Motivating your children over summer

Young children are naturally curious; they love to explore and discover. If their exploration brings pleasure or success, they want to learn more. During these early years, your support and guidance can foster in your child a positive attitude towards learning that lasts a lifetime.

As Kumon is primarily a home-based method of study, knowing how to develop your child’s attitude towards learning is key. To assist you, the following tips are adapted from an article titled Motivating Learning in Young Children by Martha Carlton, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at Southern Illinois University, and the findings from Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University.

1. Establish the reasons for study

Children may believe they are doing Kumon for their parents, or for a reward. While this belief may have short-term benefits, it does not provide a healthy approach towards future learning. Ideally, a child will want to learn due to self-motivation. Self-motivated children are more likely to learn and retain information. One step towards nurturing self-motivation is to help the child understand that Kumon is for them; it will help make their school work easier and assists them in achieving future goals.

2. Strategies for self-motivation

To encourage your child’s self-motivation, try the following strategies:

• Avoid use of excessive rewards. These provide the child with extrinsic motivation.
• Praise your child based on their persistence and effort, as opposed to their talent or skill. For example, say, ‘Wow, that’s a good score. You must have worked really hard’. This will help your child develop a mindset where they understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort and persistence.
• Rather than stating that you think they have done a good job, ask your child what they think of their work.
• Encourage your child to see mistakes as learning opportunities.

3. Motivation cycles

As your child progresses, Kumon will extend your child with advanced problems beyond their comfort zone. Even the most motivated students occasionally find their work difficult or are be reluctant to study. During these times, remind your child how much they have improved, and acknowledge the effort they have put into their studies.

4. Supporting your child

For many children, the motivation to learn with Kumon is not instant, as it can take time to see and feel the benefits for themselves. A child may notice the benefits within a few weeks, while some may take more than a year. Supporting your child as they are developing self-motivation may include setting aside a Kumon time and place at home, showing interest in what they are doing, and encouraging their efforts.

If you would like any further advice on how you may be able to further support your child at home, please contact your Kumon centre.

Kumon to continue partnership with Little Athletics NSW in 2023

As both students and athletes understand the importance of persistence, practice and hard work in order to achieve results, Kumon Australia and New Zealand is proud to continue its support of Little Athletics NSW throughout 2023.

This ongoing partnership means that Kumon will sponsor the 2023 Kumon State Combined Carnival in Dubbo, NSW, on Saturday 4 March and Sunday 5 March, and the LANSW Coach of the Year Award. Kumon will also support various local Little Athletics NSW events throughout 2022.

“We welcome the continuation of our partnership with Little Athletics NSW for a third year”, said Steven Sou, Division Leader of Kumon NSW. “We are confident this will help even more young children grow into confident, well-rounded adults who thrive both inside and outside the classroom.”

Should you wish to learn more about this partnership, contact Kumon via our enquiry form.

Kumon to continue partnership with Athletics West

Kumon Australia and New Zealand is proud to extend our partnership with Athletics West throughout 2023.

After a successful first year, the renewed partnership will mean Kumon continues to support little athletes to excel – both in and out of the classroom.

“Kumon’s mission is to understand the potential of each student and develop their ability to the maximum,” says Joanne Adam, Division Leader of Kumon Western Australia. “Therefore, we are thrilled continue to supporting an organisation like Athletics West that shares our passion for helping young people to be the best they can be”.

Vince Del Prete, CEO of Athletics West, says he is excited to continue working with an organisation of similar values.

“The last 12 months have seen our community embrace Kumon’s programs and helped ensure our community is well supported on the track and in the classroom”, he says.

“[Kumon’s] philosophy around discipline and learning aligns with our mission, and I know the Athletics West community will once again get behind this fantastic partnership”.

Should you wish to learn more about the renewed partnership, contact Kumon via our enquiry form.

Kumon’s benefits go beyond school for Hrishikesh

Hrishikesh with his third-place parliamentary speech prize.

Through completing both the Kumon Mathematics and English programmes, 13-year-old Hrishikesh has gained a wide range of skills that will benefit him throughout university and later life.

Hrishikesh, who is in Year 8 at school, has the mental calculation and reading ability of a Year 12 student, along with strong organisational skills and confidence in his own ability. This has given Hrishikesh the confidence to participate in a wide-range of extracurricular activities, such as Victoria’s Parliamentary Speech Competition, where year 5 to 12 students deliver a 90-second statement about issues important to their community.

Hrishikesh achieved a third-place prize in this competition.

“My humanities teacher at school suggested the parliamentary prize because she wanted to understand what we thought was important”, he explains. “So, I argued as to why teachers should be paid more. I chose this issue because my mum is also a teacher and I have firsthand experience from her.”

