A few weeks ago, we had parent-teacher interviews for our youngest daughter. They usually go well enough, with comments from the teachers on where she’s doing well and advice on what she can be working on.
This set of interviews was notably different, because apparently her teachers – across the board – are seeing a ‘Notable Difference’.
Many of her teachers have taught her before this year, and so they know her quite well. The comments ranged from a ‘marked improvement’ from those who have taught her recently to ‘I cannot believe this is the same student that I taught a few years ago!”
Gratefully, my daughter was never really a ‘bad’ student, but it was sometimes hard for her to keep up with some of the material, and being the social butterfly that she is, she would allow herself to get distracted and to engage in chit-chat with her peers. After all, it was more fun and a lot easier than tackling the task at hand.
This is no longer the student they describe. She is serious and motivated and works independently. She tackles her classroom work with a positive energy. In addition, while all teachers agree that she is still extremely ‘social’, they don’t see it affecting her classwork or resulting in her being distracted or disrupted in any way. She’s a pleasure to have in class. She participates. She’s doing well.
These words were music to our ears. My husband and I were thrilled to hear all of this. She’s not only making progress, but she’s faring well 
We 100% realize that maturity must be playing some part in this, as she is obviously showing maturity, Of course we also asked ourselves what else has changed? We are pretty sure we know the answer. She has been in the Kumon program for 9 months now, and here is what we have noticed:
- a little bit more confidence when she began the program;
- a marked improvement in her reading fluency since the summer;
- as a by-product of more fluent reading – she better understands what she is reading;
- her spelling has improved ( and we are confident will continue to improve with more reading);
- as a result of the above, even more confidence;
…and now, she seems to be blossoming at school, rather than just getting through her days. She is working independently. The whole Kumon program is based on kids working independently. It’s not so hard to believe that after months of working independently (and successfully) on her Kumon work, she now understands that she can translate that skill to her classroom work at school.
What else can I say?
We tried Kumon out for our daughter and we were impressed. Now we are SOLD.
As you may recall, we were invited to try Kumon for a few months to see what we thought. I guess the best way to tell you how we feel about the program is to let you know that when our trial came to an end, we chose to keep our daughter in the program, and today are happy to be full-paying customers of Kumon.
It’s costing us less than if we were to get a private tutor, but even if it were costing us more, I will say this:
It’s worth every penny…and then some.
If you are interested in learning more about Kumon – for Reading or for Math, for a child who is excelling or a child who needs some help, you can check them out at Kumon.ca
Kumon has changed our daughter’s way of looking at school, and as a result she is doing well. That, in our opinion, is priceless.
Wishing you a day of Notable Differences
Tanya
Disclosure: I am often offered to try products or services free of charge for the purpose of reviewing them, as was the case here. I will only ever share with you products and/or services that I believe in (some things I try out never make it onto the blog). All opinions contained within are my own and cannot be bought 
