Kumon Free Trial Campaign (FTC) November 2010

A great Kumon testimony

Dear readers, I know it's been a while since this blog was udpated. Sorry for the long absence. I will be putting up some new posts in the next few weeks so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, here's a great post written by a mother of 3 in Ohio, United States. Her story continues to remind us how Kumon can help children to master mathematical skills and gain confidence in the process. Enjoy reading :)

Our Kumon Story

Kumon Free Trial Campaign (FTC) June 2010

The Kumon FTC is here again. Please contact the centre or leave a comment if you are interested in joining (for those residing in Sibu only). The FTC is a nationwide event so click here to find the centre nearest to you.

Useful links

We'd like to share with our readers another blog by a Kumon Instructor: Kumon Bandar Sunway

The Instructor of Kumon Bandar Sunway, Mr Lai Chee Seng always has something positive and inspiring messages to share so do head over there to take a look. You can also read about the Youngest English Completer in Malaysia to date in the blog.

The following link is the FAQ page of Kumon UK. It's more informative so do take a look at it too to help explain some of the issues you may encounter in your Kumon studies.

Kumon FAQ

Lastly, if you are a facebook user, you can add Kumon to your page to receive regular updates, advice and articles related to Kumon.

Productivity Advice in 5 Words or Less

The following post is taken from http://www.marcandangel.com/

The advice is simple but practical so do apply them in your daily life as well as in your studies :)

I’m an advocate of productivity and simplicity, and I assume most readers of this blog are as well. So today I figured I’d hit two birds with one stone and give you the best productivity advice possible in five words or less. After all, simple, straightforward advice is often the best advice.

1. Define realistic goals.
2. Start now.
3. Plan, but not too much.
4. Do important things first.
5. One thing at a time.
6. Break complex goals into tasks.
7. Disconnect yourself from distractions.
8. Love what you do.
9. Learn from your failures.
10. Celebrate your successes.
11. Be early.
12. Handle small tasks immediately.
13. Batch process similar tasks.
14. Manage your time.
15. Use a planner.
16. Take notes.
17. Focus more on less.
18. Find and follow efficient patterns.
19. Learn productive shortcuts.
20. Tomorrow is today’s result.
21. Organize your space.
22. Clear clutter.
23. Be productive while you wait.
24. Automate tasks and reminders.
25. Read the manual.
26. Learn from others.
27. Teach others to help you.
28. Delegate.
29. Allocate and maximize your resources.
30. Use the right tools.
31. Work on goals every day.
32. Keep it fun.
33. Establish and maintain strong relationships.
34. Spend time with your family.
35. Take care of your health.
36. Get enough sleep.
37. Delete the unnecessary.
38. Trust your gut instincts.
39. Face your fears.
40. Solve problems.
41. Make your own decisions.
42. Take your own advice.
43. Try something new.
44. Follow your values.
45. Learn to say, “No.”
46. Spend minutes to save hours.
47. Validate your assumptions.
48. Follow and speak the truth.
49. Never cheat.
50. Never give up on yourself.
51. Small steps add up fast.
52. Be meaningful.
53. Ask questions.
54. Identify and strengthen your weaknesses.
55. Over-deliver on your promises.
56. Adapt to change.
57. Pay it forward.
58. Stay flexible.
59. Be open to new ideas.
60. Challenge yourself.
61. Be positive.
62. Disregard negative people.
63. Live below your means.
64. Listen more, speak less.
65. Think.
66. Continuously educate yourself.
67. Lead by example.
68. Always do your best.
69. Don’t settle.
70. Communicate clearly.
71. Treat everyone with respect.
72. Act when opportunities arise.
73. Quality over quantity.
74. Do the hard stuff first.
75. Set deadlines.
76. Reflect on your progress.
77. Keep track of important milestones.
78. Follow the 80-20 rule.
79. Urgent is not always important.
80. Done is better than perfect.
81. Learn skills few people know.
82. Provide tangible value.
83. Time trumps money.
84. Be yourself.
85. Find people with similar goals.
86. Reuse and recycle what works.
87. Patience is a virtue.
88. Ask yourself: “Why do this?”
89. Don’t worry about the uncontrollable.
90. Your thoughts create your reality.
91. Complaining just wastes time.
92. Excel at what you do.
93. Slow and steady.
94. Be here now.
95. Perform tasks with multiple positives.
96. View things from different angles.
97. Use your imagination.
98. Visualize your success.
99. Smile.
100. Keep it simple.
101. Finish what you start.

