Kumon partners with Basketball Victoria

Kumon Australia and New Zealand is proud to announce a new partnership with Basketball Victoria to help young people realise their potential.

Throughout this partnership, Kumon will have naming rights to the Kumon Country Metro Challenge and Kumon Classic tournaments.

The Kumon Country Metro Challenge, held in January 2022, is a brand-new all-Victorian tournament to give young athletes a chance to hone their skills and develop within the Victorian High Performance pathway as part of elite preparation for Australian Junior Championships.

The Kumon Classic is held on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June each year, and the 2022-event will be the first after a two-year hiatus due to lockdowns and border closures. The elite tournament features 128 of Australia’s best junior basketball teams across Under-12, Under-14, Under-16, and Under-18 boys and girls age groups, and is a highlight on the Australian basketball calendar.

Scott Quilty, Division Leader of Kumon Victoria, says this partnership will help Kumon connect with local families while supporting the work of Basketball Victoria.

“We are proud to support an organisation like Basketball Victoria that shares our passion for helping young people to reach their potential”, he says.

“Kumon provides children with strong skills in mathematics and English, and the confidence to excel academically. We see this partnership as a way for both of our organisations to help children grow into confident, well-rounded adults”.

Nick Honey, CEO of Basketball Victoria, says this partnership demonstrates both organisations’ commitment to children’s development.

“Kumon and Basketball Victoria know just how important it is to give high-level opportunities for young people to develop”, Honey says.

“Our organisations both encourage children and teenagers to find ways to succeed and thrive – whether it’s on the basketball court, in the classroom, or on the way to joining the professional workplace”.

To learn more about the partnership, please contact Kumon via our enquiry form: https://au.kumonglobal.com/contact-us/general-enquiry/

Top tips for supporting your children’s Kumon study over summer

While summer is a time to recharge and catch-up with friends and family, children can get the rest they need and continue small amounts of progress each day in their Kumon worksheets. Many Kumon students balance both priorities, returning to school revitalised and ready for a new year of learning.

As such, below are some tips for you on helping your children this summer.

1. 1. 1. Help your child set a goal for what they would like to learn. This could be reaching a particular level in the programme, achieving a certain completion time, or simply reviewing what they’ve learnt over the previous year. Setting a goal together helps parents and students to have a clear reason for continuing some Kumon study over the summer break.
      2. Allocate ‘Kumon time’ each day. This can be around 20 minutes a day, depending on the worksheets your child has been assigned. Many families find that the morning is best for ‘Kumon time’ as this leaves the rest of the day free. Though, of course, the exact timing of ‘Kumon time’ is up to each family to decide.
      3. Discuss your summer plans with your Kumon Instructor. Your Instructor can support your child to achieve their learning goals. This is especially important if you’re going away on holidays, in order to allow adjustments to be made to your child’s study projection and to make arrangements for when you return.
      4. Take advantage of the Home Study Portal. This portal is the perfect tool for Kumon parents and students who need some extra help over summer. It contains helpful videos and guides to help your family navigate the programme. However, please don’t hesitate to contact your Kumon Instructor if you encounter some tricky questions – they are there to help!

Kumon Virtual Advanced Student Forums 2021: For a bright future

Each year in November, Kumon Australia and New Zealand hosts a series of Advanced Student Forums to celebrate our highest achieving students.

In 2021, to ensure safety and comply with health regulations, we will host our Advanced Student Forum events online for the second time, this year under the theme of, ‘For a bright future’.

Students invited to the 2021 Kumon Virtual Advanced Student Forums have displayed the tenacity and determination to study Kumon Mathematics or English at a level at least five years ahead of their school grade, or have completed the Kumon programme.

Our events for New Zealand, Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia will occur on 21 November. The events for New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland will take place on 28 November. Invitations have been emailed to all awardees.

At these events, Kumon’s awardees will hear from a special guest speaker and be awarded for their achievements. Our awardees will also submit videos telling us about their hopes, dreams and ambitions for the future. Some of these will be featured at the events and on the Kumon Australia and New Zealand Facebook page.

We offer a massive congratulations to all our awardees for their achievements in Kumon, and thank families for their support and dedication. We look forward to seeing you at the 2021 Kumon Virtual Advanced Student Forums.

To learn more about the Kumon Virtual Advanced Student Forum events, please contact us via this form.

Daily study with Kumon helps Eva to reach her goals

The strong study routine that nine-year-old Eva has established through Kumon Mathematics and English is helping her to excel in school and achieve her goal of becoming a doctor.

Eva, studying her Kumon worksheets at home.

Eva, who is in Year 4 at school, studies both the Kumon Mathematics and English programmes at a level that is three years ahead of her school grade. Eva says that advanced study helps her greatly in school.

