“The reading event was a great success! We had lots of happy engaged children who were really inspired by the author.”
The Kumon Thornton Heath Study Centre recently held a Time To Read Together (community reading) event at the Thornton Heath Library. Popular children’s author, Muriel Kingsley, attended the event to read to the children and nurture their curiosity and passion for reading. Muriel’s much-loved books include ‘Emily’s Great Adventure’, ‘Mary-Ann’s Grandma’s Ghost Story’ and ‘The Two Little Mice and Mary-Ann’.
Nina Acharya, Kumon Thornton Heath Instructor hosted this special event as she believes “children have a natural curiosity to learn.” Nina explains: “Being exposed regularly to a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts develops a child’s reading habit and encourages an interest in educating themselves about the world they live in.
“The reading event was a great success! We had lots of happy engaged children who were really inspired by the author, Muriel Kingley. I hope children will continue to be inspired by reading more and more wonderful stories and develop a lifelong love for reading.”
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“It gives me great joy to come to the realisation of a dream.”
On 11 May, the Kumon Stanmore Study Centre officially opened in commercial premises, a permanent venue dedicated to supporting the development of Kumon students. At the ceremony, attended by Councillor Nizam Ismail, the Mayor of Harrow, and a wealth of families from the local area, Instructor Jay Popat gave a passionate speech about her journey as a Kumon Instructor and her pride in creating an education hub in the centre of her community.
Jay said: “It gives me great joy to come to the realisation of a dream. It has been a rollercoaster of a journey but it has all been worth it. I started Kumon over 17 years ago, in a tiny little room in Stanmore. Many years later, I have seen so many students come to me, grow up and grow into fine intelligent adults. It is this that inspired me to make the bold move of upping-sticks from the Bernay’s in Stanmore into bright, airy permanent premises at the heart of the community.
“We at Kumon like to be part of the provision of a quality education; nurturing children to give them the study skills which will help not only while at school but for their future, for university and beyond. During the last 17 years, it has been my aim to make sure that every child, whatever their age or ability, reaches his or her full potential.
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Watching a film based on a book forces you to consider the attitudes and perspectives of others
On 17 May 1900, the George M. Hill Company in Chicago printed the first copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Since it first flew off the press it has been reprinted, commonly titled The Wizard of Oz, hundreds of times. Following a 1902 Broadway musical and a film adaption in 1939, the lead character, Dorothy, has since appeared in several films and theatre productions. The book even holds a prestigious place on the Kumon Recommended Reading List, amongst a collection of 380 books intended to help students develop their passion for reading.
It is very common for popular stories to be lifted from the pages of their ancestral books and shared with audiences via new mediums, such as through theatre and film. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain, was adapted and released as the film Huck and Tom in 1918. Roald Dahl’s The BFG was released as a major film in 1989, and of course Harry Potter, first released as a book in 1997, has become an international franchise of films and merchandise.
No doubt, the visual wonders of these blockbuster hits and West End shows engage children, evoke emotions towards characters, capture their imagination and engross them in the storyline. Watching a film adaptation of a book your child has already read can be very fruitful for further engaging them in the story and developing their analytical thinking skills.
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We set the bar very high in what we expect our students to achieve through our individualised instruction
The Kumon Maths and English Programmes are designed to achieve the maximum effect in the shortest time possible. They are both structured in a linear way with each learning topic following on from the one before. Furthermore, the Kumon Method of Learning aims to foster self-learning skills; the ability to learn for oneself topics that have not yet been covered at school.
For students to have the opportunity to study material they have not been taught before, we aim for them to progress to a level higher than that of their school grade within their first year of study with Kumon. Therefore, given that you enrol with us a minimum of one year prior to the 11+ exams, your child will have progressed to a level of work higher than their respective school grade by the time they sit their exams.
The Kumon programmes are not specifically designed to match the style of questions or every exact topic covered in the 11+ maths or English tests. In fact, as Kumon is an international organisation, our programmes do not directly follow any country’s school curriculum. However, we set the bar very high in what we expect our students to achieve through our individualised instruction, in a relatively short period of time, and this produces outstanding results.
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