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JANJun 2021
The ‘just-right’ level of learning, in centre or virtual
Editor’s Note Dear readers, Together, we have overcome a challenging year. For our first edition of Potential, we reflect on the year that passed and share our hopes for a bright 2021. This edition of Potential begins with a story about Brisbane siblings Isini, Isuka and Helitha, who have all completed the Kumon Mathematics programme. Their story demonstrates it is possible to achieve in the face of adversity. Our cover story features Ryan and Jamie, siblings and Kumon English completers from Canberra. They both completed the Kumon English programme while studying entirely at home throughout 2020. Not only is this a great achievement we wanted to share with you, it demonstrates that Kumon students can still develop selflearning abilities even if they do not physically attend their centre. Our third article delves deeper into how Kumon can build self-learning, anywhere, anytime, and our fourth article reflects on all we learned while navigating 2020. We hope you will enjoy this issue of Potential. Sincerely,
Contents
The Kumon Public Relations Team
03 Brisbane siblings persevere to excel during a tough year
04 Ryan and Jamie complete their Kumon programme while studying entirely at home
06 Self-learning for a fast-changing world
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The ‘just-right’ level of learning, in centre or virtual
Brisbane siblings persevere to excel during a tough year
By completing Kumon Mathematics, siblings Isini, Isuka and Helitha have built strong foundations in mathematics that will be of lifelong benefit. Isini, 21 years old and studying medicine at the University of Queensland, says the mental calculation and self-learning ability she developed at Kumon helped her greatly throughout school and university. Isini received the Queensland ICAS Medal for Mathematics when she was in Year 10 at school. She was selected as one of 64 students in Australia to attend the National Mathematics Summer School in Year 12. Kumon played a key role in these achievements, Isini says. “I think maths is something you will use in any avenue”, Isini says. “While medicine is not specifically a career in maths, in analysis and statistics maths does help a lot.” Isini also says her interest in mathematics was sparked by Kumon, along with her daily study habit and ability to persevere. Furthermore, Isini’s younger brother Isuka, 16 years old and a Year 11 high school student, says completing Kumon Mathematics gives him the confidence to know he can excel. “It is easier for me to pursue my interest in mathematics or science”, Isuka says. “Any career in maths or science will require the mental calculation skills and self-learning ability I’ve developed from Kumon.” Isuka says he wants to follow in the footsteps of his sister Isini to study medicine. Isuka also received high distinction scores in the Australian Mathematics Competition. Helitha is 12 years old, a Year 7 high school student and is the younger brother of Isini and Isuka. He is also a Kumon Mathematics completer. This means Helitha has already mastered senior high school mathematical concepts like equations, factorisation and calculus. “It feels like I’ve accomplished a great achievement by completing all the levels in Kumon,” Helitha says. “It is why I passed the scholarship test to gain entry into a private school.” “Kumon helped me with my mental arithmetic and calculations, and it’s helped me find methods and solutions to solve equations.” Once Helitha grows up, he wants to pursue a career in mathematics or science. Isini says that she, and her two siblings, could not have achieved so much without the support of their Kumon centre. “The three of us would like to offer our thanks and gratitude to Mr and Mrs Park from Kumon for their dedication and the guidance they provided us throughout our Kumon journey”, Isini says.
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Ryan and Jamie complete their Kumon programme while studying entirely at home
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, brothers 11-year-old Ryan and 8-year-old Jamie made the decision to continue their Kumon study entirely at home. During this tumultuous time both boys completed the Kumon English programme, and continued to make strong progress as advanced Kumon Mathematics students.
As Ryan explains, choosing to study Kumon entirely at home was a family decision. “This big thing going on, you know, coronavirus, it’s really scary. I haven’t heard of any of this before and neither has my mum”, Ryan says.
“So, we all agreed as a family that we should stay at home [as much as possible] and study Kumon at home for the safety of others as well as ourselves.”
There have been ups and downs with studying Kumon at home for both boys. One major benefit for Ryan is the flexibility and freedom that being at home allowed him for his studies.
“For me personally, home is a really comforting environment because, considering what’s going on outside [with COVID-19], you feel safer”, Ryan says.
“I have more freedom, like when [I study] and in which environment I do my Kumon. I think really that helps. Sometimes this could improve the quality [of my Kumon] and how fast I do it.”
