Gungahlin Education Centre

Gungahlin Education Centre

CONTENTS 1. New student/parent consultations 2. What to Bring To Each Kumon Class 3. Completing your Kumon worksheets 4. Class Procedure 5. Extra Class Activities 6. The Kumon Recommended Reading List 7. K.I.D.S; Kumon Incentive Dollar Scheme 8. Communication 9. Homework Marking 10. Benefits of Homework Marking 11. Marking Guide (Mathematics) 12. Marking Guide (Mathematics & English) 13. Marking Guide (English)

NEW STUDENT/ PARENT CONSULTATIONS Now that you have joined the Kumon Program you will receive an email asking you to ACTIVATE a link. This is so that we know we have the right email address and can automatically send you our monthly Newsletter and any other Kumon information. Please do this as soon as you can. INVITATION TO BOOK YOUR FIRST PARENT CONSULT: As part of settling your child into the Kumon Program, we would like the opportunity to meet with you to discuss goals, progress, and address any questions or areas of concern that you may have at this early stage of your child’s Kumon journey. Please book an appointment ASAP. PLEASE NOTE: You need only 1 consultation time per family. HOW TO BOOK: Please drop into the Kumon Centre and use the parent PC to BOOK ONLINE or book from home or the office on our Parent Administration Portal kumongun.com and go to the Consultation tab. We encourage your child to attend with you but it is not a problem if this is not possible. We look forward to meeting with you soon as possible . Our preference is for the first interview to occur within the first month of enrolment. 1

WHAT TO BRING TO EACH KUMON CLASS Please ensure that your child brings their own stationery supplies to each class. They will need: 2 sharp pencils 1 eraser 1 sharpener 1 red pen Answer book All Kumon homework - complete and incomplete. These supplies must remain in your child’s Kumon Homework Folder. Students who do not have the correct supplies will be required to buy new items from the prize board or will be charged Kumon money to borrow them. For preschool students we recommend a short pencil with a soft lead. Apart from teaching students about ownership and responsibility, this is also a health issue; we encourage students to only use their personal supplies to limit the spread of cold, flu etc. 2

COMPLETING YOUR KUMON WORKSHEETS All Kumon worksheets (classwork and homework) need to be completed following these rules: Worksheets are done in the order set by the supervisor The first page has Name (first and last names if possible) Date Start and finish time and/or total time in minutes Each worksheet is marked with red pen using the Kumon method. A marking guide can be found at the end of this book. Work is corrected by the student and re-marked using the answer book. Errors should be corrected in pencil without any access to the answer book. ALL WORK should be 100% before the student moves on to the next worksheet. 3

CLASS PROCEDURE 1. Students should enter the classroom at their appointment time. Over the first few weeks a parent should accompany the student into the entrance area only. Once they are familiar and comfortable with this procedure , they should enter the classroom on their own. 2. Students locate their folders. Students will be taught how to do this and will be expected to locate them on their own after a few classes. 3. If they have completed all homework with ease then students move straight into the classroom and sit down. A student should line up at CHECK IN if their homework was difficult or incomplete, or if they have a CHECK IN slip in their folder. 4. Students get out their homework and organise their folders, putting their homework behind the red card. 5. Students take out their stationery and record their work. 6. Classwork is completed with the student’s name, date and time on the front page. 7. Students mark their classwork then correct any errors. 8. Extra activities are completed (see following page). 9. Students must “CHECK OUT” before they leave. Classwork is checked, homework is issued, and Kumon money is given. 4

EXTRA CLASS ACTIVITIES MATHS PROGRAM: NUMBER BOARD: To develop number sequencing skills. Students have certain levels of speed to reach with the 30, 50 and 100 number boards. This activity ties in very closely with their worksheet level. TIMES TABLES: Oral tables practice to ensure automatic knowledge of all tables from 2 to 12. These are generally started with worksheet level B. Optional Activities NUMBER CARDS: For number recognition. DOT PATTERNS: For dot pattern fluency which is the underlying skill for mental calculation. ENGLISH PROGRAM: ORAL READING: Students read out each class, either from upcoming worksheets or from a book of their own that is appropriate for their current Kumon level FLASH CARDS: Used for younger students to learn sounds and sight words Optional Activities SOUNDS: Recited by students who are learning to read COMPACT DISC: This program is a home based program generally used by students for whom English is a second language. 5