Credits: http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/04/19/productivity-advice-in-5-words-or-less/

2010 Recognition Day

First of all, many apologies for this long-overdue post. Life has been busy at the centre as usual but we haven't forgotten about updating our readers with one of this year's most important events - the annual Recognition Day for our ASHR students.

This year's Recognition Day was held at Lecture Hall 3, Hii Kah Tung Centre at Methodist Pilley Institute. The venue was chosen for its spacious hall as we needed a bigger space for the activities after the award presentation.

This year more than 80 ASHR students attended the Recognition Day together with their parents and family members to celebrate their achievements. We were happy for the big turnout although there were still about twenty students who could not make it to the event that day.

Most students and their parents had arrived at the venue before 2.00 p.m. for the registration process. They were dressed in formal attire and appeared very excited. Before the event started, videos from the 2009 ASHR DVD were played for the audience. The videos included sharing from Mr Akira Hamanaka, the president of KAO as well as testimonies from Kumon advanced students and completers. The videos were very motivating and inspirational.

At 2.30 p.m., the event started. All the ASHR students had been lining up outside the hall for the march-in. They were greeted with warm applause when they marched into the hall. It was indeed a proud moment for the students and their parents.







After all the students were seated, the event began with the opening address from the Instructor, Ms Penny Law. She encouraged the students to not give up, especially when they have reached ASHR because they are working hard for their future, a future that would be made easier by studying advanced materials at their young age. She also urged parents to support their children in their advanced learning so that they could gain valuable life skills.





Next on the agenda was the sharing from Mr Sunny Sin, the area manager for the Sarawak centres. He shared about some of the advanced students in Malaysia and encouraged students to keep working hard to reach their goals.

After the two speeches, a P3 Gold Mathematics student, Denver Goh, gave a solo violin performance. He performed five songs and although he was visibly nervous, he managed to play all five songs fluently and with good composure. Well done, Denver! Denver is currently in Level H for Maths.

Next was the highlight of the event - award presentation. Students who qualified for the June 2009 ASHR list each received an exquisite crystal plaque and a certificate from the Kumon Office. For most of the students, this was the second or third Recognition Day they had attended while for some, it was their first time. It was obvious from the children's beaming faces that they were happy and proud of their achievements. Their parents also shared in their happiness and pride by busy clicking away with their cameras.

After the photography sessions for the ASHR students, it was time for another student performance. This time, a 5-year-old Gold Mathematics and Gold English student, Emily Yong Han Hua performed worksheet reading. She read out 3 passages selected from Kumon English D1 & D2 worksheets. She was reading very calmly and fluently to the amazement of the audience. Well done, Emily! Emily is currently finishing Level D for her Maths and doing E1 for her English.

After Emily's performance, it was time to present the Completer's Plaque to the centre's first Maths Completer - Stephen Tang Bing Wei. The instructor, Ms Penny Law was very proud to hand over the plaque to Stephen, who had worked very hard to deserve this honour. He then proceeded to give a sharing about his Kumon journey to the audience. In his sharing, he detailed his Kumon journey and talked about how he overcame every challenge and managed to persevere till the very end. He was very proud to be the centre's first Maths completer and urged his fellow students to also persevere so that they could one day complete the program. It was indeed very motivational. We are proud of you, Stephen!

