Can a Montessori Mum Love Kumon? How Worksheets Changed My Mind About Learning
As a Montessori-trained guide, I believed worksheets killed natural learning... until I enrolled my son in Kumon and discovered five hidden principles I'd been missing all along. Here's what happened when a devoted Montessori parent gave repetitive practice a chance, and why starting with basic addition wasn't a step backwards but exactly what my child needed.
So there I am, standing in the Kumon centre on the ground floor of our Dubai apartment building, watching my seven-year-old son work through his initial assessment. And I'm having this moment where I can't believe what I'm about to do. I mean, I'm a certified Montessori guide. I've spent years setting up beautiful learning environments with all the right wooden materials. And here I am, about to sign my kid up for daily worksheets.
The whole thing felt ridiculous.
When we moved our children to an International Baccalaureate school in Dubai, I thought we'd nailed it. Everything about this place just clicked: the creativity focus instead of obsessing over grades, the problem-solving emphasis, the global awareness piece. Plus, they had this strict no-homework policy during the primary years, which honestly made me want to cry happy tears. I mean, if you can't teach a kid what they need to know in seven hours of school, what are we even doing?
But here's the thing. Even while I was celebrating all that freedom, this little voice in my head kept nagging at me. At some point, my kids were going to have to deal with academic work at home. Secondary school would bring homework whether we liked it or not.
And there was this Kumon sign right in our building lobby, practically staring at me every time I walked past.
So I thought... why not try it for a month?
I made this deal with myself: thirty days, prove that worksheets are terrible for learning, then go back to our beautiful Montessori setup with my principles intact. Easy.
Except that's not what happened at all. What I figured out over those weeks had nothing to do with whether Kumon was good or bad. It was that I'd been looking at learning all wrong.
When Perfect Materials Meet Imperfect Reality
Look, if you're a Montessori parent, you know this feeling. You've got everything arranged just so. The wooden materials on those low shelves, the perfectly prepared environment where everything has its place. It's like your entire educational philosophy came to life in your own home, and it's gorgeous.
Then something shows up that involves worksheets or repetitive practice, and suddenly you feel like a total sellout.
My son crushed his initial Kumon assessment. He flew through those problems with the kind of confidence you only get from years of hands-on Montessori math work. I was feeling pretty proud.
Then the teacher told me he'd be starting with single-digit addition. Like, three plus five. Six plus two. That level.
I was offended. Actually offended.
My kid was already doing four-digit sums at home with the Montessori stamp game. He was handling hundreds and thousands like a boss. My immediate thought was: they have no idea what my son can do. They're going to hold him back.
This wasn't going to work. We'd just proved it in twenty minutes flat.
The teacher said something about the difference between knowing something and actually mastering it, but honestly, I wasn't really listening. I smiled politely and thought she didn't get it.
It took me months of watching him work before I understood what she meant.
The Month I Nearly Walked Away
Everything in me hated what Kumon represented. Daily worksheets felt like the opposite of joyful learning. Repetitive practice seemed to go against everything Montessori education stands for. The whole system felt like it ran on external pressure, which is exactly what we're supposed to avoid.
That first month was rough.
I heard myself saying things I swore I'd never say. "Do your Kumon." "You forgot your Kumon." Papers everywhere on the dining table. My son treating it like a chore. Me feeling like the world's biggest hypocrite.
But while I was spiralling about all this surface stuff (the mess, the nagging, the resistance), his Kumon teacher was watching something completely different.
She pulled me aside one afternoon. "We don't just check if he gets the right answer," she said. "We're watching his patterns. His speed. Where he hesitates. The types of mistakes he makes."
And she was right.
Those sums I thought he knew cold weren't as automatic as I believed. He'd pause, just for a split second, but it was there. He was working them out in his head instead of just knowing them. He could figure them out every time, sure. But he had to figure them out. Big difference.
Watch This Story Come to Life
I originally shared this journey on my YouTube channel. If you want to see the actual Montessori materials and Kumon worksheets I'm talking about (plus my very expressive hand gestures while explaining all of this) you can watch the full video here:
Or keep reading below for the complete written breakdown with all the details...
Five Montessori Principles Hiding in Plain Sight
Over the next few months, something weird started happening. I realised Kumon wasn't just about worksheets. It was actually following five Montessori principles that I'd somehow never connected to this type of work.
Let me break it down.
1. Simple-to-Complex Progression: Building Real Understanding
There's this core Montessori idea that you start concrete and simple, then slowly work toward complex and abstract. It's how we teach everything: math, language, sensorial work. You go from hands-on materials to abstract thinking, simple to complex.
With mathematics, we start with golden beads. Children can literally see and touch what's happening when they add or subtract. Then we move to the stamp game, which is still hands-on but more abstract. You build one layer at a time, only moving forward when the previous concept is solid.
So when Kumon put my son on basic single-digit addition, I was annoyed. Really annoyed. He was doing four-digit multiplication at home!
But then I got it. They were following the exact same simple-to-complex progression I knew from Montessori.
Single-digit additions first. Then two-digit plus one-digit. Then two-digit plus two-digit, no carryovers at first, then with carryovers once he had the pattern down. Every step carefully sequenced.
And it worked.
