Program Completer Wins 1st Place in Political Documentary
10th grader Katie P. completed the Kumon Math Program during the pandemic in May 2020, but that is not all she has accomplished! Read about her amazing drive and desire to participate and compete in state and national competitions while making an impact on public policies!
First Dual Completer at Kumon of Los Alamitos
Katie completed the Kumon Reading Program two years ago as a 6th grader and finished the Math Program in May 2020 as an 8th grader. Katie is the 1st dual completer at Kumon of Los Alamitos, accomplishing this during the pandemic! Read her story in the News Enterprise as she explains how Kumon has helped her be successful in school!
2019 Kumon Awards Ceremony
Our 2019 Awards Ceremony was one of the largest attendances with over 400 attendees, celebrating our students achieving honor roll, G by 4, J by 6, and 8 program completers!
Read more about our Kumon graduates and accomplished students!
Kumon Los Alamitos Student Award Ceremony May 2018
Mayor Edgar and Councilwoman Shelley Hasselbrink presented special achievement awards to our G4 (Level G - Algebra I by 4th grade) and J6 students (Level J - Algrebra II by 6th grade).
Sunjay receiving his Kumon Reading Program Completion Award by 7th grade
Sunjay is a dual subject student and has achieved both G by 5 awards previously. Through goal setting meetings, he initiated and planned to complete the Reading Program by 7th grade. His current goal is to now complete the math program before high school.
A Family of G by 5 Achievers
Gavin, Gwyneth and Elise have all made Kumon a priority as a family despite having a busy extracurricular schedule. All three have achieved Algebra Level G by 5th grade and received awards. Gwyneth is a reading program completer and Elise is now working on the next award of Level J by 6th grade!
Ryan receiving J200 award in his 5th grade year
Pictured here is Ryan receiving his J200 in Reading by 5th grade (Aug 2015). He is due to receive his J by 6 (J level by 6th grade) in math recognition in early 2016. In addition, he received both Math and Reading G by 5 stars and is very proud of his accomplishments. Kumon helped him set a record in the 5 minute math quiz in his 4th grade class at 1 minute and 43 seconds! In his free time, Ryan attends Chinese language class, plays piano, golf and Minecraft. He also enjoys increasing his speed in solving the Rubik's Cube. His goals are to complete both the math and the reading programs.
Cooper receiving G by 5 Star in Aug 2013
Cooper is a science kid. He loves nature, bugs, reptiles, anything non-fiction he can get his hands on to read. In fact, he will read about the weather before he’ll read most fiction. He loves animals, soccer and the Discovery channel. However, no matter how often we tried to get him to see the importance of math as a scientist, he didn’t buy it.
At the end of his 3rd grade year, Cooper was recommended by his teacher for an 8-week, after-school math intervention. We knew he was struggling, but had no idea that he needed “intervention.” That talk with his teacher happened in April 2011. In June, my husband and I walked into Kumon, looking for a quick fix over summer. Naomi explained to me the Kumon philosophy: daily practice, a long-term commitment, and skill mastery. We signed up; we had nothing to lose. In March 2012, only nine short months later, Cooper walked into the house and announced to us that he was the only student in his class to pass the next math “level” in his class ... and that he’d been placed in the top math group. He was so proud. He is a boy of very few words, but we could see it on his face and in his smile. And that smile of his was something we never used to see when math was the topic of discussion.
Fast forward two years. It’s the summer of 2013, and Cooper was at a summer writing camp. The topic of the day was "style" in writing. The campers were introduced to the concept, a nebulous one for young writers, by comparing writing style to the campers' style when doing an activity in which they excel. As campers around the room shared their strengths and activities - basketball, soccer, violin, swimming - Cooper shared that he was good at math. Yes, math, of all things!
Even though his math journey hasn't been easy the past two years, we made a family decision to stick with the Kumon program, and we have discovered its power. Through its teachings, consistency, incentives, and scaffolding, Kumon has created in this young boy a confidence we believe couldn't have been achieved any other way. Turns out ... our job as parents isn’t to protect him from struggles, but to teach him he can persevere and overcome!
In August 2013, just two years and one month after starting Kumon, Cooper successfully earned his G by 5 star. He pushed hard the final months of summer to earn his star, and he did it. This achievement came with additional perks: a perfect score on the state STAR test, consistently high grades in elementary school math, and advanced math placement in his first year of junior high school.
We thank our local Kumon office and Naomi for helping inspire and change his academic math life. But more importantly, even though Cooper doesn’t know what he wants to be or what he wants to study after college, I can bet you that whatever it is he decides, he’ll never doubt he can do it.
