Overall, a Good FindI believe that the “Kumon Reading” series of workbooks are fairly new. Kumon is predominately known for their Math program and set of Math workbooks. However, my student used to be enrolled in the actual Kumon program at a local Kumon learning center, and so we are familiar with both programs as a result. I’m really happy that Kumon decided to mass market their methods in workbook form, that anyone may purchase at a store or over the internet. It’s far cheaper, and that works for us. I’m sold on their methodology: incremental, sequential, repetitive learning. Students rarely understand a concept the first time, and will never gain confidence in their own abilities unless they are exposed to concepts again and again.Kumon has attempted through their Reading workbooks to repeat the success of their established Math workbook series. What Kumon has done with the Reading workbooks is to basically abbreviate their Kumon Reading program into a usable workbook. This workbook goes beyond reading comprehension and really attempts to drill down to sequencing the events in a reading passage, learning how to define a word by the context in which it is used, and to critically analyze reading passages for contrasting and descriptive content, among other concepts.This workbook goes beyond just reading a passage. As we all know, reading should be about critically thinking about a concept or a story. Kumon really works on addressing reading skills in a way that all students can find a good starting point, and building upon knowledge from there.One important point to remember about these Kumon workbooks: if your child/student has difficulty with one level of workbooks, then simply drop back to another grade of workbooks. The goal of any educational program is not to overwhelm the student, but to build student confidence. If your student is not able to grasp this Grade 3 Reading workbook, then drop back to a Grade 2 Reading workbook. If your student breezes through this Grade 3 book, then move your student on to Grade 4.We use this workbook as a supplemental tool for my student’s reading program. My student has mastered phonics, and is comfortable discussing a reading passage in detail. I really wanted to add another layer to her reading program, and this meets our needs. Overall, a good find.
