Potential 2018 - Kumon Brunei (Issue 2 - 2018)

Australia • Brunei • Cambodia • India • Indonesia • Malaysia • Myanmar • New Zealand • Philippines • Singapore • Sri Lanka • Thailand • Vietnam

JUL – DEC 2018

My Life, My Dream AINA ZAKIYA MAISARAH BINTI MOHAMMAD HAIROL FAIZAL JAYDEN LIM JIN WEN

Kumon Feature SELF-LEARNING: HOW KUMON TEACHES STUDENTS TO TEACH THEMSELVES

Parenting Tips CREATING A READING HABIT IN YOUR CHILDREN

Editor’s Note

ON THE COVER JUL - DEC AINA ZAKIYA MAISARAH BINTI MOHAMMAD HAIROL FAIZAL Dear Parents, Welcome to the very first issue of Kumon Brunei’s Potential magazine! Potential magazine is a bi-annual publication for Kumon students and parents in the Asia and Oceania region. Within the magazine, you will read about featured local students’ stories, local news, parenting tips and quotes from Kumon Instructors around the region.

Within this issue, you will get to read about two advanced students; Aina Zakiya Maisarah and Jayden Lim. Zakiya is a Kumon Maths advanced student while Jayden is both a Maths and English programme advanced student. Hear from them as they share about their Kumon journey thus far.

This year, it is Kumon’s 60th anniversary around the world. Today, Kumon offers learning opportunities in 50 countries and regions around the world. More than 4.3 million students are learning with Kumon globally.

Kumon remains as an established choice for parents who wish to empower and equip their children with the life skills and learning ability to thrive in this day and age.

Contents MY LIFE, MY DREAM

03

Jayden 04 Meet Jayden Lim Jin Wen

FEATURES article 06 Regional Self-learning: How Kumon teaches students to teach themselves

08 Instructors’ quotes 60 anniversary feature 09 Continually pursuing potential: th

The 60 years of Kumon

Have a good read!

Han PR & Marketing, Kumon Singapore & Brunei

Meet Zakiya Aina Zakiya Maisarah binti Mohammad Hairol Faizal

REGULARS

10

Local news Good friends who stay together do kumon together Advanced Students Forum (ASF) & Advanced Student Honour Roll (ASHR) 2018

11

Parenting tips Creating a reading habit in your children

Tel: +65 6232 5855 Fax: +65 6232 5822/33 E-mail: sg-kaoweb@kumonglobal.com Website: sg.kumonglobal.com INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NOTICE The logos, graphics, pictures, design, and layout (“Contents”) of this entire newsletter are the exclusive property of Kumon Asia & Oceania Pte Ltd. The Contents contained in this newsletter shall not be reproduced or copied without the express written consent of Kumon Asia & Oceania Pte Ltd. © 2018 Kumon Asia & Oceania Pte Ltd. All rights reserved.

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My life, my dream

Aina Zakiya Maisarah binti Mohammad Hairol Faizal , 6

Meet

Subjects: English, Level CI 90 Starting Level: 6A 1

Z

akiya joined Kumon 2 years ago, enrolling in the English programme.

Her father, Mr Md Hairol Faizal, wanted for her to further enhance her English language abilities and to spark an interest in cultivating a healthy reading habit.

Mr Hairol got to know about Kumon through a colleague at work and also from Instagram and decided to enrol both Zakiya and her older sister, Damia, in the Kumon English programme.

During the first few months in Kumon, Zakiya had to adapt her routine to juggle both school homework and learning to do her Kumon worksheets independently. Zakiya was initially a little afraid of going to Kumon classes.

Gradually, she made more friends and is now very happy to be going to her Kumon classes.

“Her English has improved both at home and in school. Her vocabulary has also increased extensively.” Mr Hairol shared.

At home, Zakiya likes to converse with her sister in English and often does role playing in English as well. She has since developed a love for reading and often visits her school library in the afternoons.

Her parents usually bring her to the bookstore twice every month to allow her to pick out some books she would like to read. Zakiya’s current favourite title is ‘Big Red Dog’ which she finds a lot of fun in.

Now learning about the usage of tenses, passive and active voices, Zakiya finds her current level of worksheets becoming more challenging but at the same time, fun as well.

Zakiya ASHR Ceremony and Next Goals Last year, Zakiya attended the Advanced Students Honour Roll Ceremony where she received her 1-year advanced award.

Recalling the experience on stage, both father and daughter beamed with pride and happiness at the achievement.