THE KUMON RECOMMENDED READING LIST The Kumon Recommended Reading list is given to every Kumon English student on their first class day. It is also available online at http://www.kumon-english-rrl.com/ It is an excellent resource to encourage wide reading at your child’s current reading level. The Gungahlin Public Library has a copy of this list and is the best place to access these books. It is important to use this resource as a supplement to the Kumon English Program and have your child reading a wide range of books from the level that corresponds to their Kumon worksheets. Kumon recommends that they read a minimum of 5 books from “their” level. It is important to encourage and support a love of reading. This resource is designed to help achieve this goal. We strongly encourage all students to bring their current book to class so that they can use it for their oral reading activity. 6

K.I.D.S Kumon Incentive Dollar Scheme Students are responsible for looking after their own Kumon money, just like real money. We will not replace any lost money. Kumon money can be earned through: Completing class tasks K10 per subject Completion of a number board, times tables and/or oral reading sheet K20 Oral reading from own book K10 Achievement Tests Results — (pass) 100% K100 Group 1 K50 Group 2 K20 K20 for each completed level of: English 7A- 3A Maths 6A– 5A Kumon money should be kept in the student’s folder AT ALL TIMES. Students are encouraged to swap groups of smaller notes for bigger ones (e.g. 5x K20 for K100) Kumon money can be used at the Kumon Shop. The minimum price of items is K100. The Kumon Shop is located at the front of the centre. To purchase an item, take the item and the correct amount of Kumon money to the CHECK IN COUNTER. 7

COMMUNICATION With students: Ongoing communication throughout the class mainly consists of close observation of students following instructions and class procedures, as well as their work practice when completing their worksheets. Assistants have been trained in the Kumon Method of Education to observe and give constructive and encouraging feedback based on the aims and content of the worksheets being studied. At “CHECK OUT” students are given feedback on the work they have just done, their goals and the content of their homework. With parents: Parent Consultations are the main form of formal communication with parents. Other forums are the monthly Newsletter and we encourage the use of email or telephone in regard to parent concerns. Each Achievement test your child completes has a result sheet which is sent home for you to read. It gives the result, a comment and an outline of the next level. Communication is extremely important and we are more than happy to hear from you as soon as you have a concern. Please try not to phone during class times (3:30-6:30pm) as the class is busy! Log on to kumongun.com for basic administration i.e. to change days or times, book a consult, view newsletters, holiday plans, etc. 8

HOMEWORK MARKING In order to make good progress with the Kumon method, it is essential that homework is marked by a parent and corrected by the student in time for the next class. It is also important to record name, date and the time taken to complete daily worksheets. Marking at home indirectly ensures that work is completed on a daily basis and good study habits are developed. Mistakes can be corrected while the work is fresh and mistakes are not reinforced. Home marking is also an excellent way for parents to be involved in the whole process. Using the correct marking method will allow the supervisor to evaluate each student’s mastery of key skills. It will ensure that each student receives the right amount of repetition in areas where it is needed. This will also facilitate the significant clerical task that the students and centre staff undertake when accurately recording daily results. Answer books are available from the centre and they can be swapped for each new level of work . The books should remain in the student’s Kumon homework folder. Please assist with this task so that your child can make speedy progress through the program. Please see the following page for further clarification as to the benefits of daily home marking. 9 100

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How to mark kumon mathematics Example a all correct At Kumon we have a unique way of showing 100% . On the a & b sides we draw a huge circle to show 0 errors! We also write ‘100’, (nice & big) on side a. This ‘Kumon 100% Sign’ is used in the middle of the circle on the first page. The % sign indicates that the whole booklet is correct. Please always use RED pen to mark all work. Example b Errors Step 1: For a wrong answer *Place a tick ( ) on the question number next to the sum. *Take off one mark. Step 2: For an answer that is incomplete (i.e. not answered,, not fully reduced) *Put a triangle (Δ) over the question number. *Where a triangle is used, take off half a mark. Step 3: Total up the number of errors (both side a & b) E.g. 2 incorrect answers on the back of the page, one on the front *Circle the number of errors on the bar, A, B, C or D on the a side. 11

HOW TO MARK KUMON MATHematics (cont.) Example c Corrections Step 1: When the error has been corrected *Draw a circle around the ticked number (to show the student that the answer is now complete). *Write ‘100%’ on the first page, when all the answers are correct. Step 2: Scores on the front page *Write the scores for each page on a column on the front page. *Use a dash (—) for pages with a 100 score. How to mark kumon english Example a all correct At Kumon we have a unique way of showing 100% . On the a & b sides we draw a huge circle to show 0 errors! We also write ‘100’, (nice & big) on side a. This ‘Kumon 100% Sign’ is used in the middle of the circle on the first page. The % sign indicates that the whole booklet is correct. 12