Discover The Kumon Method, To Teach Children

“ Let the books be the nurses of your children ”. It is a wise statement, signed Toru Kumon, the creator of the Kumon method that is at the center of this article. This method has now more than 4 million student followers around the world.

Education has researched dozens of methodologies throughout history to be more effective and natural. The Kumon method is one of the many that exist around the world but many parents trust it. Why ?

What is the Kumon method?

The objective of the Kumon method is to stimulate the autonomy of the student to promote his learning potential according to his abilities. Hence the fact that this process is personalized and individualized according to the skills of each child.

This process aims to build confidence and confidence in the child. It therefore offers a setting in which the child must confront the search for knowledge independently, through stimulation and entertainment in learning.

Who is Toru Kumon?

Toru Kumon was a math teacher who was particularly concerned with his child’s education. In fact, one day he found a math test in his schoolbag. His son hadn’t had a good grade and his father decided to create new study material to stimulate his interest and improve his results. Kumon therefore invented strategies to encourage his child to study in a self-instructive way, without overloading him and by giving him the keys to autonomy.

But Kumon, having observed the same problems in other children as in his own, decided to develop a method that gave these children the opportunity to face challenges and be able to find solutions without help, but which still involved gradual difficulty in exercising. Thus, the intention was none other than to “manufacture” perfectly autonomous pupils. 

Oddly enough, Toru Kumon’s neighbors, after observing his son’s noticeable improvements, asked him to apply his methods on their own children. And so in 1959, this math teacher opened his first office in Osaka, Japan. Today there are more than 4 million children in the world who benefit from it.

The 4 pillars of the Kumon method

In order for children to be able to solve the exercises available to them in the Kumon Method, beyond their age or grade level, it is necessary to stimulate their self-confidence and their interest in good results. For this, Kumon is based on 4 fundamental pillars.

Individuality according to one’s ability

Grade is not a limit or a goal in the Kumon Method. We seek to ensure that each child succeeds in exploring and making the most of their skills according to their individual and personal capacity. To do this, you have to make efforts gradually, for the pure pleasure of learning and always with security and self-control.

Self-taught children

The Kumon method values ​​above all the ability of the child to learn according to his own efforts. Each child solves the exercises with the help of their own efforts, in a self-taught way, and arrives at the solutions through their own paths.

Progressive evolution

Another pillar on which this method is based is progressive evolution. The material is specially prepared so that each child does more and more complex exercises, according to his learning pace. All this individualized and based on the capacity for understanding and pleasure of each student.

The advisor has the role of observer

The counselor also plays a vital role in the Kumon Method. It is the observer of the academic capacity and the personality of each child. He will thus adapt the material to his skills and be a stakeholder in the child’s progress, encouraging him to progress and to use all his possibilities.

What do you think of the Kumon method? Do you think this is a good way to boost your child’s skills and academic possibilities? The theories which affirm that the best way to learn is naturally and gradually, according to the capacities of each one, are very numerous. This methodology is of course added to other educational trends, which have already proved their worth.