Now that Zakiya is advanced in her Kumon studies, Mr Hairol revealed that she had become more talkative and confident in her English. When quizzed on how Kumon has benefitted her in school, Zakiya shared that she was able to understand new concepts and syllabus faster than her classmates.

Zakiya is already aiming for the future.

Her goal – to reach level L and complete the Kumon English programme. Her career aspiration – to be a doctor. Her father thinks that she might even be interested to take on the Mathematics programme.

3

My life, my dream

Jayden Lim Jin Wen, 6 Subjects: Maths, Level G 90 English, Level EI 100 Starting Level: Maths, Level 3A 1 English, Level 7A 1

J

ayden joined Kumon 2 years ago, first enrolled in the Mathematics programme. His mother, Ms Sujeeporn, was familiar with Kumon when she was in the UK and heard about Kumon opening in Brunei.

Jayden’s parents were looking for a programme that would complement his studies and at the same time allow for him to do at his own pace.

Even at that point in time, Jayden loved Maths and English. Ms Sujeeporn shared that while most children would enjoy outdoor playtime and toys, Jayden would prefer spending time indoor playing with numbers and alphabets, and watching educational programmes. He would write his own Math addition equations with his uncles and spend time arranging alphabets from ‘A’ to ‘Z’ or ‘Z’ to ‘A’. Jayden also loved school very much. Whenever he had to miss a school day, it felt like punishment to him. He would frown and ask why he had to miss school.

Ms Sujeeporn was not sure how well Jayden would cope when he first started his Kumon classes.

His reaction took her by surprise.

He went for his classes with no issues and left the classroom with a beaming smile while talking about what he did in class and what worksheets he received for homework.

“I was happy to go to Kumon.

It was something new and exciting for me. I got to play with numbers and learnt new things. Even now, I am still happy to go to my Kumon classes.” Jayden shared.

Ms Sujeeporn added that there were of course tears and tantrums at some points as the worksheets got more difficult. Jayden would normally spend around twenty minutes on his homework. When he moved up a level with new learning foci, it would take him around forty to sixty minutes to complete the new worksheets.

That was a little overbearing for his mental state – he was 3 years old and sitting still for up to an hour, but he got over it with perseverance.

Progress since joining Kumon Perseverance was something that Jayden had in abundance, many a times proving his parents wrong when they thought he would ask to stop going to Kumon.

He endeavoured in his Kumon studies and committed himself to it. Jayden also had a thirst for knowledge, which drove him to keep going. Whenever he learnt something new or received new worksheets, he would share them with his mother enthusiastically when he got home. In fact, Jayden revealed that his favourite part about going to Kumon was when he received new homework!

Meet

Ja

ayden

Since Jayden’s first few months in Kumon up until now, Ms Sujeeporn noted Jayden’s significant developments. In the past, his parents had to negotiate with him on when to sit down and do his worksheets. Nowadays, he would go about doing so on his own initiative.

He was able to understand his school work better. Jayden’s concentration has also improved; from fidgeting and doodling around the alphabets in the worksheets, to now being able to concentrate on completing his worksheets in one sitting.

Reading Habits Ms Sujeeporn shared that Jayden loves books. His parents bought a lot of books for him but did not have enough time to always read with him. Now, Jayden can read independently and cites Disney books, the Peppa Pig series and Maisy Mouse series by Lucy Collins as his favourite titles. His parents are now getting him to read without first judging a book by its cover.

Jayden also enjoys reading the stories from the Kumon English worksheets. In fact, he finds doing the English worksheets easier now that he is learning many new words.

The avid reader is now absorbed in the Geronimo Stilton series by Elisabetta Dami.

ASHR Ceremony and Next Goals Two years ago, Jayden told his mother he wanted to get a medal.

She told him it was something he had to work hard for and she would support him in every step of the way.

For eight months, he worked really hard and was doing worksheets ahead of his school grade level. He persevered and never looked back.

Last year, Jayden received his 3-year advanced award for Mathematics and 2-year advanced award English at the Advanced Students Honour Roll Ceremony. Recounting the experience when he went on stage to receive his awards, Jayden shared that he felt happy and awesome. His mother shared his sentiments, feeling proud of her son’s accomplishments.

Jayden aspires to become a race car driver in the future but for now, his next goal is to work hard for his 5-year advanced trophies.