Cathy
Sunjay reaches goal of G by 5 in both Math & Reading and receives President's Education Award
The picture shows Sunjay with both his ‘Readelite’ and ‘Mathlete’ G by 5 stars, and the Gold President’s Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence received at the end of 5th grade. He is very proud of his accomplishments and his parents say Kumon helped him immensely in doing so well in school. G by 5 Stars are given to enrolled Kumon students who start studying high school Alegbra before the end of their 5th grade year. Only 4% of students in the Los Angeles area achieve this, and only 6% of students in North America achieve this.
In his free time, Sunjay likes to build trucks and boats with Legos; watch shows with automobiles, boats, planes, etc.; swim; workout; and help his parents in the garden. As of now, he is leaning towards getting a degree in Engineering. His next goal is to complete both the Kumon Math and Reading programs at the Kumon of Los Alamitos.
Ryan reaching G by 5 in March 2013
In his free time, Ryan likes to play basketball, swim, Xbox 360, chess, piano and golf. He started attending Oak Middle School 2013-2014 school year and is proud to be a member of their talented jazz band as a keyboardist. However, his real passion is reading and he will pick up a book whenever the opportunity arises. He hopes to be financially successful in the medical field (unless he gets drafted in the NBA) through hard work and a great attitude. His next goal is to do well at Oak Middle School, Los Alamitos HS and eventually get into a great university. The discipline and training provided by Kumon has definitely been a factor in Ryan's success academically and in other aspects of his life. Thank you Mrs. Rockenmacher!
Rich & Sue
Mia receiving G by 5 Star in Aug 2013
G by 5 Stars are given to enrolled Kumon students who start studying high school Alegbra before the end of their 5th grade year. Only 4% of students in the Los Angeles area achieve this, and only 6% of students in North America achieve this.
Alena (6th grader) - youngest reading program completer at Los Alamitos June 2012
Alena is the youngest program completer at Los Alamitos. She started planning one year in advance to determine how many pages a day she would need to complete the program in order to meet her goal of completing all the levels by her 6th grade year. Completing the entire Kumon Reading Program includes 24 levels of work ranging from pre-reading and writing skills, paraphrasing and concision, to analyzing figurative language, and critiquing passages in works such as “Macbeth,” “Death of a Salesman,” and the poetry of T.S. Eliot. Alena completed thousands of worksheets and read classics from around the world during her Kumon study at the Kumon Math and Reading Center of Los Alamitos.
Yasmin - First Program Completer at Los Alamitos Kumon Center
Los Alamitos Ninth-Grader Completes Kumon Reading Program in April 2010
Yasmin, (at the time 14 yrs old), accomplished her goal of finishing the Kumon Reading Program before starting high school.
“I decided to set the goal of program completion because I noticed a correlation between Kumon and my schoolwork: the farther I went in Kumon, the better I was doing in school,” said Shokes, who planned to finish the Kumon Math Program before graduating from high school.
Completing the entire Kumon Reading Program includes 24 levels of work ranging from pre-reading and writing skills, paraphrasing and concision, to analyzing figurative language, and critiquing passages in works such as “Macbeth,” “Death of a Salesman,” and the poetry of T.S. Eliot. Shokes completed thousands of worksheets and read classics from around the world during her Kumon study at the Kumon Math and Reading Center of Los Alamitos.
“The benefits of the Kumon program are clear when I reflect on where I was when I began Kumon, and how much I have improved by the time I finished the reading program,” said Shokes.
In addition to Kumon, Yasmin was a member of Los Alamitos High School Girls Golf team, played the drums and was as a former competitive figure skater, she volunteered to assist beginning figure skaters preparing for tournaments.
Seth - Program Completer
Kumon’s Facebook Fan Page Student Success Story Profile
Seth, 17, not only fulfilled his goal of completing the Kumon Reading Program in a mere four years, he is also the first program completer at the Los Alamitos Kumon Center in California, where he studies with his Kumon Instructor and mom, Naomi.
“I am so proud of my son for persevering and completing the reading program; it was a special moment to me as both a mother and a Kumon Instructor,” said Naomi. “Seth completing the program has inspired other students in the center, and we now have two more reading program completers.”
When Seth was young, Naomi hoped to encourage a love of reading by playing books on tape when the family was in the car. As he grew older, Seth’s passion for reading developed as he began to read chapter books, such as those in the Harry Potter series.
“The key to finishing the reading program is to plan Kumon around your schedule. It’s not easy, but it will really help you in the long run,” said Seth. “My mom was also a big source of encouragement. She continually motivated me with all the hard work and dedication she puts into her center and her students.”
In addition to his Kumon studies, Seth is taking AP biology, calculus and language arts in school. This past summer, he went to Japan for two weeks with classmates to study Japanese culture and language. In his free time, Seth enjoys surfing, running on the cross-country team and riding the new bike he built.
Seth hopes to attend the University of California in Santa Barbara, San Diego or Los Angeles to work toward becoming a doctor or a lawyer. Until then, he’s going to continue to study Kumon Math until graduation.