He breezed through 3A in barely 2 weeks. He was full of excitement and confidence by then. 2A, A and B passed by quite swiftly, as well. My wife and I around that time were so ecstatic about Hagin’s smooth progress.
Later in the same year, Level C came. While the initial topics, I would say, were still Hagin’s cup of tea, the items soon became more and more difficult. My child patiently toiled through the initial topics on multiplication and subtraction. It took him a year to finish it.
Around that time, we noticed a significant drop in his motivation. It would take us sweat and blood to convince him to start on his take-home worksheets. At times, I arrived from work while he was already asleep, but his homework was still untouched. At first, my wife and I consoled ourselves by saying that, it might be normal, as topics in C are difficult, and his school works are just starting to swarm in. Admittedly, his school gave demanding requirements that came in avalanche, day after day. We decided to ease our guilt by telling ourselves, There Was Nothing Wrong With This. With my frequent provincial trips, I had minimal chance to really intervene in Hagin’s Kumon study. I was contended with my wife’s minimal support. Minimal, I would say, because she is not a Math person herself.
Then Level D came. Many students say D stands for Difficult. My son thought D stands for Devil. It was hell on earth for him, and then eventually for my wife and I, as well.
At Level D, I could clearly see that my son wasn’t enjoying his worksheets anymore. Not a bit. His instructor tried all repetitions, decreased his daily load, called my attention… Name it, his teacher did it. But at the end of the day, my son’s interest in Kumon was downhill.
I started to pity my son terribly. I blamed myself for being able to help Instructors and students in my area (as I am an area manager for Kumon Philippines), but not my own son. I reflected on the kind of support I have given Hagin in the past periods, and I realized that the support I gave was very insignificant.
So during the last quarter of 2007, I eventually decided to do something. While before, we convinced ourselves that There Was Nothing Wrong With It, now it became clear that THERE WAS INDEED SOMETHING WRONG. I decided to open my eyes and I was startled by some realizations:
- Hagin didn’t have clear goals and direction.
- There were few tasks he didn’t really understand but kept doing and repeating.
- His take-home worksheets accumulated.
- He was basically fed up of his present learning focus.
- He could not concentrate well. He needed to pause his timer to do intermissions.
- He was careless in answering. (I believed that with his poor focus that prolonged his time, he compensated by speeding up carelessly.)
- Kumon had little by little become a burden to him. I knew deep in his heart he wanted to quit, but he could not say it.
My wife and I came to the point of thinking that, after all, Mathematics could perhaps be his waterloo. WE EVEN CAME ACROSS WANTING TO WITHDRAW HIM FROM THE MATH PROGRAM.
Nevertheless, I took advantage of the 2-week inter-semester break in October and November in 2007 to set things straight. I sat down, first, with my wife. I presented to her the concern. I needed her support no matter what, as I won’t be around all the time, considering my provincial assignments. Then I sat down with Hagin. I discussed to him my plans, man to man. I asked him if he was happy with his Kumon. I asked him if he wanted to cooperate with me in salvaging his Kumon study. He agreed.
Then I called his instructor and presented my plans as well. She agreed.
I spent time examining his present progress, his recent worksheets, his record book… I also observed him work.
Observing and interviewing him, I noted certain remarkable points in my son, which I used as a springboard:
- From time to time, he would self-mark at the center, and I didn’t even know he could do it skillfully!
- He was craving to see his next topic!
- He showed strong mental calculation!
- He wanted to be gold! (He asked me many times on how to get there. I realized how insufficient I was because I haven’t really oriented him about this basic concept.)
- He wants to be a completer! (He has been fascinated with the bits and pieces he heard about completers as I brought home my ASHR duties from time to time.)
I thought to myself, my child has strong potentials. His initial DT, I remembered, showed very high ability. Until B, he was very motivated and progressed on very smoothly. But somewhere along the way, something wrong happened. As I analyzed it, I figured out that it was his motivation that dwindled due to inconsistent follow up, excessive repetitions, no clear goals, and poor study habits.
And so I decided to partner closely with his instructor, and started to involve myself actively in the instruction of my child. I reviewed his progress from the time he started. I reviewed my basics, considering seriously the suggestions of Toru Ken.
Above all these, my son and I agreed to set clear goals. I worked around his desire to be included in the National ASHR Awarding for gold students in 2008! We started a fresh study plan and plotted a fresh projection, in such a way that he will be gold on or before May 2008. In pursuit of this, we have teed off for these specific targets:
- Hit back Silver by the end of the month (E100 by November 30,2007 cutoff)
- Finish E before 2007 ended (study frequency of 1.7)
- Hit Gold by February cutoff
- Finish F by March 2007 (study frequency at most 2)
- Start studying High School material even before he is P4
- With few high school levels remaining (G, H, I and J) and if he will complete 2 levels per year, he will be able to finish High School material by P6.
We decisively trimmed down on his repetitions, throwing away preconceptions, prejudices and doubts. We ventured on long-span repeats, treating him as a strong student. We involve him deliberately in deciding on his study plan. We gave him concrete praises and concrete suggestions. We wrote down his midterm and long term goals, in relation with his study projection. We adjust his study plan whenever necessary. We required him to mark his worksheets promptly and correct the same. We give him purposeful feedback, working from page to page of his worksheets, and not just reminding him of his target time and number of mistakes. In fact, we completely did away with the mechanical way of giving feedback. Instead, we made feedback a fruitful discussion by pointing out specific weak areas that need to be rectified, and new realizations, tactics and strengths that he needs to maintain. We review his midterm and long-term goals from time to time. And whenever I’m home, I observe him closely not only as he answers his worksheets, but also while he is marking and correcting. I realized that there are so many things I could learn just by watching him work. Now I don’t know how to give him substantial feedback and realistic guidance if I were not observing him in the first place. I experienced in him what the late Chairman Toru Kumon called as “Learning from Children.”
Now teeming with motivation, Hagin has regained his rhythm and recovered his lost confidence. He realized that what he is doing is enjoyable and not completely difficult, after all. He still commits mistakes, of course, but he is now very positive about them. He looks forward to the next topic, but at the same time not afraid to take repetitions whenever he needs some.
His school marks in Math went up. He reached his goal to be a gold and was awarded his first national Kumon gold medal last November 2008. Just recently, Hagin qualified for the Mathematics Trainers Guild (MTG) in Iloilo City on April 3 to 6. My wife and I now realized how silly we were to think that mathematics was his weakness!
While my son has improved a lot, he is still a work in progress. He is a normal child who, from time to time, may experience concerns, feel tired and need occasional reminders. I don’t get tired supporting him. I know that the improvements he is now experiencing would be futile if we fail to maintain them.
Our work, therefore, as parents and educators continues. Like any other children, Hagin has more potential that has yet to be discovered and maximized. OUR TASK IS TO CONTINUE PURSUING IT.
Name of Child: HAGIN M. BUSTO
Name of Parents: HARLAN and GINA BUSTO
Center: FAIRVIEW-LAGRO CENTER (Philippines)