Jamie also agrees that the flexibility of home has been a big boon for his Kumon study. “When I do Kumon at home, I have more time to do it”, Jamie says. “So, I can actually finish all of it instead of maybe doing one book and then running out of time before I can do the other one.”
Of course, due to the pandemic, the transition to full home-based study was a rapid shift, and there were challenges. One obstacle
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for Ryan is adjusting to his Kumon Instructor not being physically present while he studied his worksheets, though remote support is available when he needs it.
“While I feel home might be better, it’s still not the same”, Ryan says “It’s been three years ever since I started Kumon and during that time I’ve become used to the environment [of the Kumon centre].” “So I’ve had to get used to studying at home.” Jamie says sometimes noises at home distracted him, including the sounds made from cars on the street and of pets in neighbouring houses. Most times he was able to simply ignore it though, Jamie says.
On the whole however, both Ryan and Jamie believe that studying Kumon entirely at home throughout the pandemic has been good for their learning, as has also been their time physically studying at the Kumon centre in previous years.
As public health orders were imposed throughout Australia and New Zealand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kumon centres rapidly adjusted their operations. All Kumon centres experienced a temporary pause on in-centre study.
Restrictions have now eased across all of Australia and New Zealand to an extent that allows in-centre study to resume, though
operations between Kumon centres do vary. The option of full home-based study with remote support still remains. Many students, Ryan and Jamie, have chosen to stay on this study mode.
The Kumon Method of Learning has its origins as a full home-based programme. It was created in Japan in 1954 by a high school
mathematics teacher named Toru Kumon, who hand wrote worksheets so his son could practice calculations by himself for half an hour every day. Day after day, he carefully matched the content to his son’s improving ability. Soon, Toru Kumon’s son progressed beyond school grade level.
Jamie says the advanced study of Kumon helped him greatly in school because he is already familiar with the content. And Ryan believes what he has learnt now in Kumon will be of strong benefit for him in the future. “I think Kumon is a really good platform which helps in teaching maths and English, and to help you prepare for your future”, Ryan says. “Like when you’re older and you have tests. Kumon has also helped me personally in many ways. It’s really helped me advance in my class and to generate a sense of curiosity.”
Ryan hopes to become a biologist when he grows up. Jamie hopes to become a tennis player.
Ryan and Jamie agreed to come into the Kumon centre for the special occasion of having their photograph taken.
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Self-learning for a fast changing world We have always lived in a changing world. COVID-19 has dramatically quickened the pace of change. The adoption of technology has accelerated, and with this, new methods of learning and working are now widespread. To adapt to rapid change, we all had to think on our feet to find solutions to problems we never encountered before. We had to try new things, view problems as challenges and use previous knowledge to find a solution. In other words, we had to self-learn. The ability to self-learn is what Kumon aims to develop in all students. When students advance ahead of school grade level in the worksheets, they learn for themselves what they are yet to be taught at school. When they encounter something new, they study the example, draw on previous learning and give it a try. They try, and try again, until they finally get it. Sometimes with a hint from the Instructor. This is how Kumon develops self-learning. Toru Kumon, the late founder of Kumon, knew self-learning would be beneficial for all children. He experienced its benefits throughout his schooling. When he was fifth grade, Toru Kumon’s maths teacher informed the class that if they were able to learn from the textbook on their own, they could advance independently. Toru Kumon felt he could achieve this, so he did. “This method suited me very well”, Toru Kumon once said. “If I advanced beyond the school grade level, I would have an easy time studying in school.” “In addition, I didn’t like to be forced into studying or having to listen to teachers’ lectures, so an educational policy which encourages students to learn what they liked at their own pace by themselves was just right for me.” When Toru Kumon became a high school maths teacher, he developed self-learning in his own students. He encouraged his students to learn on their own, and provided extra support only when students became stuck. Toru Kumon’s belief in self-learning also underpinned the creation of the Kumon Method of Learning. Self-learning is an important life skill and the benefits are significant, especially in fast changing situations. Kumon students apply this skill in all their academic pursuits, interests, and in their professional career.
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Instructors’ Quotes
Throughout the pandemic, Kumon students have continued to develop self-learning. On this page, we share some insights from Kumon Instructors from all over the Asia-Oceania region about how they helped their students to become self-learners.
