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JULDEC 2021
Self-learning as a habit for school, university and life
Editor’s Note Dear readers, We hope you are enjoying a bright 2021. For our second edition of Potential for this year, we discuss how Kumon develops self-learning and how this ability will help students to navigate a rapidly changing future. We begin the magazine with a story on Auckland students Losaline and Bella-Rosa, who are preparing for their futures by building a solid foundation in mathematics and English. Our cover story features Michael, a Kumon Mathematics completer from Sydney and currently an undergraduate engineering student. Michael explains how the self-learning ability he developed at Kumon is invaluable for university and beyond. Our third article offers a general overview of how Kumon develops self-learning, and our fourth article reflects on the importance of a students’ first year with Kumon. We hope you will enjoy this issue of Potential. Sincerely,
Contents
The Kumon Public Relations Team
03 First year of Kumon gives sisters
confidence at school and for the future
04 Self-learning as a habit for school, university and life
06 Learning little-by-little to grow in
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confidence through self-learning
08 Instructors’ Quotes 10
A strong first year is the foundation for future learning with Kumon
First year of Kumon gives sisters confidence at school and for the future
By building a solid foundation in mathematics and English, Kumon students are widening their options for pursuing their goals and interests in later life.
Sisters Bella-Rosa, 11 years old, and Losaline, 10 years old, both study the Kumon Mathematics and English programmes. They both say Kumon helped them with school and boosted their confidence.
“I’m now really good at maths,” Losaline says. “I can assist my classmates and try to explain how I can come to the answers of my work.”
Bella-Rosa says she is more confident now than when she started Kumon. “I don’t have to rely on anybody to help me, and I am more motivated and keen to do all my work,” Bella-Rosa says. Since Losaline and Bella-Rosa are building their maths and English skills, and self-confidence, they believe persevering with Kumon will give them more choice later in life.
“I will be able to apply myself to anything that I’m interested in, without the worry of issues like my written English not
being at an acceptable standard. I will also be able to apply for a job that requires good mathematical knowledge and understanding,” Losaline says.
“I hope that with any opportunity that I come across, that I have the confidence to give it my best attempt.” While neither Bella-Rosa nor Losaline knows yet what they would each like to be when they grow up, they each say they would like to pursue a career involving mathematics.
Olivine, Bella-Rosa and Losaline’s mother, says Kumon will help her daughters to pursue their interests. “There are jobs out there that you won’t know about until you’re in college,” Olivine says. “These are the years for Bella-Rosa
and Losaline to acquire skills in English and maths. This is so when they get to college, and they see these other careers, they can pursue them without feeling restricted or incompetent.”
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Self-learning as a habit for school, university and life
As the ability to learn independently is essential for success at university, Michael’s childhood study of the Kumon Mathematics programme has been invaluable.
Michael is in his fourth year of a structural engineering degree at the University of New South Wales. He is also a Kumon Mathematics completer, who started the programme in Year 4 when he was ten years old.
“I was always into maths and really good at it,” Michael says. “We got referred [to Kumon] by a friend of mine who was in the same class as me. It was a fun experience, but it also definitely was challenging.”
Michael describes long division in Level D and studying equations in Level J as the most challenging points of his Kumon study. By the time Michael reached Level J, he was in Year 8 of high school and studying Kumon Mathematics
at senior high school level. Having progressed so far already, Michael was self-motivated to finish what he started. “If I persevered and finished the whole thing, I felt that was a great achievement,” Michael says. The Kumon Mathematics and English programmes both develop self-learning in students. Self-learning is the ability to take in information, process, retain and understand it, without having to rely on being taught every new
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topic or concept. Especially during the later stages of Kumon Mathematics, Michael said he was using self-learning to tackle complex problems in his worksheets, mostly in Level J and above.
For Michael self-learning became a habit. This helped him greatly in high school. “Kumon definitely helped me be independent and not have to ask people for help as much,” Michael says. “If I get stuck on a question, I will generally try and figure it out myself. Being independent and persevering with studies was a great help in high school, especially in the Higher School Certificate.”
University is an environment where students are expected to study independently and be self-motivated to learn.
Now, four years into his degree, Michael is realising the full benefits of the self-learning and perseverance he acquired from Kumon.