Hrishikesh also says that his completion of the Kumon English programme was of great benefit to him in the competition.

“My vocabulary greatly improved from Kumon English”, Hrishikesh says. “I was able to implement that during the speech. The never-give-up attitude and approach of taking on new challenges definitely helped me out as well”.

Hrishikesh also recently achieved entry into the academically-selective Nossal State High School. His mother, Dhanya, says that Kumon’s focus on speed and accuracy allowed him to ace the test.

“Your child will become an advanced learner through Kumon. It’ll improve their speed and accuracy in maths, enhance their reading horizon and improve their vocabulary,” Dhanya says.

Hrishikesh aims to become a mathematician or physicist when he grows up. He believes that his completion of the Kumon Mathematics programme will help him greatly too.

Kumon students Jasmine and Orchid are ready to carve their own path in life

Sisters and Kumon programme completers, Jasmine (right) and Orchid (left), with their medals and plaques.

Through dedicated study of the Kumon Mathematics and English programmes, sisters 16-year-old Jasmine and 14-year-old Orchid are strong self-learners who have developed confidence, a daily study habit, and a high level of mathematics and reading ability.

Jasmine, a Kumon Mathematics and English programme completer, attributes her love of reading to her study of Kumon English. Jasmine was enrolled in Kumon English in kindergarten and completed the programme by the end of primary school.

“Kumon English exposed me to such a wide range of literature, because you analyse so many types of literature from different time periods”, Jasmine says. “It fostered my love for reading and I’ve been much more confident in tackling more advanced literature.”

Kumon English builds a high level of reading comprehension ability. To inspire students to read widely, the worksheets contain more extracts from published texts than any other reading programme in the world. Jasmine’s favourite passages in Kumon English include excerpts from Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and the poetry extracts contained throughout the worksheets.

Jasmine, who will enter Year 12 next year, also says that completing Kumon English in primary school had a direct and positive impact on her high schooling.

“I take many humanities subjects in school, which are content-heavy”, she says. “The comprehension and summarisation skills I learnt in Kumon English have helped to synthesise information a lot quicker and learn better in the classroom.”

Jasmine has a deep interest in politics and advocacy, and is aiming to pursue a career in this area once she graduates high school. She’s already started by being a member of her local council’s youth committee, amongst other organisations. Jasmine says her exposure to books and reading at young fuelled her passion for politics.

“It made me much more goal-oriented and driven, because I was looking at all these figures in history, and I was like, ‘Wow, those are really cool people.’ I want to be those people one day”, she says.

While Jasmine mostly enjoyed her study of Kumon English, she had to persevere to complete Kumon Mathematics. However, she does not regret sticking it out.

“Maths was never really my strong suit and I often didn’t pass the tests on the first try”, Jasmine says. “While it was something I struggled with, the good thing about that is it taught me perseverance, grit and patience. It taught me the idea that what matters most is to put in your best effort. This helped me to make a habit of learning from my mistakes, and producing high quality work.”

Orchid, in Year 9, is also an English programme completer, and is studying advanced differentiation and differential equations in the final level of Kumon Mathematics. These are concepts usually not encountered until university.

Orchid aims to hopes to pursue a career in biochemistry, and believes the strong maths skills and independence that she developed in Kumon will help her in later life.

“Kumon really teaches you to be independent and be able to learn by yourself, because it isn’t the stereotypical tutoring centre where you sit in a classroom and are taught by the teacher,” Orchid says. “You have to use the examples in the worksheet to find the answers.”

“I feel like in biochemistry there’s a lot of new things that can be discovered. This is definitely something that draws me to the subject. To make these discoveries, I’ll have to be able to learn independently.”

The Kumon Mathematics and English programmes develop the skill of self-learning in students. When Kumon 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. Kumon students come to expect the challenge of something new, and gain satisfaction in working it out for themselves. They develop a mindset that no problem is too difficult to attempt.

Jesse, Orchid and Jasmine’s father, says the development of self-learning is this most significant advantage of the Kumon programmes.

“Self-learning is a very special, unique advantage of Kumon”, Jesse explains. “Basically, the Kumon programmes help them build the confidence and habits for self-learning. It gives them the way of how to learn something new by their own efforts.”

“Jasmine and Orchid, they both have a lot of interests outside of class and school, and they apply these skills of self-learning towards these areas. And I think they now have more freedom in learning anything that they are interested in.”

“That will be the greatest gift that Kumon has given for their later life.”

Kumon Mathematics and English coming soon to Butler, WA

Kumon will soon open in Butler, WA, to help all children in the local area develop their mathematics and reading ability.

Kumon Butler Education Centre is led by Sharon Pajares, a veterinarian who changed careers so she could develop students’ potential through the Kumon Mathematics and English programmes.