With Jayden being advanced in his Kumon studies, Ms Sujeeporn revealed that he would set his own goals every year, letting her know what he wanted to do instead of her setting them out for him. It is a good character trait she has seen him develop. In addition, he still takes interest in his studies and is equally adept at managing both his school work and Kumon homework.

Regional Article

Self-learning: How

Kumon

teaches students to teach themselves

The concept of self-learning fascinated Toru Kumon, Kumon’s late founder, throughout his entire life – even when he was a young boy. This interest catalysed when he was a fifth grader in elementary school after his maths teacher informed the class that if they were able to learn from the textbook on their own, they could advance. Toru felt happy to be able to study at his own pace and did so enthusiastically.

Mr Kumon later moved to Tosa Junior High School (equivalent to lower secondary) and was similarly exposed to a self-learning method, where the teacher taught only the basics and expected students to learn by themselves.

‘This method suited me very well. 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 to have 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.’

6

‘From this time forward I began to think that all the other schools should adopt this policy of achieving the greatest result with the least amount of effort, so their students can enjoy

their school life more,’ Toru Kumon wrote in his autobiography Give it a try – Yattemiyo.

However, in both instances, the schools’ attempts to introduce self-learning were short-lived. Mr Kumon felt this happened because were no learning materials or appropriate methods for keeping up-to-date with students’ progress.

Mr Kumon went on to become a mathematics teacher at the very same high school he attended as an adolescent, and his strong belief in selflearning’s efficacy guided his teaching practice.

His teaching was highly beneficial for students, and he would often take the time to help students with their studies after class. The overwhelming majority of the students he helped this way were able to reach senior high school level mathematics within a year.

Furthermore, Mr Kumon’s passion for helping children learn how to teach themselves led to the creation of the very first Kumon worksheets, which he trialed on his son Takeshi Kumon.

After seeing how these worksheets helped his son, Toru used these worksheets to help other students.

‘For children to make progress, it is more effective to meet their desire to grow rather than for adults to force them to advance by cramming everything into their heads. There is a limit to how much you can force a child to study but the potential for growth through self-learning is endless. All children intrinsically want to develop their abilities and they all have the potential to do so. Responding to these desires, thus helping them grow without limits, not only makes the children and their parents happy but is essential for society,’ Toru wrote in Yamabiko in 1983.

Children’s own desire to grow is precisely what informs Kumon’s self-learning methodology.

Instructors do not teach students in a uniform manner. Instead, examples, explanations and hints are provided in the worksheets. Students learn from these examples and attempt the questions on their own, under the watchful eyes of the Kumon Instructor, who guide the students when necessary.

But all the aforementioned are the abilities of long-term Kumon students. You, as parents, may be asking yourself how does Kumon develop the first steps of a long-term self-learning habit?

Atsushi Yamada, president of Kumon Asia & Oceania, explains that Instructors provide more guidance to newly enrolled students than to students who have been studying Kumon for a while. He says this guidance’s’ ultimate end goal is to develop students who are able, and who want to, study on their own.

As students grow in Kumon, their abilities grow as well and with time, they will be able to study independently. With students learning independently it is then possible for every child to progress as fast as they can at their own pace. This way, Kumon students are not held back because of age, or pushed to advance without having fully understood the concepts simply to keep up with the rest of the class.

Instead, they advance only when they are ready.

This will be explored further in the next issue of Potential.

Kumon was founded 60 years ago, and all through this time self-learning has remained as a central tenet. This has allowed Instructors to push the potential of each child to the fullest, not just in maths but in other subjects as well.

As Mr Kumon once wrote in The Strengths of the Kumon Method, ‘The Kumon Method enables students to advance beyond school grade level.

The worksheets are well-organised; therefore this is also true in the cases of students with special needs. Children gain self-confidence and achieve an advanced level of competency, which enable them to excel in high school.

Advancing beyond grade level is what is most beneficial for children. The Kumon Method has not been used solely to teach maths. Students have been able to experience self-learning and acquire the skills for self-learning through their study of maths.’

‘Of course, when children first study with Kumon, it is difficult for them to do the worksheets by themselves. That is why Instructors have to provide appropriate guidance in their initial period, and ultimately, nurture them to become children who are able to learn independently and stretch their abilities further on their own,’ wrote Mr Yamada (President’s Message to Instructors, 2018).

7

Feature

Instructors’ quotes I am a strong believer of self-learning. It is an important skill to have for both adults and children, especially in our society now. We can self-learn almost anything on Google and YouTube. To self-learn something, you need to have the willingness to try, the determination and perseverance to overcome failure, and the discipline to work on it till you succeed.

