You just have to try - and stay tuned!

Winston frantically pushed the KUMON entrance door wide open and stopped to catch his breath before walking through the waiting room. He picked up his study folder and sat down at the first available desk. “He always runs to the KUMON Centre,” his Instructor, Laurence, said with a smile. “He is always excited when it’s his turn to come to the Centre. He is not afraid of the challenges waiting for him and it reminds me of our promotional video, which shows students running to the Centre. What amazes me is that it really does happen at KUMON! It is fantastic to see.”

Winston is a happy, energetic, and talkative 5-year-old who originally enrolled in KUMON to learn English. His mum noticed a desire for self-learning when he tried to copy letters from books. However, due to his short attention span, it was a challenge to sit still and focus.

“I needed to set the right expectations for his parents,” said his Instructor. “Before anything else, we needed to help Winston learn how to concentrate.” To help him focus, Winston began with the math programme before continuing with English. In the beginning, he couldn’t complete 3 calculations in a row or write a single English word before his mind wandered off. He was constantly distracted and looking for attention. “Winston also didn’t want to do his homework and I was very close to giving up and pulling him out of KUMON,” said his mum, who turned to look at Laurence. “But thank you for helping us see the bigger plan and to wait patiently for the results to start showing.”

After a few weeks, he was able to finish a whole page by himself and even make self-corrections! “I did it, I did it! I completed the page,” exclaimed Winston from where he was sitting. Laurence glanced over towards Winston and continued, “I wanted to tell you about Winston because his eagerness is just astounding. He can now spend over 30 minutes completing his worksheets without losing focus.”

Because of this, Winston is able to fully benefit from what the KUMON methodology has to offer. “He completely changed his attitude towards learning,” said his mum.” Before, he used to come to me and ask, “mama, can you do it for me?” when problems became difficult for him to solve. Now he doesn’t give up so easily anymore. He is willing to figure it out himself. This is one of the reasons why KUMON is so great. He doesn’t say the words “I don’t know” anymore. He knows he is capable of finding the answer, he just needs time to work on it and figure it out himself.”

“I would like Winston to be able to learn on his own and have the right attitude for it. I think getting a good teacher is always a bit of luck, but if you can teach yourself, then you have complete control over your academic career,” said his mum.

His mum added, “I would like Winston to consistently be able to learn new material on his own and to continue developing a positive learning attitude. I think having a decent teacher in school is always good, but if you can teach yourself, then you have complete control over your academic journey.’’