“Kumon is a well-known global brand that helps young children”, Sharon says. “I chose to become a Kumon Instructor and establish a new centre, because I want to help and be a part of a young student’s journey to improve their abilities and do well in school.”

“Through Kumon, students will develop self-discipline, learn to be independent, be able to study advance levels through self-learning, and build work skills that are essential for the real world.”

Kumon Butler is located at 240 Butler Boulevard, Butler WA 6036. The centre is open from 3pm to 6pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on Saturdays from 9am to 12pm. Sharon says she looks forward to seeing more and more students in the centre.

“I want my students to have a safe learning environment where students study at their ‘just-right’ level, learn to study independently, have good study habits, self-discipline, a love for learning, study advance materials, and develop confidence in solving any problems that they will face”, she says.

To learn more about Kumon Butler, please contact the centre directly: https://www.kumonsearch.com.au/Centre/KUMON-BUTLER-WA#info

Audrey builds strong study habits with Kumon Mathematics

Audrey studying equations in her Kumon Mathematics worksheets.

Despite only being in Year 2, eight-year-old Audrey comfortably solves equations in her Kumon Mathematics worksheets.

Audrey, who studies the Kumon Mathematics programme more than five years ahead of her school grade level, says that Kumon helps her in many ways.

“When I’m at school and there are hard problems, I can easily solve them because I’ve done them in Kumon”, Audrey says. “When I’m at home, it helps me teach my sisters maths too. The maths books I do at home are also fun”.

Jeorge, Audrey’s father, says in addition to developing his daughter’s maths ability, Kumon has helped Audrey to become more independent and build strong study habits.

“I don’t have to remind her about doing her schoolwork together with the Kumon books”, Jeorge says. “She’s gotten into a habit of studying before doing the rest of her play. I think the homework from Kumon really helps her go into that habit of studying first and then playing later on”.

Audrey says she would like to become an artist when she grows up. Jeorge says that no matter what his daughter chooses to pursue later in life, that Kumon will be of lifelong benefit.

“Kumon sets children up for future learning because they’re not afraid to study”, Jeorge says. “This makes it easier with other subjects as well, because it puts them into that habit of studying for what they want to do, whether it’s in school or elsewhere.”

A brand-new venue for Kumon Ellenbrook Education Centre

Lade Lawal, Instructor of Kumon Ellenbrook Education Centre

Kumon Ellenbrook Education Centre has moved into a brand-new venue, to help even more students grow their skills in mathematics and English.

Formerly known as Kumon Aveley Education Centre, Kumon Ellenbrook is now located at Ellenbrook Central shopping centre, 11 Main Street, Ellenbrook, WA 6069.

Lade Lawal, Instructor of Kumon Ellenbrook, says the move will benefit her current students and allow even more new students to experience the benefits of Kumon.

“I outgrew my former venue at a local community centre, and have always wanted a professional space to work with my Kumon families”, Lade says. “By having all the resources at my fingertips, I can provide individualised instruction even better than before and adjust students’ progress based on their changing ability with ease.”

“This will allow my students to advance to their current goals even quicker and achieve new goals.”

To learn more about Kumon Ellenbrook and the new venue, please contact the centre directly: https://www.kumonsearch.com.au/Centre/KUMON-ELLENBROOK-WA#info

New edition of ‘Potential’ magazine out now!

In our second edition of Potential for 2022, we focus on the contributions that our students will make towards their communities. We hope you enjoy reading.

Trial Kumon English or Maths as a second subject, obligation free, in August 2022

With Kumon’s second-subject Free Trial in August, students currently enrolled in either Kumon Mathematics or English can trial the other subject for two weeks, for free.

Students who study both Kumon Mathematics and English:

• learn the fundamentals of both maths and English — the foundations for success in all subjects at school
• further strengthen study habits and concentration
• have a greater sense of achievement and motivation.

To register for our second-subject Free Trial in August, follow these four easy steps:

1. Contact your Kumon Instructor to register your interest
2. Discuss your child’s second-subject assessment and study plan with your Instructor
3. Have your child study the second subject during the month of August
4. Meet with your Instructor to discuss your child’s experience studying the second subject.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

• The registration deadline for the Free Trial varies across centres
• Places are limited and acceptance for the Free Trial is on a first-come, first-served basis
• The Free Trial consists of worksheet study over two weeks during August
• Late registration may result in a shorter Free Trial
• Operating procedures at each centre will vary
• The Free Trial is available for one subject only (either English or Mathematics).
• Offer not available at all centres
• There is no obligation to enrol after the Free Trial
• Kumon centres will always comply with the relevant COVID-19 guidelines and requirements relevant for each state and territory. Physical distancing and health and safety practices are in place at all centres.

To find your Kumon centre’s contact details, visit: https://www.kumonsearch.com.au/