“Being three years ahead of my school grade makes schoolwork and homework much easier”, Eva says.

“It also prepares me for later year levels, meaning that when the time comes, I should be able to recollect the things that I have learned and understand the concepts quicker”.

Eva also says she believes what she’s learning now in Kumon will help her in later school exams and afterwards, when she studies to become a doctor.

“It’s probably going to be much easier for me to understand new concepts when I’m older, because of Kumon”, she says.

Goran, Eva’s father, says he believes that Kumon helped Eva to build a strong study routine, something that will help her both now and in later life.

“With Kumon you have one hour every single day, more or less, to sit and do your maths and English worksheets”, Goran says. “So, when you get older, already having that learning habit helps you when you have to sit down and study something else”.

“The greatest thing about Kumon is that it develops that learning habit”.

Goran also says Kumon provides structure to parents who want to be actively involved with their children’s learning.

“I may want to teach my son or my daughter something, but I’m not a teacher”, Goran says. “So, when I have a Kumon worksheet in front of me that I understand fully, I’ll sit with my children and spend the time to help them. Kumon’s materials give you good instructions to help you as a parent with this”.

Eva’s older brother, Damien, also completed the Kumon Mathematics and English programmes, and is using the skills he learnt at Kumon to study for his final high school exams.

To learn more about how Kumon Mathematics and English can help your child to build strong study habits, visit: https://www.kumonsearch.com.au/ (AU) or https://www.kumonsearch.co.nz/ (NZ)

Nine-year-old Ayson tackles calculus

Ayson hasn’t even finished primary school yet, but he can comfortably tackle calculus concepts that Year 12 students would find difficult.

Ayson, who is nine years old and in Year 4 at primary school, completed the Kumon Mathematics programme in September 2021 after studying it for more than three years. While completing the final levels of Kumon Mathematics this year, Ayson said he studied calculus concepts such as differentiation, anti-differentiation and integrals.

And beyond mathematics, Kumon helped Ayson to become more independent, because the worksheets are structured to develop self-learning.

“In Kumon, if you don’t know something in a question, you can look back at the formulas that were in the examples at the front, so you can get a much better understanding”, Ayson says. “This has helped me to become more independent in my learning”.

Being an advanced student has also helped Ayson to grow in confidence at school.

“Kumon helps you solve more complex questions. This helps you when in school because you have more confidence through knowing that you can solve a problem”, Ayson says.

Ayson hopes to become a doctor or engineer when he grows up.

Kumon helps Hugh build a lifelong passion for mathematics

Hugh, computer science student at the Univesity of Adelaide and Kumon Mathematics and English programme completer.

Hugh, who now studies computer science at the University of Adelaide, believes he would not have had a passion for mathematics if he did not enrol with Kumon when he was younger.

Hugh, 18 years old, studied Kumon Mathematics and English throughout primary school and completed both programmes in early high school. He says Kumon has had a profound influence on his life.

“Kumon made me passionate about maths”, Hugh explains. “I started not really liking mathematics, but Kumon gave me an insight into different mathematical techniques and that fueled me throughout high school to pursue a lot of subjects involving maths”.

“I did chemistry and physics in the International Baccalaureate diploma, and I went on to use maths in university. If it weren’t for Kumon, I probably wouldn’t have had that passion for mathematics”.

The Kumon English programme also turned Hugh from a reluctant to avid reader, he says.

“I tended to get bored with texts; I never liked tragedies, never liked plays”, Hugh says. “Archaic language was always boring and I found that immensely challenging to read. But after being exposed to that slowly in Kumon, I started to enjoy it. Now even in my spare time, I read. I like to read and I aim to read a book a week”.

“Kumon helped me overcome the challenge of encountering topics I don’t like. I’m able to become a more well-rounded individual by doing things that challenge me”.

Hugh hopes to complete his degree and pursue a career path that involves computing and mathematics.

Sam’s daughter flips her performance in mathematics

Zoe started Kumon Mathematics after falling behind because of missed schooling due to a childhood illness. But now, with the support of her local Kumon centre, Zoe is ahead of her class.

Zoe, who is in Year 5 at school, studies the Kumon Mathematics programme one year ahead of her school grade level. Her mother Sam explains that this is a complete turnaround, with Zoe’s maths skills and confidence boosted significantly.

“When Zoe first started Kumon two years ago, she was really behind with her maths. Now she’s actually beating the Year 6 students, all of them, in times tables, so that’s purely through Kumon”, Sam says.

“Zoe’s teacher has also told us how impressed she is with Zoe’s maths skills, but more than that is the confidence she brings to the classroom when she has a maths class. She really loves it. She looks forward to it”.