All these skills are what we want to cultivate in our students using the Kumon Method of Learning, regardless of age.

Whenever students are learning something new, we give them the time and space to try it out on their own first. We want our students to not be afraid to make mistakes. It is part and parcel of taking on new challenges. We will observe and decide how much more instructions to provided, or not at all. Different instructions are given to different students, aiming to develop their self-learning skills. This is one of the uniqueness of the Kumon programme.

The earlier students master self-learning, the more they can pursue their dreams and goals, as they become unstoppable. I am sure all parents want that for their children.

Ms Jean Li

Toru Kumon had stressed to respect for selflearning and children can grow through selflearning without limits.1 My understanding is that we must have a firm belief that all students have this ability of self-learning, and my role as an Instructor is to nurture patiently that learning new content need not necessarily be taught. When students are nurtured the selflearning, they will enjoy and be more advanced in their studies. Eventually students will have more initiative and confidence in advancing their future studies and solving life problems independently.

Ms Ho Lee Choo Kumon Malaysia

Kumon Singapore

Throughout my Kumon journey, I learn that children love being independent. They get a great sense of achievement when they can learn by themselves, rather than being taught by someone right from the beginning.

With a positive study attitude, self-learners will always think and give it a go when faced with new or difficult problems. More importantly, these children build up in confidence and motivation which, in my view, will allow them to be able to achieve their aspirations in life ahead.

At Kumon, we work together with parents to help children develop the ability to learn independently. We aim to provide them with just enough support so they can develop the right attitude towards learning and study the worksheets independently.

Ms Daisy Han Kumon Brunei

8

1

Understanding the Philosophy of Toru Kumon 42-43, 2014

For me, self-learning is about empowering students as it allows them to think for themselves and persist through whatever challenges they may face.

Self-learners are like this because they have great stamina, perseverance and passion.

Thus, self-learning equates to success.

In Kumon Maths, I build self-learning by using the six significant skills as the building blocks. These six skills are work skills, mental calculation skills, correction skills, comprehension skills, skills to do intermediate steps efficiently, and verification skills. I also look at the student’s capabilities at enrolment and think about where I want to take them.

And in English, I do this by instructing students to visualise and analyse a text. They learn to build and support their opinion and arguments through Kumon English.

Instructor Rovi Ravida Kumon Australia & New Zealand

60th Anniversary Feature

Continually pursuing potential: The 60 years of Kumon The origin

Concerned that her 8-year-old son, Takeshi, didn’t do as well as she had expected in a grade 2 maths test. Teiko told this to her husband, Toru Kumon, who was then a high school mathematics teacher, who then decided to make worksheets to help his son gradually improve his calculation skills.

Toru had Takeshi complete these worksheets every day and hand them back for marking. Every day, Takeshi would then have to correct his mistakes on the previous worksheet, as well as complete the new worksheet which Toru assigned him.

These were the precursors of today’s Kumon worksheets. By studying them Takeshi advanced from relearning addition in grade 2, to proficiently learning differential and integral calculus in grade 6.

“Thanks to this learning method, I didn’t have to study maths at home at all when I was a junior and senior high school student. It was enough for me if I just listened to lessons in schools,” Takeshi once said about his experience as the first Kumon student.

“Another result of my Kumon study was the realisation that I could master unknown content that I had not been taught.”

Founding & expansion

Encouraged by Takeshi’s success, Toru and Teiko Kumon, Takeshi’s mother, started a maths centre at home in 1955 and invited children from the neighbourhood to study with them. About ten children turned up.

The Kumon Method helped all of these children learn and grow. Toru wanted to expand this method as he believed that while each and every child has great potential, they need to be taught how to harness it. Therefore, the company, Osaka Institute of Mathematics, was officially founded in 1958 in Osaka, Japan.

In 1962, the company The Osaka Institute of Mathematics Ltd was incorporated and by 1969, the total number of subject enrolments exceeds 10,000.

In 1974, Kumon made began its overseas expansion by opening its first Centre in New York, followed by Taiwan in 1975, Brazil in 1977 and Germany in 1979.

Kumon then expanded further from the 1990s through to the 2000s. In total, Kumon is now present in 50 countries and regions around the world.

60 years on – ­ is Kumon still relevant?

