Friday, August 8, 2008

Kumon Must Be Painful if Even the Logo Isn't Happy

To set things straight, the logo is not unhappy. Actually, I wouldn't be so bold to assume that I, in all honesty, know the mood of our confused logo. The corporate side of Kumon claims that the logo is thinking. That is to say that the face is really a thinking face. So, my question to you readers out in the blogosphere is: what do you look like when you're thinking? Speaking only for myself, I don't think that I look like the Kumon logo at all. Normally, when lost in thought, I tend to furrow my eyebrows and display a sort of scowl/ frown on my face. I'm not angry, just concentrating really hard. This might also be the face that I have on when I'm at the other office. You know, the one with the porcelain seat. But I digress...

Yes, World, Kumon is all about the thinking face. Why? Because the Kumon Method stresses as much independent learning as possible. If you are not familiar with what Kumon is, and have been completely lost for the last 100 words or so, let me give you a brief synopsis:

Kumon was founded 50 years ago by a Japanese teacher named Toru Kumon. He actually taught in the Japanese education system where he lived and had a son who struggled mightily with math. Mr. Kumon found that the work assigned to his son at school was horribly insufficient and lacked the necessary repetition to foster efficient learning. So, he decided to create a worksheet system that would allow for his son to practice math but also learn concepts on his own through examples and formulas that were presented within the worksheets themselves. Well, the system worked so well for Mr. Kumon's son that, by the time he reached 6th grade, the young boy was doing Calculus level work. And so, the Kumon Method was born and many adolescent lives were made to be much more painful for years to come. Today, Kumon is practiced on six continents (54 countries). In North America, it is the #1 educational company because that's how we roll.

This sounds like an advertisement, I know. I've gotten quite smooth with my sales routine but I believe that it stems from my genuine belief in the Kumon Method. I know it works because I've seen it work. I was a Kumon student growing up. Of course I loathed the half-sheet pieces of agony back then, but only now do I realize how much it helped me. I wish I would have stuck with it longer. I stopped right before sixth grade. I had just started the math "J" level. Years later I would be employed by my mother as a grader. I hated it, I really did. I hated the fact that I had to work for my mom and I hated having to sit inside a building all day when I could be working cooler and more hip jobs at McDonalds or the local water park. It sounds funny, I know, but that's how I truly felt at the time. But with age, hopefully, comes growth, and I realized that I had a knack for explaining simple and/or complex mathematical and arithmetic concepts to pretty much anyone. I also realized that being like my parents wasn't so bad. So, about 5 years ago, I took a job offer at the Kumon Detroit Branch Office as an assistant to the Vice President of operations. I only worked there for a year but it was a great experience. I got to do research at two different school in Pontiac, Michigan, where Kumon was practiced inside of the classroom. I was not surprised to see how dramatically placement tests and MEAP scores improved within the span of a year. Those statistics only confirmed to me that Kumon was a worthy cause. The only question lingering in my head was, "how do I go about figuring out if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life?"

And the answer to that, friends, can wait for another day. I've written a hefty amount of backstory already. I promise to try and wrap it up in a much more concise post next time. Until then, I am wishing you all well. Take care, be good, and DO YOUR KUMON!

Phil Kwon

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