Stephen's sharing marked the end of the formal part of the Recognition Day as students eagerly awaited the fun activities that were in store for them that day. The students were divided into two groups based on their age. Students in the younger group (aged 8 and below) had endless fun playing Musical Chairs. In fact, they enjoyed the game so much they played for nearly 25 minutes. After that, they were seated down and asked to design a thank-you card for their parents. It was touching to see the children pen down their words of gratitude to their parents for giving them an opportunity to study with the Kumon Method of Learning.











Students in the older group (aged 9 and above) were given a Kumon quiz to test their knowledge about their Kumon centre, Kumon in Malaysia and general questions related to the Kumon Method of Learning. It could be said that the students found the 10 questions harder to answer than their Kumon worksheets as they thought long and hard about the answers! After that, the students were divided into three groups for the Jenga Block Challenge. It was fun to see the children cooperate to think of the best strategies to win the game. Finally, the students were given a card to write down their aspirations. Doctors, pilots and teachers were among the most common occupations written down by the students. We hope you can all achieve your dreams!







After playing for more than forty minutes, it was time for some refreshments. It was great to see parents and students mingle around to talk to each other and to pose for photos with other students and assistants. Thanks to the effort of the centre assistants, the event had been a successful one. It was worth all the hard work and preparation when we saw how happy the children were. We look forward to organising next year's Recognition Day. We hope to see more students participate next year so please continue to work hard for this year's ASHR.

Change of Venue for 2010 Recognition Day

There has been a change of venue for the 2010 Recognition Day as the aforementioned venue suddenly became unavailable for rental on the chosen date. The Recognition Day will now be held at the following venue:

Lecture Hall 3, Level 4, Hii Kah Tung Centre
Methodist Pilley Institute
Jalan Lily

We hope to see all the invited students on that day. It is going to be a great event! Watch this space for updates and photos of the event in the following weeks.

Kumon Jalan Pahlawan, Sibu's 3rd Recognition Day

We are pleased to announce that we have set a date and the venue of our 3rd Recognition Day. The Recognition Day, held to recognise the achievements of all the June 2009 ASHR students will be held at Wisma UCA (opposite the Bukit Lima Swimming Pool) on 20th March 2010 (Saturday). Invitations have been sent to all the participating students and parents. Notice with the confirmation of the venue will also be sent out soon. We sincerely hope that all students and parents will attend this special occasion to celebrate the students' excellent achievements.

Here is an interesting piece titled "Winners vs Losers". Enjoy!

Winners vs. Losers

When a winner makes a mistake, he says, “I was wrong;”

When a loser makes a mistake, he says, “It wasn’t my fault.”



A winner works harder that a loser and has more time;
A loser is always “too busy” to do what is necessary.



A winner goes through a problem;

A loser goes around it, and never gets past it.



A winner makes commitments;

A loser makes promises.



A winner says, “I’m good, but not as god as I ought to be;”

A loser says, “I’m not as bad as a lot of other people.”



A winner listens;

A loser just waits until it’s his turn to talk.



A winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn
something from them;

A loser resents those who are superior to him and tries to find
chinks in their armor.



A winner feels responsible for more than his job;

A loser says, “I only work here.”


A winner says, “There ought to be a better way to do it;”

A loser says, “That’s the way it’s always been done here.”

~PAT WILLIAMS NBA General Manager and Vice President~

New school year, new goals

Dear readers and friends of Kumon Jalan Pahlawan Sibu. Sorry for the sporadic updates in the past few months as the centre had been quite busy. We have just settled in for the new school year. A big welcome for those who just joined us this month. We hope you will enjoy your learning journey at Kumon. For all our students, let's work hard and set your goals for this year. Persevere and hang in there!

We have a few activities lined up for the next few months. Here's a preview:

1. Chinese New Year Staff Dinner on 31 January 2010 at Paramount Hotel.

2. Recognition Day for 2009 ASHR students (tentative date - 27 March 2010). We have received all the medals and goodie packs for the students. These will be distributed to the students during the ceremony.

Please stay tuned for more updates. Meanwhile, a very apt and meaningful quote from one of the greatest Greek philosophers to share with you all:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." ~ Aristotle ~