We looked into Kumon for our kids and left after the initial consultation. The 100% mastery thing was a big concern. The kids can't move up until they get ALL the problems right in a certain amount of time. My feeling is if a child has perfectionism problems, Kumon's all-or-nothing approach might exacerbate them. And the repetition thing would have bored my eldest son silly.
My second son can be a perfectionist and we approach it by pushing him gently to try something new. Occasionally I don't quit until he's tried, even if he gets upset. This may sound harsh, but when he tries and discovers he can do something he thought he couldn't, he gets a huge sense of achievement. He had a real fit about trying to write the letter K one evening last September but I pushed him until he wrote one because I could see that fear, not inability, was holding him back. Then he wrote a few more and I gave him a big hug and told him how proud I was of him. The next day, he came home from kindergarten with a whole page of Ks and proudly told me he could WRITE LOTS OF Ks!!
From what I've seen, nothing --- NOTHING --- builds confidence like trying something that's hard and succeeding. I often remind my kids that they thought that such-and-such was impossible and yet they did it!
It's taken a lot of patience and a lot of time, but we're really seeing changes in his willingness to attempt new things.
Oh, as for hothousing, I think it gets an unfair amount of criticism. In January, roses thrive in hothouses. They would die out in the cold. A mind is no different.
Val
