Proud as a Kumon Completer

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What is a Kumon Completer? You may ask. A Kumon Completer is someone who had completed his or her Kumon programme. What is the Kumon programme? You may ask, again. Well, Kumon is an individual learning programme which provides Mathematics, English, Chinese and Japanese subjects. But again, what is an individual learning programme? An individual learning programme is a learning method in which you study everything by yourself, without anyone to teach you. You do worksheets every day repeatedly until you understand the topic and are ready to proceed to the next level. Through these worksheets, you teach yourself new things. Well, of course, if you are having difficulty in understanding the topics or getting the answers right, you can always ask your instructor (the principal of the Kumon centre of a particular branch) for guidance. But still, you have to learn mainly by yourself. It sounds impossible, doesn’t it? But it is through this method that I’ve learnt many things in advance, especially in Mathematics. Being a high achiever in Mathematics, I’ve learnt loads of topics ahead of my school grade (form 4). Just to name a few: trigonometric graph, equations of circles, maxima and minima, loci, infinitives, sequences, limits, et cetera. I don’t believe that non-Kumon students of my age even heard of them before. I am therefore proud to tell you that I’ve learnt and understood them. Although I might have forgotten how to solve relevant math problems over a period of time, I believe that when I come in touch with them in school some time in the

Transcript of Proud as a Kumon Completer

Page 1: Proud as a Kumon Completer

What is a Kumon Completer? You may ask. A Kumon Completer is someone who had

completed his or her Kumon programme. What is the Kumon programme? You may ask, again. Well,

Kumon is an individual learning programme which provides Mathematics, English, Chinese and

Japanese subjects. But again, what is an individual learning programme? An individual learning

programme is a learning method in which you study everything by yourself, without anyone to teach

you. You do worksheets every day repeatedly until you understand the topic and are ready to proceed

to the next level. Through these worksheets, you teach yourself new things. Well, of course, if you are

having difficulty in understanding the topics or getting the answers right, you can always ask your

instructor (the principal of the Kumon centre of a particular branch) for guidance. But still, you have to

learn mainly by yourself.

It sounds impossible, doesn’t it? But it is through this method that I’ve learnt many things in

advance, especially in Mathematics. Being a high achiever in Mathematics, I’ve learnt loads of topics

ahead of my school grade (form 4). Just to name a few: trigonometric graph, equations of circles,

maxima and minima, loci, infinitives, sequences, limits, et cetera. I don’t believe that non-Kumon

students of my age even heard of them before. I am therefore proud to tell you that I’ve learnt and

understood them. Although I might have forgotten how to solve relevant math problems over a period

of time, I believe that when I come in touch with them in school some time in the future, I will stand an

advantage in grasping them quicker than others. Many of my schoolmates claim that I’m a genius in

Mathematics, but no, I deny that completely. Some of the topics I’m learning in school now, I had

already learn a few years ago. So, how could I be a genius when I’ve already known and are familiar

with the topics? Therefore, I am just being advanced and being advanced really helps, a lot.

So, am I completer in Mathematics? I’m sorry to say this, no. Despite being a high achiever, I

still have another level to go before I complete the programme. However, my title stated that I’m proud

as a Kumon Completer, right? I am a completer, in English. I completed the English programme in

August 2008. Although I might not be an expert in English and might still make mistakes when I write,

I really gained a lot through Kumon English programme. Through Kumon, I learned how to write

summaries and critiques; I also learned how to analyze poems, classical novels, and even famous

plays. Over the years of my Kumon study, I came across many classics, such as William Blake’s

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poems and the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Some of the plays I studied before include

Shakespeare’s plays such as Macbeth, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Of course, there

were also many more. Not only I had a chance to get to know these famous works, I also learnt many

writing skills and elements in writing. Although I’m rather ashamed to admit that I have not mastered

the many writing skills, I’m still glad that I gained some knowledge regarding them. Besides, the

passages which the questions are based on were picked out from many interesting, best-selling books

by different writers. However, it’s a pity that we only get to read a part of the book and not the whole.

In spite of that, these passages stir up my interest in that particular book, inspiring me to search for it

and satisfy my yearning to read it.

Do you know that when we do our worksheets, we have to write the starting time and finishing

time? That’s to see how long you took to complete the set of worksheet. Speed and accuracy are

weight-bearing points that we have to keep in mind when doing our worksheets. For every worksheet,

there’ll be a time target and we have to achieve that target before we can move on. According to Mr.

Toru Kumon, the founder of the Kumon Method of Learning, you will not take up a lot of time if you

really understand and know how to answer. Using a lot of time means that you have not understood the

particular topic completely. This had helped me a lot in school. Many of my classmates face the

problem of not having enough time during a math test, but for me, the time provided is enough, and

sometimes, I even have extra time to check everything all over. How is that possible? Of course it’s

possible. Years of doing Kumon worksheets trained me to be quick in mathematical calculations, and

that’s why I just take up less time than others to solve a question.

As a Kumon student, I really benefited a lot. Not only did I achieve success academically, I

also gained many life skills and good learning attitudes that, I believe, can lead me to a better future.

Through doing Kumon worksheets, I cultivated learning attitudes such as patience, determination,

perseverance and many more. Do you know that Kumon worksheets need to be done repeatedly until a

targeted time needed is achieved with minimum number of mistakes? Yes, every worksheet is to be

done two times, at the very least. As the level goes higher, some students may even repeat their

worksheets up to five or six times because they failed to achieve the requirements in order to progress.

This was what I went through before. Imagine doing the same worksheet with the same questions

repeatedly, how boring is that? For a student to continue progressing, he or she needs to be really

patient when doing his or her worksheet. And also, determination and perseverance plays an important

in learning through the Kumon method because without these values, students will give up easily.

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They feel that there is no point in repeating the worksheets, and thus, they feel bored and discouraged,

leading them to quit the programme. These values are not only used when doing Kumon worksheets,

but can also be applied on our studies and daily life. Take myself as an example. I find history very

difficult to understand and there are so many facts that need to be remembered, but does that mean that

I give up on the subject? After all, history is one of the less important subjects for me as I am a science

student. No, giving up is not an option. How can I give up just for the reason that it is a difficult

subject? Giving up is like running away. Running away from problems will only make me a coward,

doesn’t it? So, I put in extra effort to revise the topics and do extra practise exercises. I persevered in

my revision, determined to score an A in my exam, and I did. Remember this, “quitters never win,

and winners never quit”, nothing is impossible if you persevered through the very end. =)

By Gan Yuh-Lin (Sr1ScA)

Me accepting my completer’s plaque and certificate during the 50th Advanced

Students’ Honour Roll (ASHR) ceremony

My completer’s plaque and certificate of completion