At Kumon we are dedicated to fully pursuing the potential of each individual student. Kumon Instructors provide just enough guidance for students to be able to do the exercises on their own. As a result, students learn that they can do anything if they try, build self-esteem, and develop the ability to take on new challenges for themselves.
At Kumon we believe that the most beneficial thing we can do for children is to furnish them with the ability to advance to high school level content through self-learning as early as possible in life.
With the Kumon Method, students study independently from an early age and develop both an advanced academic ability and self-learning ability. In this way, when children enter society, they will be able to think independently, solve problems and achieve their dreams and goals without relying on others, even when they face difficult problems.
When first developing the Kumon Method, its founder, Toru Kumon theorized that as long as his son was able to do math easily in high school, he would have plenty of time to spend on whatever other pursuits he was interested in. So he thought about what he could do at home to help his son gain proficiency in high school math.
With the aim of helping his son gain independence, Toru Kumon prepared his own worksheets and study method. He wrote out calculation problems on loose-leaf worksheets and combined them with a self-learning method that would enable his son to advance by himself.
In effect what Toru Kumon did was to create the prototype for Kumon Method. He had laid the foundation for Kumon’s individualized approach that enables each student to learn in accordance with his or her academic ability, and for Kumon’s pursuit of potential; both of which we continue to place the utmost importance on.
With the Kumon Method, students learn by doing the worksheets independently without being taught.
Learning from what they can easily do, regardless of age or school year, leads to “I did it myself! “I got a 100!” “I had fun learning! “I want to keep learning new things!” This kind of joy makes learning fun and provides a solid foundation for children to build on their own strengths in the future.
The “just-right” level of study is the optimum level for each student to develop academic and self-learning ability. It can be a comfortable level or a challenging one, depending on what is best for each student at different stages in their Kumon studies. What remains constant, however, is that it must always be a level at which students can repeatedly experience a sense of accomplishment and progress on their own without being taught. Keeping this in mind, Kumon Instructors continually challenge students to grow by gradually increasing the level of difficulty of the worksheets they assign, while taking into account increases in each student’s level of academic ability.
When studying at the “just-right” level, students are provided with a suitable amount of mental stimulus, just as they would have to attempt appropriate physical tasks in order to build a strong body. Through continued study at this level students gain self-confidence and an understanding that they can do something if they give it try, which enables them to build up an advanced academic ability.
When studying at the “just-right” level, students think and complete the exercises for themselves. When they get stuck, they look at the hints and examples incorporated in the worksheets and figure out themselves. In this way, continued study at the “just-right” level fosters the ability to learn on their own, or as we say at Kumon, “self-learning.”
Students then use that self-learning ability to advance independently beyond their school grade level to higher levels and more difficult exercises.
Thus Kumon study makes it possible for students to advance to high school level worksheets at an early age.
We at Kumon believe in the vast potential of our students and want to further develop each student’s ability. Born out of the bond between a parent and child, the Kumon Method of learning faithfully carries on the thinking and ideas of its founder Toru Kumon. At the same time, we constantly strive for something better by continuing to develop our worksheets and instruction method. And today, this learning method continues to go beyond the borders of countries, race, culture, and traditions, to reach more and more countries and regions throughout the world.
The following four strengths enable Kumon to achieve all of the above.
