Kumon ruining our holiday

...and for what ? I struggled with maths beyond everyday stuff but have worked well all my life with just an ordinary and reasonable knowledge of what anyone would have Never needed or used all the geometry Trig and algebra that I hated so much
I m not familiar with Kumon beside knowing the name but anything that makes a child so unhappy can’t be good

Oh how I hated that Kuman session when one of my GC was visiting ,the crying , the screaming ..but she was , and still is , a very bright child . I got it done in half the time with bribery flattery and promises

Can you not do the papers together?

Once she’s got started, wander off and do the washing up while still interacting, so she feels she’s doing it on her own but chatting her through it so it gets done in double time. It’s not really cheating, and you are her gran so entitled to bend rules a bit.

I agree with Stella1949 pick your battles. Your family obviously trust you to do the best for your grandchildren. You can adjust the study time to suit your schedule. If you don't make an issue of it neither will your granddaughter. Enjoy your holiday.

I'd let her do it for 10 minutes ( as mentioned by BlueBelle , using the "fast watch" method. ) Then when she is gone to play, finish the rest for her. If questioned she'll say yes, she did the maths , and you get a peaceful holiday. And the parents can see the "evidence" to ensure that you did indeed get the maths done. You have to pick your battles - don't fight over it, just manipulate things to your own advantage.

An hour a day on holiday ...ridiculous, ten minutes maybe
How old is she ? Can’t you have a fast watch .... ten mins later ‘oh well done darling all done for today you were quick, let’s get ready to go out’
Nothing like putting her off maths for life eh

The thing is that in recent years the emphasis on maths has increased 10 fold! So if she hates maths it's not something she can avoid, it's not just one subject among many any more.

It shouldn't be that way but it is, and parents have to do what they think is best to help them swim not sink as they PLOUGH through the maths topics at school now, if a kid needs some extra time to grasp some topics, that needs to be done at home.

Yes Kumon isnt the most imaginative way to help, but with most parents having learnt "old maths" it can be hard to help with "new maths" so some outsource.

Poor little blighter. If she doesn't hate maths already, she soon will!

we don't know why the parents prioritised this, might be the child is upset about noticing that she's behind her peers. Might be that she has a flair for ANOTHER subject but these days you cannot progress academically at anything without good grades in English & maths so... who knows...

But there are things you can do to make it less miserable:

Agree the schedule WITH the child:

Does she want to get it over with after breakfast? or does she prefer to do it in the afternoon? let her chose her study time table.

Time limit it so it doesn't create a dragged out battle. 30 mins at a time. If it doesn't get finished it'll be revisited later (or in the morning if she prefers pm working), but once the timer goes she can stop because after that long work quality goes down anyway & the kid'll start to get upset/hate it, and knowing that not finishing means an extra session later/tomorrow will give incentive to get it over with now.

BTW Grannypauline,

I'm not even allowed to take my gc's for a 2min walk, so the thought of taking them on holiday seems marvellous to me!!

Grannypauline.....

I feel sorry for all of you.
You've been handed a poison chalice, but I cant see you ducking out of it, as you point out there will be adverse consequences.

Can the Kumon exercises be broken down into say 10 min slots?
Then could each 10 mins be completed whilst in the car, on the beach, in the café etc.?

I was lead to believe Kumon should be short goal orientated exercises? One hour seems too soul sappingly boring to be helpful...especially on holiday!!

Are the parents particularly anxious about her academic progress to insist on this?

Or perhaps you could:

a) do the work yourself!!

b) 'accidentally' pour wine on it!

c) bribe the girl with goodies!!

Is the child going for 11+ in September?