Kumon Math and Reading Center of Castro Valley

I was a little surprised to see so many reviews of CV Kumon! I would never thought about writing review of Kumon! I have to agree with everyone that Mrs Choi is very strict & she takes her work very seriously! But that’s what I like about her! Kumon is a strict learning place, not an after school care or tutor center to help with school homework. My son started about 2 yrs ago when he was in Kindergarten. We had so much struggles at the beginning… My son couldn’t understand why he needs to finish his work all at once and within the required time. He drove both Mr & Mrs Choi crazy for a few weeks! But like many other good educators, they didn’t give up on him and we just kept on trying! And now, his math level definitely far ahead what he’s learning at school. Most importanly, he’s confident when he tackles any Math & English class/​homework! He loves to read & very good in spelling… Kumon has a big part to do with it!!!
What I like about Kumon is the structure. They help your child to build a solid foundation, and move their way up. There’s homework every day. I know exactly what they learned and which level they are in. Every level & details are all in a huge chart that Mrs Choi presented to us at Orientation.
Now my daughter is in Kindergarten, and she also just started at Kumon. Her teacher can immediately tell that she starts to sounds out the words in class. She might not get them 100% correct, but she’s learning — willing to try! I must say, even my kids are used to doing daily Kumon homework… Sometimes they would whine about it (who wouldn’t right?). But if you ask them if they want to drop out from Kumon — at age 5 & 7, they both said no & told me they are learning a lot at Kumon!!!

Whatever they are doing in this Place, they are doing a very good Job. I am a care-​taker for 10 kids that come to this particular kumon and the way they get their work done and how fast they do it is impressive i honestly think what they do here is great so i can say i recommend it

I love this place!!! Mrs. Choi is the best I personally love how she is caring but tough. She gives kids the best discipline. I am a nanny & the boys i take care of have shown amazing results from this program!!! I recommend this to anyone!!!

This review is long overdue! My children have been attending this kumon for close to a year and the difference in their ability to focus and get assignments done is remarkable. They care about every single one of the kids in their program as if it were there own child. My kids know that Kumon isn’t a place to play games but they still like to make it a bit of a competition to finish their work first. That requires them to practice being accurate, neat and quick every day! Their teachers have all reported huge improvements in there school work and there is nobody faster at recalling math facts. I love this program and I particularly recommend this particular Kumon because they know how to get results. Lovely people!

I placed my two children, 8 and 10, since April of 2015. My 8 years old in Math since she struggles and cries almost every time she does her homework from school in 3^rd grade, and placed my 10 years old in English. It has been a couple months and I have seen dramatic improvements on the subjects enrolled. Yes, they do start from the lowest level. Husband and I did question if this was for easy money making by placing them at such a beginners level. But I later learned and witnessed having that base understanding/​skill is very important.
I agree that Mrs. Choi is strict, firm and definitely presents with a no non-​sense attitude. But she also praises the kids if they are doing well. And that’s just how she runs the program and it is so effective.
My children were afraid of her from day one and cried multiple times, begging to quit. But, I was persistent and I didn’t want the kids to give up so easily either.
I remembered Mrs. Choi mentioned during orientation that it may take three months to see improvements on their skills and also to determine if Kumon was for my kids then.
As they continue Kumon, they started to get the hang of it. They know they have to complete their booklet every time they meet with Mrs. Choi. This build up tolerance and responsibility.
At Kumon, Kids learn at their own pace with repetition of the booklets which has helped them recognize the problems, and increasing their speed while having accuracy. They do not tutor homework nor have a one on one/​group tutor. But kids will eventually catch up to their levels or excel depending on your child.
My kids starting showing improvement around the 4^th month. My daughter is a 4^th grader now. She doesn’t cry anymore like she used to on homework. She is very confident and independent in Math subject and often raises her hand in class for Math questions. She had her first pop math quiz at school recently and was the first to finish. She even have time to go back to check her work while others are still working on it. It was that instant she learned Kumon has helped her achieved that task. Its embarrassing to admit, but she adds and subtracts quicker than me. She has advanced in her math grade level at school. She’s already doing division at Kumon while at school, they are still doing multiplications. My 10 years old is also A’sing his spelling tests and his reading level has improve dramatically.
I recommend this Kumon location. The only reason I give a 4 star is I wished they would return my calls. I normally don’t get a call back if I leave a message. Mrs. Choi is very busy at the center and often times, the answering goes on. If I get her on the line, then that’s great! But mostly, I would have to go in to the center and talk to her if I have any questions.

