Kaprepekar Numbers Kaprepekar numbers are numbers that when squared the sum of the right hand 'n'digits of the square and the left hand 'n' or 'n-1' digits is equal to the original number. A famous problem relating to the seven bridges over the river Pregel at the town of Konigsberg in Germany. The Kumon method, which quickly swept Japan and now enrolls 2.6 million students on six continents, holds that children can teach themselves math by tiny increments, but only if they master each step before proceeding to the next one. More like boot camps than tutoring services in their stress on discipline, Kumon centers promise benefits to children with all skill levels, who devote about two hours a week to its exacting regimen.
Some parents enroll their children to keep up with or move ahead of their classmates.
But other parents do so because they believe that their children aren't learning enough, and hope that the centers will compensate. That many schools teach a newer form of math, one that stresses concepts over precise calculation, is another factor in the growth of tutoring centers that rely on older methods. Although there has been a general growth in commercial tutoring centers, Kumon's slow, regimented approach distinguishes it from services like Sylvan Learning Centers and Kaplan Educational's Score centers, which promise faster results along with instruction tailored to individual weaknesses. The Kumon system is built around 4,000 work sheets spanning 23 skill levels, from basic counting to calculus. New operations are presented at the top of each sheet, sometimes with sample problems and a cursory explanation.