Potential 2018 Issue 2 Kumon Malaysia

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

JUL – DEC 2018

My Life, My Dream YAP YU CHENG YAP YU TONG SITI SARA IMAN AHMAD TERRIRUDIN

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 SITI SARA IMAN AHMAD TERRIRUDIN Dear Parents, Welcome to our second edition of Potential for the year of 2018. In just a blink of an eye, we are already in the second half of the year. We hope everything is going well and if not, don’t give up! We will always have time to be better and let’s use this remaining time of the year to achieve what we want. Keep trying as life is a journey, not destination.

The Kumon Group is celebrating the 60th anniversary this year. Throughout 60 years since the establishment of Kumon in 1958, we have brought so many interesting stories in the family. For this issue, we have 2 remarkable stories of Kumon students who have experienced the fruitful result from Kumon. The first story is from Siti Sara Iman, the brave girl who fell in love with chess and love taking challenges. Next is the story of two siblings, Yap Yu Cheng and Yap Yu Tong who always practised good communication in the family.

We also included an article about Advanced study and changeover of Advanced Student Forum (ASF) qualification timeline. Not to forget, an article about parenting tips on creating a reading habit in your children.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and have a happy and productive second half of the year. Let’s continue to be inspired!

Love, The Public Relations Team

Tel: 1800 88 1010 E-mail: information@kumon.com.my Website: my.kumonglobal.com INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NOTICE

Contents MY LIFE, MY DREAM

03

Empowering a winner’s spirit through kumon Siti Sara Iman Ahmad Terrirudin

into a new leaf – 04 Turning indulging excellent academic and personality Yap Yu Cheng and Yap Yu Tong

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

REGULARS

10

Local news Advanced study and changeover of Advanced Student Forum (ASF) qualification timeline

11

Parenting tips Creating a reading habit in your children

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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.

Kumon Malaysia

My life, my dream

Siti Sara Iman Ahmad Terrirudin, 10 Subjects: Maths, Level F120 Starting Level: 4A 61

T

he maturity and confidence in her burst out just through the first glance. With very pleasant and warm smile, this girl has tasted the sweetness of Kumon. This is the story of Siti Sara Iman, an adventurous 10 years-old girl who always believes focus and discipline are the keys to be a winner.

‘I knew Kumon as Japanese education system and one day, I saw the advertisement on Facebook. From there, I decided to enrol my children in Kumon as I feel curious about how Kumon can really help my children,’ said Puan Zarina Idris, the mother.

From curiosity, now the mother is enjoying the end result. Having three children in Kumon from the start, has taught the mother that Kumon is not just a learning centre. It is something that can change people’s lives.

Gaining much confidence from Kumon, Siti Sara Iman is now 2 years ahead of school grade level. At school, she is always the one who brave enough to volunteer in answering maths questions

Empowering a winner’s spirit through Kumon.

and able to solve it within a short time.

Her mother admitted that her daughter’s maths ability has developed steadily as she grew with Kumon. From counting

fingers, now she is able to do all mental calculations and gives direct answers without writing out the working method. Kumon

has helped her to be brave and builds up her confidence level which motivate her to participate in international maths competitions such as SASMO (Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad), KMC (Kangaroo Math Competition) and Olympiad Math.

Additionally, she also slowly fell in love with the famous strategy-board game; chess. She started to play chess at the age of 7 and her interest become deepens as she grew older. Since 2016, she has already participated in more than 15 competitions and never goes home with empty hands. Now, she is determined to joining many more competitions in order to gain more experience.

To be a successful chess player, the person must have the ability to focus and most importantly, discipline. Her mother believes Kumon has helped her child in gaining these skills. Despite her busy schedule as she just joined piano and archery class, she manages to arrange her time properly. She feels responsible of her own life and she dreams to contribute more to the society as a surgeon one day.

The mother added up, ‘Parents

should try Kumon and don’t easily give up as Kumon is really a journey that can give rewarding result at the end. As big supporters of the children, parents should always support the child especially when they are facing difficulties and keep looking forward as the saying goes; there must be the rainbow after every storm. Just enjoy the journey and don’t forget to have fun with it’.

all her achievem Siti Sara Iman with es. medals and plaqu

ent

3

My life, my dream

Turning Yap Yu Cheng, 9 Subjects: Maths, Level E 60 Starting Level: 3A 1

T

wo lovely siblings, Yap Yu Cheng, 9 years old and Yap Yu Tong, 8 years old are the Kumon students who have experienced the benefits of powerful learning method in Kumon. With the support given by their determined parents, they are now in their third year as Kumon students and throughout 3 years of remarkable experience with Kumon, they admitted Kumon has changed their lives as well as the whole family positively.