My daughter has been coming here for the past 6 years. All what I can say is that Mrs. Choi is a great instructor and passionate about what she does.
She couldn’t have grown this place with many enrolled students just by yelling at them or putting fear in them. As parents, who would in their right mind want to send their kids to a place of horror. It’s a common sense.
With regards to a little girl crying, she did not cry just once. I saw she was crying a number of times where she was actually affecting other kids from concentrating. A little cry, I don’t think so. So please if this is your daughter Tsai and you want to bad mouth Mrs. Choi, please get your facts straight before making any comments. From what I hear, your daughter was not kicked out. You were politely asked to reconsider coming to Kumon because your daughter was not simply ready. Kumon is not a nursery for little ones.
As for A.B.‘s comments on Mrs. Choi’s qualification, her Kumon students performing well and above others in their school speak for itself. What more qualification does she need? A Ph.D. in Education?
Also, Kumon is not designed to tutor your kid on finishing school homework. It’s your responsibility. Don’t think this is an extension to school and attempting to dump all your kid’s school work/​problems to Mrs. Choi. For only $ 120 per month like you said, you are asking too much from her. If your kid needs help on school work, I suggest you go to CV library, they offer a free tutoring service.
So A.B. and Tsai, if you want your kids to learn Kumon way, I suggest follow its rule otherwise your kids have no business coming here. Kumon is not for everyone and if your kids are not ready, they are simply not ready.

I’ve had my children in Kumon for 5 months now. It is not cheap for two kids and two subjects each, but so worth it!
My oldest (11) has had issues in school since kindergarten. He lacked confidence in his school work and has always been behind. It has been the same with my youngest (8) who has been behind, especially in reading. I cannot speak for every location, but I absolutely LOVE this Kumon (Castro Valley) and Ms. Choi. They have done so much for my boys. My last straw was when my brother came to visit with his girlfriend from SoCal and her son (8 years old also) could read all of the instructions and dialog on the XBox and my son could not. I am simply amazed at how Kumon has completely changed my boys in such a short amount of time.
My boys are now doing their homework 98% of the time, on their own, without asking any questions, they are passing their schools tests and my youngest rarely asks me for help with his reading unless it is a very difficult word, but he still TRIES to do it himself first which used to never happen, only a few months ago. My oldest is already catching up with his current public school math peers. I am amazed! I have gotten nothing but great reviews from their public school teachers, which has been rare for us, all of these years.
I came here to give a good review because I just referred a friend of mine. I read some of the other negative reviews here and it bothers me that anyone would think that Ms. Choi, ‘discriminates because someone is not Asian’, we are a black family and I thought she treated us very fairly in my orientation, I was also the one asking most of the questions and she gave me direct eye contact and was very attentive in answering my questions very matter-​of-​factly. My orientation was with both an Asian and Latina mother. I will admit that she is stern and a no-​nonsense instructor, she keeps a straight face most of the time and she does not laugh at any little jokes I crack. However, I do not pay her to baby my kids and laugh at my jokes. I pay her to push my kids and make them better students, smarter, more disciplined and independent in school.
Obviously we as parents and (for sure) California public schools are not succeeding in pushing our kids enough to be better or we wouldn’t be looking into tutoring systems in the first place. Too many teachers are scared of complaining parents (my oldest son’s public school teacher is having this problem with a couple of her students now). These parents are empowering these kids too much and these instructors and teachers not enough.
I have seen Ms. Choi kneel to eye-​level to let my boys know that they are NOT doing things correctly or up to her high standards, and that she will push them until they are. I have also seen her kneel to that same eye-​level and tell them they are doing excellent and to keep up the good work. She doesn’t beat around the bush with these kids, she gets down to business. I back her 150% and all of our efforts are already showing through my kids’ grades and school behavior. They are finally showing confidence in school. My youngest actually volunteers to read in front of his entire class! Something he’s never been comfortable doing even when told to and now he’s volunteering!
If they were after ‘easy-​money’ they definitely wouldn’t be telling someone they are not a good fit for the program. They would tell you everything you wanted to hear, enroll your child, take your money every month and let your child struggle through the program and fail month after month.
If you are looking into Kumon, know that they are NOT a homework-​help or a tutor (that’s you or your tutor’s job), they have their own program and it far exceeds anything these (below National average) California public schools offer. There will be pouts and «I don’t want to do its». But it’s our job as parents to know what’s best in the end for our children, to guide them and to push them to push themselves to do and be better.
This is a hard, cruel world these kids are growing in; they need to be ready, not babied. Their futures start now and because of Kumon and Ms. Choi’s no-​nonsense attitude my boys are already becoming independent learners (with a little push from me still) and they will be ready; they will be better than I ever was… if it’s the last thing we do.
I always tell my oldest boy’s public school teacher it’s not these «bad» kids faults, it’s ALWAYS the parents fault. I blame myself for my children’s failures and am so thankful I found Kumon, I did my research beforehand and have Kumon in our life. If I could give a higher rating I would in a heartbeat!
Thank you, Kumon and Ms. Choi for already making such a difference in our lives in such a short amount of time.

