Josie’s Story
Josie is 10-years-old, studying three years above her grade level in the Kumon Program. In fact, she’s studying the same math material that her mom, who is an eighth grade teacher, teaches her students. Imagine that, a 10-year-old transforming equations, working with linear functions and simplifying monomials and polynomials. She’s well on her way to advanced algebraic expressions and she isn’t even in middle school yet.
One of the things that Josie likes most about Kumon is the fact that she’s studying above her grade level.
“Kumon gives me confidence because I know how strong of a student it has made me,” says Josie. “I know that I can do and learn anything if I do the work and practice daily. Kumon has taught me about the importance of focusing and to not be afraid of challenges, but to enjoy them and work through them because I know I can overcome anything.”
Josie embodies everything that Toru Kumon had in mind when he founded the Kumon Method. He felt that students would experience the true benefits of the Kumon Method if they acquired the study habits necessary for self-learning and advanced study.
Discover more inspiring success stories on the Kumon Blog !
Ruesha's Story
This is Ruesha, a Math Program Completer from Kumon of Tempe South. Ruesha joined the Kumon Program in early 2013, and finished it in August 2021.
Kumon helped her advance in math classes at school. “I’ve always loved math and Kumon helped me further my understanding and enjoy the subject even more. The math program helps you become more comfortable with numbers and the variety of formulas you learn through math. The methods taught at Kumon helped me stay ahead in my classes and made me feel much more confident about my math skills,” Ruesha said. She also mentioned that Kumon helped her develop better study habits and time management, which allowed her to get her Associate in Arts & Associate in Science degrees from Rio Salado College alongside graduating high school.
Ruesha started working part-time in June of 2019. She said that she is passionate about teaching math, and working at Kumon lets her share the knowledge she gained as a student in the program. Being in the Kumon program for the past ten years as both a student and assistant, she says that the biggest advice she could give to students would be to ask questions and practice more. “The more you ask questions, not only do you grasp the topics much better, but you also grow as a student. When you expand on that by practicing more, you get the hang of those complicated math topics, setting you up for success”.
She will be starting at the W.A. Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona and will be majoring in math, with ambitions to be a math professor.
Sri's Story
This is Sri, a Math and Reading Program Completer from Kumon of Tempe-South. He joined the Kumon Program when he was just four years old. He finished the Math Program in eighth grade and the Reading Program in ninth grade. Now, he's a 17-year-old senior at BASIS Ahwatukee, studying linear algebra and differential equations, both college-level classes, while working as a Kumon Tempe-South assistant in his free time.
"I've been interested in math for as long as I can remember," he says "But I never really felt challenged in school so I joined Kumon. It provided me with a challenge while also allowing me to pursue my passion for math. It's definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had; I never struggled in school, even as I took calculus in eighth grade. Kumon had taught me all of the math skills I needed to succeed but also helped me develop good study habits and my ability to self-learn, which really helped me pursue things outside the classroom as well."
Sri started volunteering in the summer of eighth grade, eventually working part-time as a Kumon assistant. "I loved the program and the Instructor and staff were amazing," he says "Having finished the program, I felt like it was my time to give back and help others learn."
He's now going into his senior year in high school and hopes to become a neurosurgeon in the future. "It's actually pretty weird to think, but I've been a part of Kumon for more than 13 years now, as both a student and an assistant I can confidently say that without Kumon and everything it taught me, I would not be where I am now."
Eileen's Story
This is Eileen, a Math and Reading Program Completer from Kumon of Tempe-South. Eileen joined the Kumon Program as a 5th grader. She finished the Reading Program in 7th grade and the Math Program in 9th grade.
Kumon made every math class she took significantly easier. "I’d already learned most of the content beforehand, I often learned methods that made more sense than what I learned in school. Even though I was just a freshman when I took AP Calculus, my older classmates were always asking me for help" comments Eileen. Some of the Kumon content even went beyond the scope of what she learned in class and helped prepare her for math competitions.
Kumon taught her other valuable skills as well. Eileen describes that time management was essential if she didn’t want to do all her homework packets the day before she visited the center. She also developed grit and found motivation, even when she repeatedly failed to understand a topic. Most importantly, she built up an incredible amount of self-discipline by doing one packet of Kumon every day.
Eileen recounts that the work ethic she gained, in addition to the content she learned from Kumon, helped her outside of math class too. "Without extra tutoring, I earned a perfect score on the PSAT and was 10 points off from a perfect SAT score. I also excelled in math competitions like Mathcounts, AMC, and the AATM State Math Contest" says Eileen. She graduated as the valedictorian of her high school, and will be attending college at Caltech where she will major in computer science.
Her advice to other Kumon students is to never give up; admittedly, studying every day is a lot of work, but it will be worth it if you do it properly.
Shakir's Story
Shakir is a junior in high school. He started the Kumon Program in 2014, enrolling in both math and reading. Shakir completed the reading program in 2018, and is currently studying pre-calculus, level L, in math. Kumon has helped Shakir throughout his school years as he jumped ahead of his classmates after doing Kumon. Often times, when a new topic was introduced in school, he was already proficient in it, having learned it in Kumon, which allowed him to excel in his school classes.
Kumon was an essential part of Shakir's life as he progressed throughout middle and high school. Without Kumon, Shakir would not be as successful and confident as he is today. "I think that Kumon was a big help to my education, as it helped me get ahead in school. If I could give advice to current students, I would say be diligent in your studies and homework. The more you practice, the more you're able to learn. Reviewing material is the perfect way to master concepts, allowing you to progress smoothly as sequential concepts continue to expand off what was previously learned. Asking questions and understanding where you went wrong are things that you should be doing as well," he explains.