Potential 2018 - Kumon Singapore (Issue 2 - 2018)

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

JUL – DEC 2018

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

Parenting Tips CREATING A READING HABIT IN YOUR CHILDREN

My Life, My Dream SUNENA GUPTA KAISEI ARAKI

Editor’s Note

ON THE COVER JUL - DEC KOICHIRO ARAKI AND KAISEI ARAKI Dear Parents, It is Kumon’s 60th Anniversary around the world this year. 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.

60 years is a long time – long enough for at least two generations to experience the Kumon Method. If you are pondering, we have just the story for you. One student feature in this issue of Potential is a Kumon pair of father and son. Mr Araki was a Kumon student in Australia and his son, Kaisei, is now a Kumon student studying in Singapore.

60 years also means many students who have gone on to complete one or more Kumon programmes.

In our other feature, we hear about Kumon Maths Completer, Sunena Gupta. Sunena is a Singaporean Kathak (a traditional Indian classical dance) dancer presently studying at University of California, Berkeley.

Contents MY LIFE, MY DREAM

03

Meet Sunena Sunena Gupta

across generations 04 Kumon Koichiro Araki and Kaisei Araki

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

Enjoy reading this issue of Potential!

REGULARS

Han PR & Marketing, Kumon Singapore & Brunei

10

Local news Good friends who stay together do Kumon together Advanced Student 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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Meet S

Sunena Gupta, 20

Sunena

unena Gupta is a Singaporean Kathak (a traditional Indian classical dance) dancer studying at the University of California, Berkeley; majoring in politics and economics, minoring in education.

Kathak has been a major part of her life and she was the first Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS) student to have a Kathak Manch Pravesh – comparable to a graduating ato a professional dancer.

She sees herself teaching at high school level in the future and is inspired to do so from the tremendously positive and close experiences with her own teachers.

Sunena has fond memories of going to Kumon with her two elder brothers, Sidharth and Sahil Gupta. She always looked forward to going to Kumon as she had their company and that of her many friends in her Kumon Centre.

Sunena was involved in many school activities; ranging from sports to music.

She started learning Kathak at the age of seven and grew to fall in love with the dance form at a later age. It was then where she had a deeper understanding of it - which sparked a desire to have her own dance production addressing several social issues.

How did Sunena manage all that along with her Kumon studies?

“There were definitely times closer to my completion of the Mathematics programme where it was difficult to manage everything. I was lucky to have my brothers - who also completed the Mathematics programme, as role models and the close support of my Kumon Instructor.” shared Sunena.

Completing Kumon Maths When asked what the most challenging point in her Kumon journey was, Sunena shared that the last few Maths worksheet levels (levels L, M, N & O) were the most difficult. She could not see the direct relevance of the worksheets then and was occupied with school activities. Her brothers were also no longer in Kumon at that point, making it harder to remain motivated.

She managed to overcome her challenges and complete the Maths programme with the support of her

My life, my dream

Subject: Maths Completer at Secondary Two Level completed: Level O

mum and her Instructor.

She credits being able to be involved with so many different activities to Kumon building a strong foundation in her Maths ability and work ethic. This realisation allowed her to look forward to the long-term benefits after completion of the programme.

Sunena further added that the hard work and inner determination required to complete the Kumon Maths programme and mastering the Kathak dance form was very similar. With any traditional dance form, it takes the same type of repetition, consistent work and willpower that you sometimes need with completing the Kumon programme.

University and beyond Now in her university studies, Sunena views challenges as stepping stones.

“The biggest takeaway from my Kumon experience was the self-learning aspect of the programme. It was such an important lesson throughout high school and especially in college. Being in big classes, it is easy to get lost without direct help from teachers but I think what I learned through Kumon was being able to tackle problems step by step.” said Sunena.

She leaves a piece of advice for Kumon students - Hang in there!

She further mentioned that many Kumon students may sometimes feel like it could be a chore and something that their parents forced them into.

However, having the opportunity to gain support from a Kumon Centre allows for a student to learn how to learn better.

3

My life, my dream

r c a n o Kum Kaisei Araki, 7

gene

Subject: Maths, Level H 40 (Literal Equations 2) Starting Level: 6A 1

M

r Araki, a former Kumon student, is now a Kumon parent. Mr Araki currently works in the pharmaceutical industry, in the capacity of a regional finance role. He found that the confidence he gained from Kumon led him to pursue his current career.

Kumon connects not only both Mr Araki and his son, but also Mr Araki’s father. Mr Araki’s father was one of the first Kumon students of our late-founder, Mr Toru Kumon.

His father later joined the Kumon overseas operations team.

At the tender age of four, Mr Araki was introduced to Kumon in Sydney when his father was stationed in Australia. He looks back on his journey with Kumon, “Fond memories would be spending two afternoons a week after school at a Kumon centre, where my mother was a Kumon assistant.”