I first met Ms Choi when I moved to CA from Hawaii in 2014. My two boys, then, 8 and 6, were having a lot of difficulties adjusting to school since they were coming from Hawaiian public education which is not nearly as strong as the Alameda school they are in now. My kids had been in Kumon since they were two because I am a firm believer in the method. I truly believe that without doing a lot of exercises and repetition, one does not learn math. However, what I got with Ms Choi was even better. She is a strong minded woman, who deeply believe in her students and does not measure efforts to help them improve. Yes, she asks from commitment from the families, and yes, she is non stop on the kids so that they will improve their timing, but that is what you would expect from a great coach. My kids improved from doing barely 3 pages of exercises a day to doing 10 pages with her. Furthermore, now they are finally reaching a level where they are comfortable with the new material from school because of their strong Kumon base. My kids love computers, their dad is a software engineer, so we have high hopes for their future in the Silicon Valley, and that requires a strong math background. Even though I live in Alameda, I drive my kids to Castro Valley because I know Ms Choi is the best teacher around. If you are willing to take responsibility and commit to this option, I can guarantee you won’t regret.

Kumon is great! It is good for my child. I would recommend Kumon it is good for your kids

Both of my children have attended Castro Valley Kumon for some time now and I think the site directors are extremely good at what they do. I knew from the beginning that Kumon was not a personalized tutoring service. Personalized tutoring is expensive (just check the prices at Sylvan). What I did expect and have fully received, is a specific curriculum built to help my children understand and then build on the fundamentals of each learning level. Do my children enjoy going every time? No. But I can tell you personally that their academics have improved. They understand how to manage their time and they understand the logic required to complete their homework. This is well worth the small (compared to Sylvan) cost.
I have observed the interaction between Mrs. Choi and the students and have personally watched how students work in the center. In my observations, I see is a director working to address the unique personalities, different ages, various learning styles and distinct academic needs of all the students in the center. I understand how others would perceive the style as strict but those experiences may reflect misaligned expectations. The truth is that for both the center and the students, it needs to be a good fit. Every site director is responsible for hundreds of children — for kids 4 – 18, from pre-​K to 12^th grade, reading and math — all levels. I couldn’t imagine how this would work as open office hours where only a handful of tutors are available for every single one of their students to help them with «their homework.»
I pay for and expect Kumon to move my children through the Kumon curriculum to, in turn, help them with their academic work. I appreciate the direction that Mr. and Mrs. Choi provide and if I felt that it wasn’t working for me or my kids, I would find another site.
I’m happy here and I’ll stay as long as my children continue to grow academically.

Tsai L. ‘s 1 Star review is Spot On!
I would not send my Student here.
My husband attended the Math orientation & relayed how much he thought it would be good for our student because:
— Mrs. Choi emphasized a Strict Asian culture method.
— She continued to emphasize how she Punishes students by giving more work when they make mistakes.
— They require the kids to stay focused with no distractions, food, restroom breaks, etc.
— Work is daily. Period.
— Students will develop Self-​Study skills (independence).
— It’s only $ 120/​month.
I thought Okay… Well let me go and see because even using a word like «punish» seems bizarre…
I went today & my student WILL NOT be going to this Kumon because:
— Mrs. Choi put more emphasis on the Asian family’s questions at orientation than mine.
— Actually she was clearly highly offended when I inquired: 1. What her qualifications were 2. If her center is identical to all Kumons (this is literally my 1^st time exploring this company so it was a reasonable inquiry) 3. Is there flexibility to move my student along faster if they are clearly excelling quickly
— I can truly imagine that what Mrs. Choi advertised is exactly what Tsai L. described as a terrible experience. She clearly seemed set in her ways with rude bad habits.
— Mrs. Choi said they WILL NOT help my student with their homework… her Kumon follows its own curriculum, they are not for Homework help — hmmm okay
— It was clear that she actually would prefer me not to enroll when she packed up all her orientation materials & opened the door for me to exit with a smile on her face.
Let me emphasize that there was no «hostile» interactions, but subtly & obviously is was clear that she could care less about having my business… Which is great to know up front! So I’m happy that my student will not be going there!
Quick & easy decision before Waisting my hard earned Moolah

