うちの子夏から塾いる？いらない？迷ったら15秒セルフチェック【にしつーPR】

Summer vacation is almost here. Around this time of year, more and more Nishitsu parents start quietly wondering things like:

“Should I send my child to cram school starting this summer?”
“Is it better to sign up for summer courses?”
“But I feel like it might already be too late…”

That kind of uneasy feeling.

I get it. Summer somehow makes you feel rushed, like “I have to make them do something.”

But before you suddenly start looking for a cram school, we made a list with a pro who knows Nishinomiya’s cram school scene inside and out, so you can self-check in 15 seconds: “What kind of situation is my child in right now?”

※This summer, there will also be two free online seminars for parents, plus a giveaway covering six months of cram school fees. Details are in the second half of the article!

We spoke with Tani-san, the representative of “Juku Sherpa”, which offers free consultation on choosing cram schools in Nishinomiya. Tani-san has been in the education field for over 25 years. He handles more than 300 academic path consultations a year, making him a true expert on cram schools in Nishinomiya.

1 Start Here. Try This Pre-Summer Self-Check
2 “It’s Too Late to Start in Summer”… Actually, Not Necessarily
3 A Case Where the Problem Wasn’t Actually “Not Studying Enough”
4 The Junior High Entrance Exam Question: “Is Starting in 5th Grade Too Late?”
5 Honestly, Should Kids Take Summer Courses?
6 This Summer, We’re Holding Two Free Online Seminars

Start Here. Try This Pre-Summer Self-Check

Tani-san, do you get a lot of consultations about starting cram school in the summer?

A lot. Haha.

Every year from around June, we suddenly get more questions like, “Should I send my child to summer courses?” and “Should they start cram school from summer?”

I figured… So first, I’d love to make a checklist parents can use to figure out, “What about our child?”

Sounds good. If we summarize the common signs, it would look like this.

セルフチェックにしつーQ

【夏前セルフチェック】当てはまるもの数えてみて

家でほとんど勉強しない中間テストの点が、思ったより取れてなかった塾に行ってるのに、家での勉強につながってない提出物やワーク、出し忘れ・後回しが多い「わからん」を自分から言えないタイプ今の塾が、ほんとに合ってるのか正直わからない中学受験、いつ始めればいいか迷ってる志望校が、まだフワッとしてる

✓0個チェック中

How many checks means “uh-oh”? Haha.

Rather than “uh-oh,” it’s more of a guide for making a decision. Haha.

0–1 items: For now, there probably isn’t anything major to worry about. It’s fine to keep the current pace this summer.
2–4 items: Taking time to sort out the cause once will make the summer much more productive.
5 or more items: Before changing or adding cram schools, I recommend first organizing “what the cause actually is.”

Oh, so it’s not just “Go to cram school!”

Exactly. This is the most important part.

Before jumping to “just send them to cram school,” it’s better to think about the cause first.

“It’s Too Late to Start in Summer”… Actually, Not Necessarily

But as a parent, you start panicking like, “It’s already summer, isn’t it too late?”

I understand that feeling. But actually, that isn’t always the case.

Of course, for things like entrance exams for highly competitive junior high schools, starting earlier can be advantageous. But for many families who come to us for consultations, the issue is often simply that “the current situation hasn’t been organized yet.”

What do you mean by “hasn’t been organized”?

Looking at the checklist from earlier, worries like “They don’t study at home,” “Their scores have dropped,” or “I don’t know if their current cram school is a good fit” may all look similar, but the causes are completely different.

Some children don’t have enough study time, while others don’t know how to study. So even if the solution seems like the same “start cram school in summer,” what they truly need can be very different.

A Case Where the Problem Wasn’t Actually “Not Studying Enough”

Do you have a recent consultation where you thought, “Ah, so that’s what was going on!”?

There was a case involving a third-year junior high school boy.

He was already attending cram school, but his grades weren’t improving the way they hoped. His parent said, “He doesn’t study enough.”

But when I actually listened to the details, it turned out he was really bad at managing assignments.

Ah… then it’s not really a problem of study time.

Exactly.

For children like that, a cram school that provides learning management support is often a better fit than simply increasing class hours.

If you try to solve it by “increasing study volume,” the summer can end without anything ever really clicking.

Kids who checked “often forget to submit assignments” on the checklist might be exactly this type.

The Junior High Entrance Exam Question: “Is Starting in 5th Grade Too Late?”

There are a lot of families in Nishinomiya preparing for junior high entrance exams too. Don’t people often ask, “Is starting in 5th grade too late?”

They ask that all the time. Haha.

The answer is “It depends on the target school.”

It’s true that many families start in 4th grade, but there are also cases where students start in 5th grade and still pass. On the other hand, some children start early but end up attending a cram school that doesn’t suit them.

So earlier isn’t automatically better.

Right. That’s why it’s important to make a decision while looking at these three things:

・Target school
・Current academic ability
・Study habits

Here again, it really comes down to “organizing the situation.”

Honestly, Should Kids Take Summer Courses?

I think this is what many parents want to know most! Should children take summer courses?

I recommend them. But the reason isn’t just “to increase study volume.”

Ohhh. What do you mean?

They’re a perfect opportunity to see whether the cram school is a good fit.

・Compatibility with the teacher
・How easy the lessons are to understand
・The atmosphere of the classroom
・The burden of commuting to the school

These are things you absolutely won’t know unless you experience them. Many cram schools allow students to join only for summer courses, so I strongly recommend using them as a “trial run.”

I see! I had this image of summer courses as some kind of intensive study camp, but if you think of it as a “compatibility check period,” it feels much less stressful.

This Summer, We’re Holding Two Free Online Seminars

After hearing all this, I’m realizing that before deciding “what to do about cram school,” the first step is really to organize the current situation.

That’s exactly it.

“Should we continue with the current cram school?” “What should we do about summer courses?” “Should we keep going with junior high entrance exam prep?” “How should we think about target schools?”… There’s so much information that many families can’t sort it all out.

So this summer, we’ll be holding two free online seminars for parents. For both, you can join with camera and microphone off, and no personal information required.

Free Online Seminars (Free to Join / No Personal Information Required)

①6月21日(日)10:30〜
“Learning from Real Examples: What Are the Traits of Children Whose Grades Improve During Summer Vacation?”

Even when children seem to be studying in the same way, some make major progress after summer vacation, while others struggle to see results. Based on teaching experience, we’ll talk in concrete terms about common traits of children whose grades improve, how to spend summer vacation, how parents can support them, and examples of success and failure.

②7月5日(日)10:30〜
“How to Choose a Target School Without Deciding by Deviation Score Alone”

It’s easy to focus only on deviation scores and chances of passing. But in reality, educational philosophy, commute time, school culture, university advancement results, and compatibility with your child are also important. We’ll talk about how to choose a school you won’t regret after enrollment.

Camera and microphone off / No personal information required

▶ Click here for the registration form

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