KUMON CONNECTIONS
SUMMER 2010 NEWSLETTER

Did you know?

Our Junior Kumon program catering for children from 4 years and above continues to grow successfully!
To date we have given away four $500 reading scholarships since we started this incentive!
Mathematics opens the doors to over 170 careers. It is recommended that all students should graduate with at least one Mathematics credit course.
English credit is a pre-requisite for entrance into most Universities.
A student’s top six credits are used by Ontario Universities to determine acceptability for entrance to the University and entrance scholarships.
Studying Kumon for 15-20 minutes per day over the course of a year is the equivalent of just 6-8 days in a year. The difference this daily study makes in a child’s life is profound and stays with them for years to come.

Centre Closures
Tue 3rd Aug, Fri 27th Aug, 31st Aug, Tue 3rd Sep
We re-open on Tue 7th Sep
Homework is always given during centre closures on the last class day. Please note that in order for your child to continue to progress well, all the homework must be returned timed, marked and corrected along with their names and times on every set.

The North America Kumon Instructors Annual Conference will take place in New York in July. The centre will be open as normal however the instructor, Sanjit, will be attending the conference from July 16th – 23th. For any questions/holiday plans over this period please send an email to: sanjitbirgi@ikumon.com. All phone inquiries will be returned after the class of Tuesday 27th July.

TUITION FEE INCREASE
As everyone is aware the new HST came into effect as of July 1st, 2010. While we knew we would be affected in some way and were quite willing to absorb the immediate increase, we now realise that this will not be possible. We have been affected from every corner with Kumon charging us for the increase not just with their monthly royalty and increased insurance rates but also with every service and additional material that they provide us with for the program. We are also affected by this increase through our payroll provider - Ceridian, the two companies that allow us to offer you both electronic fund transfers and credit card payments i.e Global services and RBC, as well as every other auxiliary service that we use from lawyers to accountants and financial services. In addition, minimum wage has gone up twice this year with the last increase of 8% in May 2010. Basically, the cost of operating our business has increased with the introduction of the HST.

We are now charging $110 per month per subject for all new enrollments effective August 2010.

New students enrolling from Grade 9 and above pay $120 per month.
As part of our loyalty incentive to existing families, we will absorb this increase for the next six months (Jul – Dec 2010) and only charge the new fees with effect from January 1st 2011 for all students. New forms will go out in October/November requesting you to sign the new tuition fee with your choice of payment; MasterCard, Visa, Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT) or Post-dated Cheques.

However even with this increase we believe that Kumon is still one of the most affordable, well researched and constantly growing after school supplemental programs. We also believe that our centre continues to add value every year for our Kumon families; with the introduction of;

Reading library in 2007,
Junior Kumon in 2008,
The $500 completers scholarship award for Reading in 2008,
Summer study incentives in 2009,
Annual Student Award Events & Activities,
Regular assistant training programs,
Offering our high school students the opportunity to collect their volunteer hours at our centre,
Partaking in workshops and study groups regularly.

Studying Kumon – LET YOUR CHILD AMAZE YOU

Get Hooked on both Math and Reading this summer!
Summer is a great time to add on the Second Subject as the child has no pressure of school homework and will still have time to have fun in the summer.
Did you know? Throughout the summer months the average student forgets up to 50% of the Math and Reading skills obtained during the school year. Kumon can help retain knowledge during the summer months and remain sharp for the upcoming school year. Majority of students who continue studying Kumon over summer, fare better when returning to school in September.

Enroll your child in a Second Subject in the summer or in the New School Year!
If you are interested, please speak to Sanjit to schedule a free placement test
Homework Made Easier! Resources to Provide Your Child

Please provide quality pencils and erasers for Kumon study, especially when attending class. For Reading, learning resources include a dictionary, as well as a thesaurus.
Reduce household noise and distractions during homework time. Set aside approximately 10-15 minutes per subject on a daily basis before school homework or earlier in the day and stick to it!
Regular attendance, completion of daily homework assignments, and consistency with the time of day homework is done are just a few ways to improve the effectiveness of Kumon in your child’s life.
Keeping in close consultation with us on any concern is important to your child’s course of study.
Setting clear, attainable goals has a great impact on your child’s motivation to continue studying during the upcoming year.

Long Term Study and pereverance
Anything truly worthwhile takes time to achieve – If the Kumon Curriculum is different from your child’s school curriculum, please bear in mind that we are preparing your child for excellence in Grade 8, Grade 9 and High School. If Kumon does not correspond now, it will certainly do so at a point when your child has acquired the core curriculum, i.e. essential fundamentals taught the right way.
In Math, the foundation is taught without any use of calculators up to University Level so your child truly understands and integrates Math. Math skills are lifetime skills and transferable to many other areas and subjects in your child’s lifetime.
In Reading, students develop a more sophisticated understanding with analysis of advanced texts. This will allow your child to understand comprehension, advanced concepts and train them to read complicated reading passages and apply this knowledge to any subject be it arts or the sciences. By the time we can stack your child’s completed Kumon worksheets into a pile that is taller than your child, you will have realised the most dramatic effects of Kumon!