Once those foundations were truly solid, things started moving fast. He went from single-digit sums to multi-digit addition, doing most of it in his head.
I never imagined I'd watch an eight-year-old tackle four-digit by two-digit long division, mostly mentally. But because Kumon layered everything so gradually, he didn't even realise how far he'd come.
2. Repetition for Real Mastery: From Thinking to Knowing
In Montessori, repetition isn't about drilling things into kids' heads. It's about helping a child move from working something out to just knowing it automatically. Children practise addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts with hands-on materials until they don't have to think anymore.
Turns out, Kumon does almost the same thing: targeted, repeated practice that makes things stick.
His teacher pointed out these specific number combinations where he'd pause. Six plus seven. Eight plus seven. He always got them right, but he was calculating each time. It hadn't clicked into automatic memory yet.
And here's why that actually matters: every math operation you do, whether it's two digits or four, comes down to those basic number combinations. If your kid is adding twenty-two plus nine, they need to know two plus nine instantly. If they're pausing to figure it out every time, it's like running with ankle weights. It slows everything down.
Kumon was building that automaticity through daily, structured worksheets. Sometimes a whole set would just be one operation. Over and over. If he was still making mistakes, he'd repeat that level.
Some weeks, his worksheets looked exactly like the week before. I kept thinking, shouldn't he be moving faster?
But that's the mastery phase. Your brain needs time to really own something before you pile more stuff on top.
3. The Adult as Guide: Supporting Independence
One of the biggest Montessori ideas is that adults should guide, not teach in the traditional sense. You give the lesson, then you step back. You watch instead of hovering. You build independence instead of dependency.
What caught me off guard about Kumon was finding this exact approach.
The teachers at the centre don't hover. They don't interrupt children mid-focus to jump in with help. They watch quietly, track patterns, and only step in when it actually supports independence.
At home, I had to learn this all over again. I had to stop myself from sitting next to my son during Kumon time, fixing mistakes as they happened. I had to let him work independently, trust the teacher to address the patterns, and accept that mistakes are part of how you actually learn.
4. Individual Learning Paths: Honouring Each Child's Pace
Montessori education is all about meeting each kid where they are. You don't group children by age and force everyone through the same curriculum at the same speed. Each child works at their actual level and moves forward when they're ready.
At the Kumon centre, I'd see eight-year-olds working on everything from basic addition to algebra. Not because some were "gifted" and others were "behind." Just because each kid started at their own level and moved at their own pace.
My son's folder had his personalised path, adjusted every week based on how he did. Some weeks, he'd advance because the foundations were solid. Other weeks, he'd repeat levels because he needed more time with certain concepts.
It was completely individualised. His own timeline, his own progression.
5. Following the Child: Building Internal Motivation
The most fundamental Montessori principle is following the child: watching their interests, their readiness, letting that guide how you support them. You trust that children actually want to learn. They don't need external pressure. They just need the right setup.
Over time, my son's whole relationship with those worksheets shifted in this way I didn't see coming.
He started owning it.
Small things at first. Grabbing his folder without me reminding him, choosing to do Kumon in the morning before school instead of leaving it for the evening. Then it evolved. He started treating it like a personal challenge, trying to beat his own times, feeling satisfied when he improved.
That's what following the child actually looks like. He wasn't doing Kumon because I was making him. He was doing it because he'd found his own reasons. His brain recognised the value, even if he couldn't put it into words.
The Transformation I Didn't See Coming
So yeah, Kumon looks nothing like Montessori on the surface. The worksheets, the daily practice, the structured levels. None of it looks like those beautiful wooden materials in a Montessori space.
But once I stopped judging it by how it looked and started paying attention to the principles underneath, I realised Kumon belonged in our Montessori-inspired home. Not despite our values. Because of them.
The real transformation wasn't about Kumon at all.
It was about me. About learning to look past what learning materials look like and focusing on what they actually do. What matters is whether it supports independence, respects individual development, follows the child's readiness, and builds genuine mastery.
That's the real test. Not whether it's made of paper or wood.
Now, important caveat: timing matters here. My son was seven when we started Kumon, well into what Montessori calls the second plane of development. By age six, children shift from needing hands-on sensory experiences to being able to work with abstract concepts.
If your child is under six, still in that first plane, I'd be way more careful. That stage is still all about concrete experiences. Young kids need to hold things, move things, and explore with their senses. They're building the foundations that'll support abstract thinking later.
Don't rush it.
What This Means for Your Family's Learning Journey
Now that you've seen how Kumon can actually line up with Montessori principles: structured independence, individualised progression, careful observation, you might be wondering how to bring these values into your own home.
Here's the thing: you don't need perfect materials or Instagram-worthy shelves to create meaningful Montessori moments. You need to understand the principles and be willing to see learning opportunities in unexpected places.
Start by observing your child the way that Kumon teacher observed mine. Don't just check if they got the right answer. Notice their patterns. Their hesitations. Where knowledge is clicking versus where it's still forming.
And remember: following the child doesn't mean no structure or expectations. It means creating frameworks that support their natural drive to get better at things, then letting them take ownership.
Which of these Montessori principles hits home for you? Are you finding them in surprising places, in approaches that seem like they'd contradict what you believe about education?
I'd love to hear what connections you're making and how you're supporting your child's path toward independence and mastery.