Kumon MVP
We are extremely proud to announce that Leilah L. has been inducted into Kumon of Leawood Success Stories. She has had an extraordinary career with us here, batting near 100% on her daily homework completion rates, focusing on each and every question during her classwork, and with unbroken concentration, working straight through class. Over the summer, she has attended class non-stop, because like spring training for the Royals, she wants to be ready when her academic season starts this fall.
Every Success Story starts off differently, and for Leilah this is true also. When Leilah took a placement test during the orientation, we noticed she could make great strides with her endurance and that this would help with concentration and academic attainment down the road. As always, we chose to help her focus on the one thing that by achieving it, all other goals would be easier to attain. Providing a tailor-made curriculum and learning approach is one of the most exciting things that we do when parents come in with their children during orientations.
So we decided to take things slow at first and build some momentum to start. Month after month, we gradually increased Leilah's workload. Her confidence increased and we noticed that she was able to focus for longer and longer periods at the center, completing more complicated work and also more of it! We were so pleased when Leilah was starting to notice her progress. Her intrinsic motivation was starting to grow!
After celebrating her first year of enrollment last spring, Leilah has continued to make gains and has started to enjoy reading. Such a success cannot be underestimated. If a student enjoys reading, they will read in their spare time and that is the essence of what we do here. We help students find their motivation and give them a specialized learning plan. Practice makes breakthroughs and practice also makes opportunities! Leilah is a great example to our other students because she reminds us all that practice also makes motivation. We like what we are good at.
Please congratulate our latest inductee! She received a landslide vote and the best things are yet to come from our Kumon MVP!
Liam
Liam is 9-years-old, studying above his grade level at Kumon of Leawood. When he started his Kumon journey 3 years ago, his parents wanted him to develop a solid foundation in reading. He started off working with sight words and phonics and has made steady progress ever since. Liam's work ethic and patience during the learning process are among many great qualities he possesses which make him a great example of a self-learner.
After Liam succeeded with the reading program and started material above his grade level, his parents enrolled him in math. His math has improved rapidly because he has acquired study skills that have carried over from his Kumon reading experience. His work skills, learning attitude, and study approach are excellent.
When faced with a new challenge, be it a math problem or a tricky text, it's easy to get a little frustrated when the answer doesn't come quickly. Liam doesn't get frustrated when he encounters a challenging question. It is during these moments that he shines! While he is never afraid to ask a question when he has one, it is plain to see how he tries his best to figure out things on his own during the learning process because he knows the answer is never beyond his reach! Liam also has a great attitude and listens to teacher feedback really well. He adopts an open mindset, recognizing mistakes as learning opportunities. As an amazing self-learner, when Liam encounters a new concept, he tries to look at and understand the example carefully and learn from the worksheets independently.
One of Liam's favorite hobbies is soccer. As you can tell from the picture, he has some great skills he has honed through hours of consistent and focused practice! Actually, many members or our Kumon family are talented in sports and have developed great time management skills that enable them to fulfill their academic and athletic goals. Whether your child loves music, sports, art or llama racing, Kumon will not only help sharpen math and reading skills, but also foster intrinsic motivation and boost confidence so that your child knows success is never beyond their grasp.
Florence's Math Renaissance
Before starting at Kumon of Leawood, Florence received average marks in math. When I asked Florence how she felt and how everything was going during her first one or two months with us, she said Kumon was not easy and that she felt tired. She wasn't accustomed to the workload and was still developing her endurance. As time went on though, things began to change: first with mindset and then, more tangibly, with academic results. I noticed she started to approach her work differently and with more enthusiasm. Then, after 3 months, she brought great news! She had received her first perfect score on a math quiz taken just a couple of hours earlier.
It wasn’t long after this milestone that Florence started scoring regularly at the top of her class during quizzes and tests, which gave her an extraordinary sense of pride. These days, I ask her the same question and she says she feels great and doesn't feel tired at all (with a big smile). She actually asks me for more homework, because she can see that the hard work is paying off!
Currently, Florence is working on math that is a year above her current grade level. Undoubtedly, there will be challenges and bumps in the road as she progresses through material that she won’t experience for semesters to come at school. However, because of the grit that she has forged from her experiences at Kumon of Leawood, Florence has demonstrated that she feels confident in meeting these challenges head on, drawing from her positive experiences and successes from when she had her first class.