The centre's first Maths completer - Stephen Tang Bing Wei

After two years and four months, the centre finally produced its first Maths completer on 21 August 2009! He is none other than Stephen Tang Bing Wei (aged 16) whom we mentioned in the post about the Recognition Day. It was a very emotional experience for Stephen, the Instructor and the assistants present.We couldn't be prouder of you, Stephen! Well done!

First of all, some details about Stephen. Stephen joined Kumon in July 2007 when he was in Form 2. His starting point was Level A. 25 months later, he completed 15 levels to reach Level O (differentiation and intergration or calculus). It has been an incredible journey for both Stephen and the Instructor. He has been very disciplined in adhering to the consistent learning as taught by the Kumon Method of Learning.

Stephen officially completed Level O at the end of June 2009. The Completion Test was scheduled on 21 August 2009 so that Stephen could have 2 months to do his revision. He has rather heavy workload from school and he is also involved in quite a number of extracurricular activities at school. Therefore, it was decided that he should at least have 2 months to revise before sitting for the test. Stephen made good use of the two months by doing many revisions in which he redid the worksheets several times and not just merely studying them so that he could remember how to do the questions.

On 21 August, he arrived at the centre at around 4.30 p.m. The Instructor was anxiously waiting for him to arrive. When he got to the centre, he looked visibly nervous and told the Instructor so. When food was offered, he declined, citing that he had no appetite. He then went into the room for higher level maths students to do some last-minute revision. At around 5 p.m., Sunny the Area Manager and Choy Yee from the Maths Instruction team arrived at the centre. Stephen was briefed through the test before it began. The goal was set to complete all 18 questions. Although he showed signs of nervousness in the beginning, he seemed very well prepared. He flowed through the first four questions without any problems. At Question 5, he struggled a little. He started to struggle more from Questions 7 to 12. However, he remained calm all along. At certain point, he got confused and doubted his own workings so he erased and redid the question. Looking at his smooth flow and in order not to break it just because he started to get confused, Choy Yee gave him some hints. The hints were really minimal but he understood them very quickly. There were only 2 questions which he did not manage to complete within the 90 minutes.

After that, Choy Yee proceeded with the marking. Stephen managed to recall the method to attempt one of the incomplete questions after he was given the reassurance that he was on the right track. So this correction was totally done by himself. The next correction was done by studying the solution key. This particular question is one of the toughest out of the 18 questions. Stephen took the initiative to ask Choy Yee questions regarding the part of which he was not clear. After he completed the test and corrections, there was a discussion session for about 40 minutes.

According to Choy Yee, most students were nervous before the test so a brief overview of the questions was usually given. Students would also be taught some techniques to draw back their confidence. Although Stephen was nervous at the beginning, he was able to handle it very well because once the test began, he progressed flawlessly. Stephen explained that he had studied the first part of Level O very thoroughly. This strategy had benefited him because he had high confidence in attempting the first part of the test. Most students who took the test were usually weak with the tedious formulas in the beginning of Level O. This was not observed in Stephen. Therefore, he had really taken a great deal of effort to study Level O. He is also a quick learner, as shown by his very positive study attitude. he was eager to learn and thought deeply about the explanations given.

During the 40-minute discussion, Stephen and Choy Yee talked a lot about his future plan. He was already starting to plan for his university course. He is interested in doing computer science so some topics that relate mathematics to computer were discussed. He is definitely more advanced than his peers and this will enable to contribute a lot to the society in the future. Level X never seems to be an optional level for Stephen but just the next level after Level O.

When Stephen finally emerged from the room, party poppers were let out by the assistants who were standing in line to congratulate him. The Instructor congratulated Stephen and passed him a present. It was a very emotional scene as the Instructor nearly teared when Stephen said, "Teacher, I have finally completed Kumon." Other students who were at the centre at that time also witnessed the scene. Hopefully, they had been inspired to complete Kumon just like Stephen had done.

The following is the Result Report of Stephen's Completer's Test:

The comment said:

Stephen, well done! You have great study attitude. You learned all the basic and foundation skills in Mathematics. This will equip you in your future study. Most importantly, the self learning skill will benefit you in every aspect of life. Congratulations! Let's contribute to the society with your skills acquired from Kumon. - Instruction Team -

You have made Kumon Jalan Pahlawan, Sibu proud. In addition, being the first Maths completer, you will always be special in our eyes. We hope that more students at the centre will be inspired and motivated by your perseverance and success. Go on to make Sibu and Malaysia proud by contributing to the society using the valuable life skills you have gained from Kumon. Well done, Stephen!