Fast forward to 2018, when Kumon celebrates its 60th anniversary, one might wonder if the pencil and paper approach of Kumon is still relevant with the prevalence of technology. After all, technology has given birth to numerous apps that promises learning without the need of a face-to-face session with an instructor or teacher. However, as every child is different, so the ways to guide a student on their worksheets differs from student to student as well.

Having twice weekly face-to-face sessions allows Kumon Instructors the opportunities to observe the students doing the work, understanding their thought process and study habits. These will help Instructors gauge the “just-right” level for the students and the way to instruct them. While we embrace technology, the face-to-face interaction between students and Instructors is still an indispensable aspect of the Kumon Method and will continue to stay relevant in the 21st century today.

1958

Osaka, Japan

1974 USA

1977 Brazil

1980

France, Canada

1983

United Kingdom

1985

Belgium, Peru

1987 Singapore

1989

Italy

1991

Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia, China, Mexico, Colombia

1993 Netherlands

1995

Luxembourg, Bolivia

1997

Botswana, Argentina

1962 Tokyo, Japan

1975 Taiwan

1979 Germany

1982 Philippines

1984 Australia

1986

Malaysia, Austria, Switzerland

1988 Hong Kong

1990 Korea

1992

Spain, Hungary

1994

New Zealand

1996 Chile

1998

Sri Lanka, Namibia, United Arab Emirates

1999 Bahrain

2001 Zambia

2006 Qatar

2008 Greece

2015 Brunei

2000 Kenya, Ireland

2005 India

2007 Vietnam

2013 Andorra

2017 Cambodia

9

Local News

We would like to thank everyone for your support and participation in our very first referral campaign which took place on 16 May to 8 June 2018.

Kumon students who referred a friend, as well as the referred friend, will each receive a $30 voucher from Nollybook.

On top of learning with Kumon, many students look forward to going to their Kumon classes to be in the company of their friends, to make new friendships and to learn together. We hope this little initiative has brought more friends to Kumon and allowed for our students to look forward with greater excitement to going to their Kumon classes.

Advanced Students Forum (ASF) &

Advanced Student Honour Roll (ASHR) 2018

Go Let’s !

For It

10

Every year, we celebrate the achievements of our students who have qualified for the Advanced Student Honour Roll (ASHR). Students qualify for the ASHR by being 6-months, 2-years, 3-years or 5-years ahead of their school grade level based on the Kumon International Standard (KIS). In recognition of our students’ achievements, there will be ASHR ceremonies organized by your child’s Kumon Centre. The exact date and venue will be provided by your child’s Kumon Instructor. We look forward to join you in commemorating all our awardees.

Parenting Tips

Creating a

reading habit in

your children

Kumon believes there are two main benefits to be gained from reading books: one is that it helps to builds children’s knowledge of the world and enriches their vocabulary, and that it helps to increase children’s intellectual abilities.

But with the proliferation of technology in today’s world many are concerned that children are beginning to shy away from books. In this article, we will look at how to help children develop a reading habit and thus show them the joy in reading.

1. SET A GOAL Set a target number of books to read in a month and work towards the goal. Create a list of books to read, and check off those that have been read.

The Kumon Recommended Reading List (RRL) is a good resource to help you get started with this. The RRL consists of 380 carefully curated titles, intended to help students find books that they will enjoy reading, and to encourage them to read books from a wide range of genres and styles. The RRL can be viewed here: http://www. kumon-english-rrl.com/

2

. CREATE A ‘READING-FRIENDLY’ ENVIRONMENT AT HOME Have your children’s books easily accessible within your kids’ reach, and set-up a place away for them to read away from distractions such as TV and the Internet. This will make reading easy for children and encourage them to do so.

3. SET A SPECIFIC TIME TO READ

Schedule time to read daily, and aim to read at least 30 to 45 minutes a day.

4. READ WITH

YOUR CHILDREN Have something to read with your children and let them learn by example. You could visit the local library with your children and borrow books together.

5

. ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN Praise your children when they reach specific milestones and encourage them set-up a milestone if they need one.

Reading should not be forced upon your children, but rather encouraged, so that they begin to enjoy reading instead of seeing it as a chore.

The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

— Dr. Seuss

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1954 The Origins of the Kumon Method

After more than half a century, his philosophy still continues to help many children develop the ability to reach for their goals and dreams.

Kumon offers learning opportunities in 50 different countries and regions around the world.

VI01.BN.01.0618

Handmade materials created

by Toru Kumon for his son (Takeshi) in 1954.

Toru Kumon (Founder of the Kumon Method)