentence-reading comprehension and basic syntax skills. Learn to read and write 96 elementary 3 Kanji characters. In addition, using idioms as a starting point, a comprehensive review of the kanji studied in CII will be carried out.
The main focus will shift from the grammatical learning content up to now to using sentences on the premise of reading and writing basic sentences. The 5W1H and question and answer sections are not just grammar questions, but are the first step towards extracting the necessary information from a text and connecting it to communication.
Also, idioms come into play. At the time of my own study, I did not have such a strong impression of Kumon's kanji, but at least up to the C materials, they have ensured that the kanji learned in that grade are kept in check.
What are the key points of attack for Kumon Japanese C?
To ensure that you can keep down the elements that appear in the C materials, it is probably important to be familiar with narrative writing.
In C I, you will find particles, impressive verbs and adverbs; in C II, you will find '5W1H' and 'questions and answers'. Both of these concepts appear more frequently in narrative texts than in critical texts, especially in conversations between characters. In conversational writing, emotive phrases that express the characters' emotions are more likely to appear, and 'questions and answers' are naturally found in conversations. Adverbial adaptations such as "deliberately" and "more" are more likely to be used in stories, and it is in narrative writing, where there are multiple characters and scenes, that the 5W1H needs to be understood.
Resistance on the part of parents to narrative can hinder children.
If too much emphasis is placed on the knowledge aspect, many people may consider narrative books to be somewhat vulgar. Some families may keep their children away from stories because of the negative impact they can have on them, especially if they are stories that children in the early primary school years would like to read. Many people are resistant to things such as Kamen Rider or Oshiri Tantei for boys, or anything that involves battles or undertones. It is understandable then that they would be more likely to grow up intellectually curious if they were read an illustrated book.
However, if you deprive children of the opportunity to engage with stories, you also deprive them of the chance to develop the content they learn in C-learning materials in Japanese.
If the story is from a popular series, there is a greater chance that the child will be engaged. Compared to stories that are complete in a single book, the number of characters increases, and it becomes necessary to understand the communication in the story at a higher level and with a greater degree of accuracy.
Reading is not necessarily the only way to develop this skill, as it is not the interpretation of the meaning of the text itself that is needed in the C materials, but the ability to extract the important information from it. The best way to help them understand which information is important is to use their interest in the story.
It may be useful to get children and fathers talking about stories
That said, it can be difficult to get them interested in children's cartoons, especially on the mother's side. Most stories for women are romance stories. Shoujo manga and romance are almost equal, and romance is also mainstream in drama. There are also professional and family stories, but they can hardly be said to be aimed at children. Stories for early primary schools children rarely feature romance, and it can be difficult to interest them from the same perspective as children.
This is where the father's side of the story comes in.
Anime and manga for men don't necessarily include romance in their stories. Of course, romance is a major genre for men, but it is only one of several popular genres. Battles, sports, robots and mystery solving. These elements are also present in many children's anime, but there are many adult men who also prefer this genre. Once they start watching, it is possible for fathers to get hooked on children's anime as well, which is not surprising.
It may seem like a boys' story, but the situation is no different for anime for girls. You can find plenty of stories about fathers who are hooked on Precure if you look into it.
If children watch anime alone, they can enjoy the story even if they don't understand the content of the story that much. Just watching Kamen Rider fight or Pretty Cure transform, children can enjoy watching the story even if they don't understand the motives of the villains or the world view. However, in terms of Japanese language skills, of course, this is not the only way to acquire them.
If parents and children can talk about the content of the story, they can promote understanding of the story. Just by explaining a little foreshadowing or a motif, children will understand the story much more deeply. And talking about stories is only fun if they are enjoyed by other people who enjoy stories.
Of course, everyone has different tastes. Sometimes the mother's side enjoys a story, and sometimes the father's side is not interested at all. It should be borne in mind that even if you don't enjoy a children's story, your partner may find it surprisingly interesting.
C. What may seem unserious may influence the smooth understanding of the content of the material.