Hi
I take my son to Kumon. As to what age you can start, depends on the institute, I called one and she said she won't take until 4. Then I enrolled him in the one he is going to right now. I like it, so far. They have 200 worksheets that you have to do for each level. 5 worksheets a day i.e. 10 sides, 6 days a week. They are smaller than a A4 size paper, (some centers give 10 but 99.99% of the time they don't). If a kid is going slower they reduce it to 3 sheets per day. They repeat the worksheets depending on how a child does and also to drag some time. The monthly tuition ranges from $90 to $120 for each subject (English and Math). I enrolled my son only in Math. I think in the first two levels you don’t write. But, in my center they made him write.
Pro's - Kids learn grouping in 5's and 10's easily
They will learn to write numbers. (My son writes his numbers very nicely. His English writing on the other hand is not that good because we don't have the discipline. )
They learn to have a commitment, to finish their work everyday.
Practice makes you perfect.
Con's - Kids get bored easily
Lot of repetition.
Very commercial
I don't like the testing part at the end of each level. Especially at our center. Somehow, I feel there’s a negative vibe when they sit to do the test. My son does everything right at home. On the day of the test he writes his 2 like an S or a 3 becomes a E. He must have written his 2 a million times now. I heard some centers don't do it.
Here's a link about what is taught at each level
http://www.kumonsunnyvale.com/public/page.do?page.ID=1325#7Ahttp://www.kumonsunnyvale.com/public/page.do?page.ID=1323Here's a link to some sample worksheets
http://www.kumon.ne.jp/english/about/worksheets.htmlLet me know if you have any questions.