He recounted, “The annual awards ceremony was always a special occasion and something my siblings and I would look forward to.”

As a Kumon Student, Mr Araki took up the Mathematics, Kokugo (Japanese) and English programmes.

Kumon Parent and Child As a Kumon parent who has gone through the Kumon Programmes, Mr Araki found it easier to guide

his son, Kaisei in his Kumon study.

“Since I have an understanding of the worksheets, I know which ones Kaisei would find challenging and interesting.”

He recounted, “Level F worksheets were particularly challenging for Kaisei so continuous encouragement was the key to push through. Whereas learning the multiplication tables in Level C worksheets were interesting and it was easier for Kaisei to pick up.”

This was reiterated by Kaisei who shared that because he had memorised the multiplication table, Level C worksheets were easy for him and he liked doing them. He also liked attempting algebra at Level G worksheets.

Encouragement, coupled with Kaisei’s appetite for learning new things, ensured that he went to his Kumon classes happy. Kaisei likes that he gets to spend time with his friends at Kumon and even helps them out with their worksheets. Kaisei shared that with constant practice and his father’s guidance, he manages to overcome the difficult Maths worksheets. He also feels happy and proud to have his father as his Kumon Instructor at home.

When asked about the similarities between Kaisei and a younger self, Mr Araki expressed “I think Kaisei is a much more diligent student. We both started around the same age A young M

at an aw his siblings ral r Araki with ouse, Aust H ra pe O Sydney

ross

s n o i t era

th ony held at ward cerem 80s.

19 e th in ia

but he has already completed Level G before his 7th birthday!”

He further added that his greatest takeaway from his Kumon experience was that parents played an essential role by praising and motivating their child to maintain daily study habits. “As a child, it would be difficult to understand the importance of daily extra study; in addition to school homework, particularly during weekends and school or family holidays.” he remarked.

After finishing high school, Mr Araki came to appreciate the support, time and investment made by his parents and his Kumon Instructor. “Kumon gave me so much confidence in my studies.” recounted Mr Araki.

e

Besides mathematics, Kaisei also enjoys storytelling with his mother.

The avid reader frequents his local library and knows which section to head to for his favourite books.

Kaisei enjoys storytelling events from professional storytellers.

“My favourite storyteller is Mr Roger Jenkins from Singapore.” he revealed.

Kaisei reads in his free time and at before bedtime. He is currently reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator from the Roald Dahl series.

Kaisei considers Roald Dahl as his favourite author and has read almost all the books in the series.

Supporting and Motivating

Mr Araki hopes that Kaisei would build up his confidence just as he himself did through Kumon.

At the age of six, Kaisei received his award for being six years advanced in Mathematics at the National Advanced Students Forum 2017.

“I wanted Kaisei to gain the confidence which comes with being strong in a particular subject.

I think this brings out the drive to be equally confident in other subjects and the will to reach for higher grades.” said Mr Araki.

Mr Araki shared that both his wife and himself were very pleased and proud of Kaisei’s achievement. He added, “During the awards ceremony, we were equally impressed with the other students of the same age group on stage.”

He continued, “We introduced Kaisei to mathematics with number boards, flash cards and counting songs which were readily available in Japan.

Gradually, we enrolled him into Kumon when he was able to count. ”

This was a motivation for Kaisei to continue striving. The aspiring fire fighter shared that his next goal would be to go on to complete the entire Kumon Mathematics programme.

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.

Instructor 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 60 th 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 receive a limited edition Kumon NETS FlashPay card with a stored value of $10. The Kumon NETS FlashPay card can be used for daily transport and retail needs.

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 Student Forum (ASF) & Advanced Student Honour Roll (ASHR) 2018 Go Let’s !

For It

10

From July to October, we celebrate the achievements of our students who have qualified for the Advanced Student Honour Roll (ASHR) and students who have completed the Kumon Mathematics and/or Language programmes. In recognition of our students’ achievements, there will be ASHR ceremonies organized by your child’s Kumon Centre for students who are 6-months, 2-years or 3-years ahead of their school grade level.

On 6 October 2018, the Advanced Student Forum (ASF) will be held for students who are 5-years ahead of the Kumon International Standard (KIS) and for Completers of the Kumon Programmes. The ASF will be held at the University Cultural Centre, located at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Do join us 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 11

Due to the interest and demand in Singapore, we are expanding our footprint by seeking passionate individuals to join us a franchise Instructor.

As Kumon parents, you have worked through the programme with your child. We believe no one knows the benefits of the Kumon Method better than you. If you possess a passion to work with children and desire to become an educator within your community, join us as a franchise Instructor to transform a child’s life through education.

Register your interest at http://www.sg.kumonasiaoceania.com/franchise/ today!

For more information, contact Linda at 90041941.