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Self-learning comes from the personal desire to gain new knowledge. In fact, students who are adept self-learners learning have more opportunities in developing other skills. Self-learners possess a strong commitment towards completing tasks and they stick to a plan until they achieve their goals. These are important skills for later in life.
Ms. Sharilla
Kumon Malaysia
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Home study over the COVID-period helped me realise, even more, how effective the worksheets are for enabling children to work independently to access learning. I think it’s been exciting to see how children have really made Kumon their own while studying at home. I’ve found my students to be very focused on their studies. Zoom has also been a great opportunity for me to observe how
Ms. Kim Jarvis
they’re really focused and working incredibly well.
Kumon Australia and New Zealand
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A silver lining of the pandemic is that coordination and communication between parents, students and Instructors is better than ever before. Since parents are also part of online sessions now, they observe their children’s efforts with the Instructor in real-time. This strengthens the connection between student, parent and Instructor for the benefit of children’s learning.
Ms C. Umamaheshwari
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Kumon India & Sri Lanka
“ Teacher Aylene Belarmino Kumon Philippines
COVID-19 has taught me that self-learning is an essential skill every student must master. If we train children to think critically and figure things out on their own, we are raising resilient learners who can handle challenges and navigate the unknown.
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The ‘just-right’ level of learning, in centre or virtual
The past year has been a time of immense change. When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Australia and New Zealand in the early months of 2020, and public health measures such as physical distancing and stay-at-home orders came into effect, Kumon made rapid adjustments to make home-based study available for all families, with virtual support provided by the Instructor. During this time, Kumon ensured that worksheets were accessible to students and that students were provided with the opportunity of learning Kumon virtually through videoconferencing and other forms of electronic communication. Kumon centre staff worked tirelessly to provide flexible options to families, and to ensure students were able to continue learning and making progress with their maths and English in a safe environment. Now, as we enter 2021, the majority of students in Australia and New Zealand have resumed their study, in person, within the Kumon centre. While procedures at each Kumon centre continue to vary, studying Kumon entirely at home with virtual support remains an option for families. Furthermore, in the months to come, parents can expect to see Kumon centres continuing to run on a hybrid model of virtual and in-centre classes. What do these changes mean for your child? At Kumon, the method by which Kumon students learn remains at its core, unchanged. The Kumon Method of Learning individualises instruction and provides the ‘just-right’ level of study for each and every student. The ‘just-right’ level of study refers to the point of work which is neither too easy nor hard for an individual student. It is the Kumon Instructor’s ongoing analyses of each student’s submitted worksheets that ascertains the ‘just-right’ level for each student. The ‘just-right’ level continues to apply regardless of whether a student attends class virtually or leaves home to attend the Kumon the centre in person. This is why it is possible for Kumon students to make strong progress and continue to advance beyond school grade level, regardless of whether the child is learning virtually, or in the centre.
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“The reason children come to dislike studying is because they are not given what is at the ‘just-right’ level for their academic ability”, Toru Kumon, the late founder of Kumon, once explained. “When they are given what is ‘just-right’ for them, they enjoy studying. They will then be able to advance beyond their school grade level.” Collectively, Kumon Instructors have decades of experience in developing the learning of thousands of students across Australia and New Zealand. This experience has demonstrated that students will progress to advanced study so long as they stay at the ‘just-right’ level throughout their programme. The past year, with all its disruption and change, reconfirmed this truth. Through the support we have provided to families throughout 2020, we are confident that families will appreciate the extra flexibility offered by our hybrid model of in-centre study and virtual learning. We will continue to tailor our programmes and service to your family’s individual circumstances, and to each student’s learning needs. For 11-year-old Ryan, a Kumon English completer and advanced Kumon Mathematics student who is studying entirely at home – and who was featured earlier in this magazine – the home environment has been conducive for study. “You have more freedom [at home], as in when [you do your study], and in which environments you do your Kumon. I think really that helps”, Ryan says. “Sometimes this could improve your quality [of your Kumon] and how fast you do it.” We acknowledge there are many students who benefit from studying within the physical Kumon centre. As such, the option of in-centre attendance will remain available for such students. Nevertheless, throughout 2021 all Kumon students will continue to study their worksheets at the ‘just-right’ level, with the support of their Kumon centre’s Instructor and assistants. This will ensure that all Kumon students make strong progress towards advanced study, regardless of whether they study in-centre or virtually.
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