Advanced Study and Retention – Let’s Keep Learning One Step At A Time!
Introducing advanced concepts before children have grasped the fundamentals is like solving probability before your child learn subtraction, or like trying to decipher Shakespeare before acquiring strong reading comprehension skill!
In Math, Kumon helps to avoid ‘Number Crunching’ – where numbers are not being calculated easily in your child’s mind.
In Reading, Kumon helps to improve Reading Fluency, Comprehension and Vocabulary.
Our aim for all Reading students is to have them reading at least 1 to 2 grades ABOVE their Grade Level.
Students usually read at a higher Grade Level than they write; so, if a student reads above Grade Level, then they will find that their writing skills may also improve.

STUDENT PROGRAMS:

Kumon Programs; Advanced Student Honor Roll, Kumon Cosmic Club, C4, E4, G5
Kanata North Kumon Centre programs; $500 reading completer scholarship, summer incentives, Refer & Win

Advanced Student Honor Roll (ASHR)
This Kumon incentive program recognizes all Kumon students working ahead of their school grade level. More than a small share of our enrollment consists of ambitious students who remain in the program to stay above grade level and obtain more challenging material than they are receiving at school in pursuit of their academic aspirations.

Kumon Cosmic Club
Designed to make learning fun, the Cosmic Club allows students to collect points that may be redeemed for prizes based on their progress in the Kumon Reading and Math Programs. The program encourages students to reach Kumon learning milestones by rewarding them with Cosmic Club Points and Collectible Cosmic Club Cards as they excel in their Kumon studies. Especially popular among younger Kumon students, they become automatic members when they enroll in Kumon.

Visit our Cosmic Club web page (http://www.cosmic.kumon.com/) to learn how students earn points that can win them a gift certificate from a national bookstore chain, a camcorder or a camera, and so much more. See all the great prizes available at each prize level. (Your cosmic id card is attached with this newsletter)


E4 & C3
The E4 award is for students who are in grade 4 or below and have advanced to level E, and the C3 award is for students who are in grade 3 or below and have advanced to level C. These awards recognize students who are well on their way to earning the G by 5 star. These awards are presented at our annual student awards night.

G5
This award is for students who are in grade 5 or below and have advanced to level G which includes high school level algebra in the Math program and high school level comprehension in the Reading program.

$500 Reading scholarship
A reading scholarship is awarded to students who are enrolled in both the Kumon Math & Reading program, and who complete the reading program while still enrolled in Math. This scholarship recognizes their dedication to program completion and their commitment to study both subjects. Note this scholarship is exclusive to our centre.

Summer incentives
This is the second year since we introduced the ice cream vouchers and already many of our children have been asking “…are we getting the same this year too?” How can we fail to reward and spoil those children that to continue to learn during the summer months while their peers while away their time? So YES! We have free ice cream vouchers in the 3rd week of July and August.
In addition this summer our centre has ordered the most amazing sticker album that covers all the teams participating in the FIFA world cup both as an incentive to summer students as well as a means of continuing to build an interest in sports, a very important facet of every child’s growth. These will be handed out in the first week of August. More information on this on our blog; http://kumonkanatanorth.blogspot.com/

Refer & win
As parents see their children succeeding, they want to share that success with friends, relatives, neighbours and others looking for a similar solution for their children. Over 80% of parents enrolling their child in Kumon for the first time tell us that they were referred to the program by a current Kumon parent.

How the Refer & Win program works:
· You refer a non-Kumon family to the Kanata North Kumon centre
· The referred family enrolls a child in Kumon
· Your name is entered into the bi-monthly draw for a $30 gift certificate
· Your card remains in the draw until you have been selected as a winner
· When your name is drawn, and so long as the family that you referred is still enrolled in the program at the time, you win a $30 gift certificate of your choice from Canadian Tire, Chapters, Petro-Canada, or Sobey’s.

Kumon Family Award
Behind every successful Kumon student is a committed “Kumon family”. This award recognizes parents/guardians who;
Have enrolled their children in both programs
Ensure that their children attend class regularly
Motivate their children to complete Kumon assignments everyday, even during the holidays
Home-grade all of their children’s work to ensure their mistakes are corrected promptly
Follow additional Kumon policies to foster the continued success of their children.

To date we have given out 2 awards to the successful “Kumon family” consisting of one year free membership to Costco.

We thank you for your support and understanding.
Wishing all our Kumon families a wonderful and safe summer!