Sam says that the daily routine of completing Kumon worksheets improved Zoe’s attitude towards homework.

“Zoe’s attitude to homework has improved a lot thanks to Kumon”, Sam says. “The daily practise of Kumon has been really helpful. She understands that doing a little bit every day builds on her confidence, her skills, and it reinforces the learning”.

Kumon’s individualised approach to learning also helped Zoe to enjoy mathematics and other areas of learning, Sam says.

“No matter what stage she’s at, no matter what the concepts, it’s always tailor-made. I think that really helps children enjoy Kumon”, Sam says. “It makes it challenging for them in a way that they feel like they want to keep going”.

To learn more about how Kumon Mathematics and English could help your child, contact your nearest centre: https://www.kumonsearch.com.au/

Australian Kumon centre operations throughout COVID-19

Dear Kumon Students and Families,

The health and welfare of all students, parents and staff continues to be a priority at Kumon.

We will continue to monitor the advice from health authorities and governments, and review our position as needed.

For families looking to enrol, we encourage you to contact a Kumon centre near to your suburb. To locate your nearest Kumon centre, please visit: www.kumonsearch.com.au. Procedures at each Kumon centre will vary.

We look forward to welcoming you to Kumon and supporting your child on their learning journey.

Nicole sees big improvements during her daughter’s first year of Kumon

While Kumon is primarily a long-term study programme, it can lead to big improvements within the first year of enrolment.

Sydney mum, Nicole, saw dramatic improvement in her daughter Jacinta’s confidence and calculation ability after six months of enrolment with Kumon Mathematics. This was even to the point where Jacinta comfortably studied Kumon Mathematics one year ahead of her school grade level.

“What we’ve noticed already by being at Kumon is her confidence in the classroom. Her school has two classrooms for maths, and she’s moved up to the top classroom now, so that’s given her so much confidence and I’d like to keep that going”, Nicole says.

Nicole believes Kumon’s individualised approach to learning and the daily study habit it instils in students are key factors contributing to Jacinta’s rapid progress.

“I have noticed that if a student is struggling on something, they’ll get more repetition on that particular topic until such a time when they are comfortable they know it. Then, they’ll move on to the next segment”, Nicole says.

“So, every child will dictate the speed at which they go through Kumon.”

The first year of Kumon study builds each student’s ability to develop self-learning; the ability to take in information, process, retain and understand it, without having to rely on being taught every new topic or concept. Confidence, a daily study habit, individualised learning and proficiency in the fundamentals in mathematics and English, are the foundations that underpin self-learning.

Our latest edition of Potential magazine is dedicated to students’ first years of Kumon and the development of self-learning. Visit this link to read the magazine: https://au.kumonglobal.com/news/potential-magazine/

Australian Kumon student wins second consecutive gold medal in SEAMO

For 11-year-old Gavin Dissanayake, Kumon provided him with the study skills and fundamental mathematics and English ability to excel in the NSW selective school entrance examination and win his second consecutive gold medal at the Southeast Asian Mathematical Olympiad.

Gavin outside James Ruse Agricultural High School.

In addition to almost topping the selective examination, Gavin achieved 100 percent in the mathematics and English components of the test. This meant he had more than enough marks to achieve entry into the highly selective James Ruse Agricultural High School.

Gavin says his prior study of the Kumon Mathematics and English programmes were invaluable to his preparation for this examination.

“The maths exam was very easy because I’d progressed so far in Kumon,” Gavin says. “For reading, because Kumon English builds comprehension, that was very helpful as well.”

Gavin was also the only Australian student to win a gold medal in SEAMO Paper C this year, an international mathematics competition with over 50,000 students from 22 countries participating. He says Kumon Mathematics helped him here too.

“SEAMO has some advanced topics, but Kumon has much more advanced stuff,” Gavin says. “And the skills involved in Kumon, like self-learning, were very useful. There was also plenty of time left in SEAMO and the selective exam because of the time management skills I developed through Kumon.”

Gavin currently studies Kumon Mathematics more than five years ahead of his school grade. He is currently studying calculus, which is covered in the highest levels of Kumon Mathematics. Gavin studies Kumon English more than three years ahead of his school grade. Vimasha, his mother, says she enrolled him into Kumon in pre-primary to provide him with a head start in his learning.

She believes that Gavin’s Kumon will be of lifelong benefit for him.

“Kumon is about being self-sufficient, learning something quickly and having perseverance; not giving up just because you’ve faced challenges,” Vimasha says.

“You just keep trying until you reach your goal. I will say that the Kumon Method is definitely going to help him in future, well beyond his high school.”

*Gavin is the child of a current Kumon Instructor