The two siblings definitely have different personality. The brother is always the one who is more matured and calm, whereas the sister is the one who more energetic and full of curiosity.

The parents come from very humble family which always view education as the priority in life. For them, having good education can help the children to survive in life. Especially in this fast paced world, the parents did not want the children to be left behind and because of this, the parents realised that their children need to be fully prepared for the challenging and unpredictable future, mentally and physically.

With this in mind, their mother, Ms Chin Soo Har has made her own research to find good education centres through the internet. From browsing the website, Kumon has caught her attention as she knew Kumon is one of the education centre that is able to train the children to be

good in academic especially in mathematics. With full optimism, the parents decided to send their children to Kumon and tried the method. The parents were really amazed by what they have gained after they enrolled their children in Kumon. They can

see the improvements from both of their children not just academically but also from their personality.

The brother who always feels apathetic in doing school’s homework is now more motivated and enjoyed doing the homework.

After he joined Kumon, he would feel very excited to try something new and always assume all the homework are very easy. No more laziness in doing homework, as doing homework has become his habit and it is his responsibility to finish it every day.

The Kumon daily practice really teach him the meaning of responsibility and this helped in building up his personality.

The responsibility that has been trained in him has made his life living with their grandparents while the parents working much easier.

He knew he lives with their aged grandparents and needs to help them doing house chores even after went back from school tiredly. The parent was really proud of their children, and they believe this habit is because of responsibility that they have learnt indirectly from Kumon.

l w e n

g n i g l u ind academ perso

a o t n i g

f a le t

n e l l e c x ge d n a c i m . y t i l a n o

In addition, the sister also has shown much more improvement after joining Kumon. With a very active personality, Yap Yu Tong is unique in her own way. During Kumon class, the high level of curiosity that she had sometimes may trigger uneasiness for other students including the Instructor.

To work out this problem, the Instructor called and met the parents for the parents meeting.

After the discussion, the father felt really upset and advice her to let her reflects herself for what she has done. At that moment, she realised she need to use the speciality wisely and she was determined to change herself. She turned all her curiosity and eagerness to positivity. Taking Kumon as one of the way, she pours all her curiosity into Kumon worksheet as she knows she can solve all difficult questions on her own without being spoon-fed by the Instructor. As the result, she is now 2 years ahead of school grade level, doing mathematics division by 2-digits at the age of 8.

The parents always believe each child has their own ability and the way they carry their lives are different and very individualised. As working parents, the parents also concern about what their children are facing every day. From here, the parents know that communication among family especially with the youngsters are really important.

As parents are always the ones they rely on and

need the most, it is important to have a family session. Every day

after dinner, the parent will allocate certain time for them to have family sharing. In this family sharing, the children will freely share and talk about anything including what has happened in school or Kumon.

The parents also will tell their stories and they will share their opinion and give pieces of advice. From these family sessions, the parents will know if their children are facing difficulties in Kumon or school, or if they have done or achieved something that they can be proud of.

The children also will take turns to read storybook as they know reading can open their minds to other worlds instead of improving their English language. The parents also encourage them to practice reciting multiplication table to sharpen their mind and mathematics skill. The creativity and commitment from the parent in this family session can be one of the examples that other parents can follow. How important for the parents to work, it is also important to have a strong bond with the family as family is the valuable gift that will never be replaced. Parents should always support and be there with their children as there is never an easy route for every journey including Kumon journey.

Yap Yu Tong , 8 Subjects: Maths, Level D 140 Starting Level: 4A 101

Regional Article

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 self-learning’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 In my capacity as a Kumon Instructor, I have been blessed to have witnessed the metamorphosis of many unsure, hesitant children into confident yet humble self-learners. This change in children never ceases to amaze me and is my source of strength to keep learning and working with children. Self-learning is not a clichéd phrase to us at Kumon, but a regular feature at centers when we see children studying topics ahead of their class. My faith in children’s ability to self-learn is reinforced on a daily basis when I see children work with new concepts, grapple with the examples and notes and then move through the pages with increasing confidence and understanding. The sight of heads bent over, brows furrowed in deep concentration and then their eyes seeking out mine with a euphoric ‘aha’ escaping their lips – that’s my reward.