This is the worst environment for kids!!!
Kumon, itself, we love the teaching materials and do believe it does help kids to do better in math in certain ways. BUT, all depends on who run the business, and what impacts they bring to your child.
Let me start with first orientation. The owner Mrs. Choi, talked about if you are not ready for the Asian strict teaching method, don’t come! I took it as positive motivation for children when I decided to sign up for my kid.
Our impression at the classes, were always hearing her scolding kids (maybe not her intention but the tons she talked, just like it. Several moms agree too) I witnessed numerous times when she was scolding the students. She would say «concentrate, you won’t do well if you don’t focus, no one can help you if you don’t help yourself, sit up straight and listen to me, i can’t work with you if you don’t listen, i need to talk to your mom, tell me why you don’t get it, what’s your problem… etc. My kid, actually came home to mimic her and this is how i start noticing the bad impact she created in her study environment.
One time my little 5 year old girl cried at the door (which is normal for little kid if you are a mom), that was the day Mrs. Choi wanted her to be tested and sat at the big kid tables. My daughter was scared by the way she asked her to do with scolding tons as always, however, one nice staff came to settle her and took her to the little kid section to do the paper. Mrs. Choi turned about and yelled at my kid «why you sat there? you need to learn the instruction. I am the boss, all of them listen to me, I can teach you too» I was shocked to hear what she said to my 5 year old kid. However, after that day, my kid is reluctant to go back to Kumon, she had the biggest fear to see Mrs. Choi, and cried constantly whenever she reached to the door.
I tried to encourage my daughter to go back and not giving up on math, I tried to explain to her that each teacher has different approach in talking and teaching so don’t take it personal. But I did wonder if this is really right for her to put her in the environment that constantly uptight and tense and to the point she would need to have «fear». However, after few times keep on trying, my daughter still made it to the paper time eve she did cry little at the door. (I don’t see this as an issue, if you are doing business with young kids, you should know they need more encouragement as they just don’t function same as older kids)
However, few times later, I finally got my daughter get rid of fear and start feeling ok to try the math program there (even she still sobbing little at the door), we got called to the side by Mrs. Choi. She said «I don’t feel comfortable working with your child, she can’t be on her own, she can’t only ask my staff to teach her, I am the owner, I can teach her too but she can’t work with me, you may want to stop taking her here and take few months off «.
Basically she kicked us out of Kumon. I can’t believe she didn’t even talk to the parents and work with parents to understand what was the fear to cause the crying and work together to make some positive changes/​improvements.
Several thing I need to say:
–When they need to talk to parents, they need to have kids away so they don’t hurt kids’ feeling. she basically talked to me right in front of my daughter and made my kid felt that it was all her own fault, which is NOT.
–The way she talked to students there, is a way she is embarrassing kids, not motivating kids.
–All I perceived at the classes, are a very negative environment as she constantly scolding kids and the way she talked to kids, just like putting them down, to make them no confidence in learning and scare of doing math. She is lowering kids’ self esteem in many ways. The negative way talking just affecting every kid there doing the paper.
–She may think this is an Asian strict way to push kids to do better while giving them big push or hard time. There are different ways to make the same results, parents don’t need you to scold their kids, they can teach themselves, they need you to help them.
–They basically just look for easy money. They look for kids who don’t make troubles and just come and write the paper and get it done and leave. They don’t work with kids who have problems, or even just a little crying, she CAN“T handle it already.
–I don’t know how Kumon issued the license to each franchise owner, they need to understand how bad impact it is to their own brand.
I am very upset afterwards. The whole experience was horrible for both me and my child. I need to re build her confidence in loving math and wanting to learn math, I just can’t believe what mistakes I made by sending her to someone who has the most negative chi and called herself a «teacher». The un welcoming face, the scolding tons of talking, the strict facial expression, are these all what i want to give to my child when she is only at 5?

This Kumon has helped my sister in so many ways!
The instructors there are without a doubt amazing. All of the tutors at Kumon Castro Valley are trained and have actual knowledge of a specific subject. (Either English or Math)
The main instructors/​owners, Mr. and Mrs. Choi are both excellent, amazing tutors. They dedicate all their time and effort into making sure students succeed and have a clear understanding of the 2 subjects. They can absolutely educate your child positively, educational wise. All the tutors there help correct classwork and homework assigned and promote success.
If you, parents and guardians, are looking for a Math or English tutor, this Kumon center is definitely your solution. The hours of operations are M-​F from 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM, and Saturdays from 10 AM to 12 PM. You get to pick which days to come, usually, depending on the amount of tutoring needed.