Quotes about Success

Here are some very meaningful quotes about success which can be applied to the Kumon learning journey. Read and be inspired :)

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened; vision cleared; ambition inspired, and success achieved.
- Helen Keller -

I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do.

- Helen Keller -

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
- Thomas Edison -

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
- Henry Ford-

Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. Courage is what counts.
- Sir Winston Churchill -

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
- Vince Lambardi -

A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.
- Richard Nixon-

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.
- John C. Maxwell -

Kumon Road Show

The centre will be having a road show at Wisma Sanyan this coming weekend (22-23 August 2009). It will be held at the area outside KFC and Pizza Hut. There will also be a mini exhibition to explain to the public what the Kumon Method of Learning is. In addition, we will also display photos of our ASHR students (based on the June 2009 list). Please come to show your support and say hello! All Kumon students who visit the road show will receive a Kumon balloon. We will also have Number Board Challenge which will be open to the public. We hope to see you all there!

Student Profile: Basil Kuok

From now on, this blog will start featuring some of the excellent students studying at the centre so that parents and students alike can learn from them. This is by no means an attempt to glorify these particular students. Rather, it is hoped that through observing these excellent students, we can learn from them so that we can nurture more excellent students.

The first student on the list is Basil, aged 7. Basil joined Kumon in May 2007 when he was only a Kindergarten 1 student. He joined Kumon Maths at Level 6A because he had problems with reading numbers after 11 in English. In the beginning, he was a timid boy who preferred to look at his feet when he walked into the centre. Today, 2 years and 3 months later, he's one of the Gold students at the centre. He's currently a Primary 1 student studying Level D in Kumon Maths. He's also a bronze English student, doing Level BII. He has become more confident and outspoken. He is also very disciplined and enthusiastic about taking on new challenges.

Lately, Basil has been stuck doing the same worksheets (D81-120) for almost two months since he achieved ASHR Gold in June. His completion time was long (over 25 mins for 5 sheets) and he no longer looked happy when he came to the centre. He found D101 & D111 to be difficult. AS a result, he didn't like doing them. Observing this, the Instructor told his mother that she would ask him to start from D81 as sometimes children pick up momentum and motivation when they are asked to start from an easier set. The mother agreed. Two hours after the Parent Meeting, Basil's mother called up the Instructor to tell her that Basil objected going back to D81, stating that he was sick of doing the same worksheets again and again. He told the mother he already knew how to do them. Upon hearing this, the Instructor gave Basil a challenge: She'll assign D101-105 as classwork the next day and if Basil could finish it within 20 mins, she would not repeat the set. Basil agreed.

So on Friday (14 Aug), when Basil came to the class, he was asked to do D101-105 in front of the Instructor. He was told that he would get D106-110, D111-115 & D116-120 as his homework for the next three days. If he could do all four sets within 20 mins, he could proceed to D121. Basil agreed and sat down to work on the worksheets. His last attempt on the same worksheets was 25 mins with 3 perfect scores.

He looked quite happy and confident to be doing the worksheets. Even though the Instructor was showering him with praises while he was doing the worksheets, he didn't get distracted at all. He completed question by question without pausing, as if he had memorised the answers. Below is a video showing how he attempted the questions:

Amazing, isn't it? Basil managed to complete the worksheets in 11 minutes with 5 perfect scores.

He looked a little shocked when the Instructor told him this. After that, he was all smiles as he went off to do his English class work. That day, the Instructor learned a very good lesson: It is very important to observe the students to discover their real potential. She discovered that Basil has been craving for attention. She had thought that he was independent enough to do his work without close supervision so she had not been paying him too much attention. That day, she learned that even an excellent and confident student such as Basil needed attention and encouragement once in a while. Although she needs to pay attention to the weaker students, she still needs to look after students like Basil so that they have the confidence to go on.

So well done, Basil! We are very proud of you. Keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing you complete Kumon one day!

English for you

Here's something about the English language that has been making its round in forwarded emails. Enjoy :)

You think English is easy???

Read to the end . . . a new twist

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce .

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with ‘quick’?

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this.

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP!

Author unknown

What is Kumon?

Here's another video explaining what Kumon is. Although it was made a few years ago, the message is still true and relevant. At Kumon, we aim to develop each individual child's ability to the maximum so that he or she can grow up to be a sound, capable person who can contribute to the global community.

Kumon advertisement in the UK

Here's a cute Kumon advertisement that is/was shown in the UK. Though it looks simple, it gets the message across. Enjoy :)