Investing in education for her child’s future is a priority for Mrs. Cecil Fernandez. This is why deciding to enroll her son, Mori, in Kumon was a good and wise financial decision considering the limited income her family has, with her husband working for a Non-Government Organization (NGO.)

Mori was already a good student, but Mrs. Fernandez and her husband wanted to develop more of his skills since they could see his potential. All the hard work and effort, of both Mori and his parents, proved its worth with Mori constantly exceeding everyone’s expectations and his continuous academic success.

Early Victories

When he was in grade three, Mrs. Fernandez remembers how Mori’s teachers noticed him and his improved math skills. So they tapped him to represent his section and join math competitions in school. He also moved up in academic ranking – from top eight to top seven. But for Mrs. Fernandez, the greater transformation happened when Mori was in grade four.

“He was constantly top one in eliminations for competitions, not only in math but also in other subjects. He also became a second honor student and was recommended to be transferred to a section with additional opportunities for children in his grade level. He experienced being part of more competitions and being more involved in activities like being an editor-in-chief and copy editor for his school’s newsletter,” she shared.

Challenges

All journeys have challenges. For Mrs. Fernandez, this was evident when Mori was younger as he would cry when he was tackling topics he was unfamiliar with. “I motivated him by saying that it’s only difficult in the beginning. Once he understands the topic, answering the same math problems, or even other math problems would become easier.”

Also, given his age and energy, Mori would become lazy to do his worksheets. Mrs. Fernandez had to be firm in reminding him to do it and in making him understand why he’s doing Kumon. “Now, he doesn’t fear new topics. He gets challenged by them. He also doesn’t need me to remind him to do his worksheets since he already knows what he has to do and why he has to do it.”

Mori appreciates his mom’s effort in keeping him motivated especially when answering difficult topics. “She reminds me that I once found a topic difficult before but I was able to understand and master it. She also encourages me by saying that she believes in me and that she knows I can do it.”

Before, Mori asked for his mom’s help for difficult math problems. Now, he can answer the worksheets on his own and learn difficult topics by studying the worksheets.

The main piece of advice that Mrs. Fernandez can give to her fellow parents on how to support their child in Kumon is be firm with your child. She believes that just because the child wants to give up does not mean that the parents should give up as well.

“As parents, it is our role to push and encourage our children to finish whatever they start. We are doing this not just for their present improvement, but mostly for them to have a successful future. We may not see the benefits of the method within the first few months; but we will surely see the academic and character improvements as they continue to progress in the program.”