“I see the benefits of Kumon a lot at university with the little assignments, the big projects, the exams,” Michael explains. “You can’t miss anything in the middle, otherwise, it shows in your final exam results. You have got to see it through the whole way.”
“I think doing Kumon for five years, especially at a young age, definitely helped,” he continues. “I’d say the benefits from Kumon are something that will carry over even past uni.”
Michael’s experience with self-learning mirrors that of the late Toru Kumon, who invented the Kumon programmes
in Japan in 1954. When Toru Kumon was in the early years of high school his mathematics teacher did not actively teach during most lessons. Rather, the teacher introduced Toru Kumon and his classmates to the fundamentals of each concept, and then provided students with workbooks for independent study.
It was only if Toru Kumon or his classmates encountered a problem they could not solve through their own efforts, would they then proceed to ask the teacher for help. After the teacher provided the necessary support, students would go back to studying on their own.
Michael experienced a similar learning method at his Kumon centre. When introduced to a new topic, Michael’s
Kumon Instructor would draw his attention to the example in the worksheet, offer some guidance so Michael would become comfortable with the learning, and then leave him to study on his own. Michael would then continue to use
the example in the worksheet to solve the problems on his own, and seek guidance from his Kumon Instructor only
when necessary. This is how Michael developed self-learning, the fundamental attribute Kumon seeks to develop in all its students.
“What we aim for is not just to improve students’ school grades by simply developing their abilities in mathematics
or English, but for students to attain the mindset required for self-learning, and to acquire enough self-learning experience so that it becomes a habit,” Toru Kumon once explained.
“This is the true value of the Kumon Method. We must allow children to experience the joy of self-learning advancing on their own.”
“We hope they will then continue learning by themselves even after going out in to the real world, and grow up into people who are proactive in everything they do.”
Upon completing his degree, Michael hopes to pursue a career in engineering. He hopes this will be a challenging pursuit and allows him to continue learning throughout his life.
To watch a short video interview with Michael, visit: https://au.kumonglobal.com/michaels-story/
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Learning little-by-little to grow in confidence through self-learning C
hildren constantly learn new things from the day they are born. And as children learn, they grow in confidence.
Similarly, Kumon students learn in small steps and become more self-confident. What differentiates Kumon from many other programmes, is that Kumon Instructors do not teach. Kumon Instructors ensure students always learn at the ‘just-right’ level.
Kumon students use the examples in the worksheet to self-learn their way through difficult problems. Instructors provide guidance in the event a student gets stuck. This way advanced students are not get held back, and the less advanced students do not feel the pressure to keep up. All students are able to make smooth progress through their Kumon programme.
The benefits of self-learning ability extend far beyond the classroom, as Kumon students often go on to tackle new challenges on their own. Takeshi Kumon, the world’s first Kumon student and
son of founder Toru Kumon, always maintained that the programme taught him a method of learning that he could adapt for different situations and content.
“I think the most important thing for me was the mental independence that was fostered by
advancing beyond grade level,” Takeshi once said during a high school entrance ceremony in Japan.
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Takeshi went on to use his self-learning ability and confidence to study German and the abridged
version of the Six Japanese Legal Codes, the foundation for the Japanese legal system. Likewise, Michael, a Kumon Mathematics completer from Sydney, Australia, says confidence and self-
learning helped him greatly through his final high school examinations and to achieve entry into an engineering degree.
“Kumon definitely helped me be independent and not have to ask people for help as much”, Michael says.
“If I get stuck on a question, I will generally try and figure it out myself. Being independent and persevering with studies was a great help in high school, especially in the Higher School Certificate[1].”
All the way from the beginning of enrolment to completion, Kumon students grow in confidence through developing their self-learning ability, greatly benefiting them throughout school and life.
[1]
The Higher School Certificate (HSC) is the credential awarded to secondary school students who successfully complete senior
high school level studies in New South Wales.
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Kumon empowers students to build self-learning ability and realise their potential. Read these quotes from Kumon Instructors throughout the Asia-Oceania region to learn how.
Instructors’ Quotes
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“
While each individual has unique potential, no one is born with skills. We develop skills through structured daily action. Kumon aims for all students to develop the skill of self-learning. This is why Kumon Mathematics and English are programmes of daily study, whereby
students have to independently and thoughtfully work out solutions to the problems in their worksheets on a regular basis.
With time and perseverance, these students become highly skilled self-learners who are
capable of solving advanced and complex problems independently … empowering them to realise their full potential.
