Kumon Math and Reading Center of Willow Glen

I wish I could post a positive review here, as I do believe my son has grown leaps and bounds from where he was only six weeks ago. He is about to enter Kindergarten, and was having issues just recognizing much of the alphabet. He is just not the type of kid that takes to sitting down and looking at a piece of paper. He needs to learn with his hands as well. Well, after six weeks of Kumon, I’m pretty certain he is very close to reading. NOW, here is why there is only one star. The group packets they hand out twice a week, for each day of the week, and the diligent *daily* work of my son’s father and I (each packet takes about 30 mins for my son), is why my boy has come so far. The staff at Kumon has done nothing — absolutely nothing.
We are required to go in each Monday and Thursday anytime between 3:30 and 6:30. But literally all they do inside the Kumon is pick up their homework, and complete one packet inside the center. Most of the kids inside are not even working with anyone. The only kids that get one on one attention are those that cannot read yet, like my son. When that is the case, the proctor simply guides them through the packet. Just like I do at home. They don’t spend time helping them to actually understand what they are looking at, they just ask them to complete the packet while they sit there.
Last Monday, they were so busy that I actually had to do the packet with my son in the center. The proctors couldn’t do it. So I had to give my 3 year old my iPhone to keep him super quiet in the center, while I did their job (I should have just let him run wild, maybe then, my older son would have gotten the required attention). I could have done the packet at home that day. What a huge disappointment in an already disappointing experience.
Really, what you are paying for ($ 130 for each subject per month — math & language), is the materials. Nothing more. My best friend had her children in Kumon and saw great improvement as well, but that is because of the daily packets completed at home. She figured out that she could just buy all the materials on eBay, and took them out of the actual Kumon center.
Lastly, there is absolutely zero personality shown by any employee of Kumon. My 5 year old tries so hard to make a bit of small talk with whoever his proctor is before starting the packets each time and they literally ignore him. I wonder if this is what they are told to do? I realize that they don’t want a bunch of noise and bickering going on in there, but, with very young children, it is always helpful to build a little bit of rapport before diving right into something so daunting to them.
Because I have given so many cons, I will now give a pro!: The place is a fraction of the price of other tutoring places (now I know why :-/)

Open Mondays & Thursdays only.
I see that there are lots of children there. I drop off a child there a little before 3:30 and it takes about 30 – 45 minutes for her math only. They do work on time improvements as well, not just the worksheets/​workbook.
I do see an improvement on her, she is actually happy when she leaves the tutoring center, and also sad when there a mistake or two, she’s still fairly new to the location.
It’s small, a few tables set around and a file upon entrance that the children routinely pick up their new assignments. $ 170 a month for math only.

I forgot to mention in my last write up that if you sign your child up for both math and language arts they give you $ 10 off on the second subject. So you pay $ 230 instead of $ 240.