Ms. Vandna Mehta Sarin Kumon India

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

I am often questioned by the parents of my student in the Center. “Why wouldn’t you help my child solving the questions in the worksheets?” or “How could my child understand the material if you didn’t teach him/her?” I answered those concerns with a short explanation that Kumon teach student to think independently. Kumon allows student to learn from various hints and guiding examples. By thinking independently, students will create new ways and logical answer.

All we have to do is to guide them to study properly and understand the concept first then the can apply to the related questions.

Ibu Arini Wahyu Erna S. Kumon Indonesia

We usually assume that children are too young to learn new things by themselves so they definitely need instructions even in single steps. However, after six years working with Kumon students, I realize it is not totally like that. With a solid foundation of knowledge and work skills steadily developed, they can truly amaze us with the way they handle multi-step problems and acquire new concepts on their own. The examples, hints and cues provided in the worksheets make it easier to solve the problems independently. Such experiences of self-learning makes them persistent and confident and gives them a thirst to advance further. Gradually, they can be able to acquire knowledge in an active, comprehensive and exciting way with maths and beyond.

Ms. Duong Ngoc Truc Diep Kumon Vietnam

8

1

Understanding the Philosophy of Toru Kumon 42-43, 2014

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 “justright” 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.

2015 Brunei

2008 Greece

2006 Qatar

2001 Zambia

1999 Bahrain

1997

Botswana, Argentina

1995

Luxembourg, Bolivia

1993 Netherlands

1991

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

1989

Italy

1987 Singapore

1985 Peru

1983

United Kingdom

2017 Cambodia

2013 Andorra

2007 Vietnam

2005 India

2000 Kenya, Ireland

1998

Sri Lanka, Namibia, United Arab Emirates

1996 Chile

1994

New Zealand

1992

Spain, Hungary

1990 Korea

1988 Hong Kong

1986

Malaysia, Austria, Switzerland

1984 Australia

1982 Philippines

1980 Canada

1977 Brazil

1974

USA

1958

Osaka, Japan

1979 Germany

1975 Taiwan

1962 Tokyo, Japan

9

Local News

Advanced study and changeover of

Advanced Student Forum (ASF) Qualification Timeline.

At Kumon, we are devoted to making each of our students advanced in their study. When students come to advanced study, they already possess knowledge, skills, and concepts that can significantly influence how they approach to the new learning and solve unfamiliar problems. People construct meaning for a new idea or process by relating it to the ideas they already understand. This prior knowledge can produce mistakes, but it can also produce correct insights.

We believe children can be furnished with the ability to advance to high school level material through self-learning as early as possible. Self-learning ability which is the skill which students can develop using Kumon Method is the skill where students will study independently from an early age and develop both a high level of academic ability and the ability to learn independently. As a result, all children who grow up with Kumon will enter the workforce with ability to think of solution by themselves even when they faced challenges and difficulties.

Finally, Kumon method is a learning method that pursues the potential of each individual student and develops his/her ability to the maximum. In order to be aligned with national school system, Kumon Malaysia has decided to change the Advanced Student Forum (ASF) qualification timeline for this year. With effect from January 2018, we are moving our ASF qualification timeline from June to December.

The qualification tables are as below: Mathematics School Grade

PK2

PK1

K

P1

P2

P3

P4

P5

P6

S1

S2

S3

Qualifying Level C200 D200 E200 F200 G200 H200 I200 J200 K200 L200 M200 N200

English School Grade

PK2

PK1

K

P1

P2

P3

P4

P5

P6

S1

Qualifying Level CII200 DII200 EII200 FII200 GII200 HII200 III200 J200 K200 L200

Chinese School Grade

PK2

PK1

K

P1

P2

P3

P4

Qualifying Level CII200 DII200 EII200 FII200 GII200 HII200 III200

We hope more parents will keep on supporting their children fully by giving words of encouragement and be there with the kids through their ups and downs. Hopefully, with the implementation of this new timeline, students will feel more motivated and always look forward to be more than what they already achieved.

10

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

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.

VI02.MY.03.0618

Handmade materials created

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

Toru Kumon (Founder of the Kumon Method)