Dominic Chua & Sarah Tan Kumon Australia and New Zealand
“
Nurturing self-learning ability among our students is at the core of Kumon, and our
instructions and worksheets are structured to achieve this aim. Self-learners demonstrate
strong levels of confidence to try something new, to learn from mistakes and to conquer a fear of failing. This greatly empowers self-learners to excel and stretch their potential.
Ms Elani Kassim Kumon Malaysia
“
As Kumon builds students’ confidence through self-learning, I witness the excitement shown by my students when they understand the concepts on their own. Over time, this improves their critical thinking skills, as they are constantly engaged and challenged with new ideas. I believe our Kumon students will likely have less difficulties with their learning, as they are practising and reinforcing their self-learning ability through their worksheets.
Ms Brigitte Yeow Kumon Singapore
“
The Kumon learning method aims to help students develop self-learning habits and
Kumon worksheets are designed around this. We, as Instructors will train our students to
study the examples from the worksheets. Once they get the answer correct, we will praise them or put a star on the question they were attempting to encourage them. Afterwards, we can see they become confident and are willing to challenge themselves in the next learning topic. In the next class, we would see the student get excited about their new
learning focus. When asked about how are they doing at school, they would confidently tell us that they found it easy.
Ms Liang Kumon Brunei
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A strong first year is the foundation for future learning with Kumon It is during the first 12 months of the Kumon programme that a student establishes the foundations for self-learning. Self-learning can be seen as the ability to take in information, process, retain and understand it, without having to rely on being taught every new topic or concept. This ability is what Kumon aims to develop in all students. Confidence, a daily study habit, individualised learning, and proficiency in the fundamentals of mathematics and English, are the foundations that underpin self-learning. This article will discuss how these pillars are established in the first year of Kumon study, the possible benefits for students, and the ways they are further developed through long-term study of the Kumon Mathematics and English programmes.
01
Confidence The Kumon programmes build confidence right from the beginning of a student’s enrolment. Using the results of the Diagnostic Test, a Kumon Instructor will start a student at a level of work which is relatively easy for the student to complete. The purpose is to develop in the student a study rhythm and to enhance familiarity with the regular practice of completing worksheets. At this point, students will usually encounter mathematics or English topics which they are already familiar with. Once the students settle into their study flow, confidence follows. During their first year of study, students progress through the worksheets until they study at a level just above their school grade. This transition gives students further confidence as they see that they are capable of advanced study through self-learning. But students are unlikely to attempt self-learning if they do not have confidence in their own abilities. This is why building confidence in the first 12 months of study is so important.
02
A daily study habit Kumon introduces students to the practice of daily study. Around 30 minutes of study is usually recommended for each subject, each day. Daily study can be for the purposes of practice in order to decrease the number of errors, reduce a completion time, review an earlier topic, or consolidate something new before moving on. This lays the foundation for smooth progress. The first 12 months of Kumon is a time in which students form a daily study habit. This habit will be further reinforced the longer a student stays with Kumon. Daily study is an essential component of self-learning because, as one piece of knowledge is often the foundation for another, students need to be in the habit of consolidating their current learning before moving onto the next topic.
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Individualised learning
03
Kumon Mathematics and English are individualised programmes. Students learn at a level that is just right for their current ability (neither too easy nor hard) and progress at their own pace. Kumon Instructors, through monitoring and observing each student’s progress, maintain the just-right level for each student and assign the worksheets students are ready to learn next. Individualised learning benefits all students in their first year of Kumon. Students needing the extra support are given sufficient time to revise, before moving onto advanced mathematics and English. Those already ahead are free to tackle more difficult problems. Through learning at their own speed, Kumon students begin to enjoy learning as they are not forced to keep pace with the rest of the class. Enjoyment of learning means students actively begin to seek out their own learning experiences in school and in life. This is essential for self-learning.
Proficiency in mathematics and English
04
Kumon Mathematics develops quick, precise calculation skills necessary for the study of high school mathematics. Kumon English builds a high level of reading comprehension ability. In their first year, depending on whether a student studies Kumon Mathematics, English, or both programmes, they will develop proficiency. Once students have developed strong mental calculation and reading comprehension through long-term study with Kumon, students have the required knowledge to self-learn other subjects and areas of learning.
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