A message from David, The Harrogate Kumon Centre Instructor and local Father of two.
These are uncertain, difficult times for everybody. There are now 630,000 British school children at home every day, seven days a week, possibly for months. My own two children, Lachlan who has just turned 2 and my oldest Ethan, who is 6, are trying hard to adjust to the situation we’re all in. All we’ve told Ethan is “There’s a bug going around, so we need to make sure people don’t get sick”. Whereas Lachlan, who is too young to understand, just smiles in the morning and says to me “Daddy not going to work, daddy play Lego with me”.
Like many parents, my wife and I have created a timetable for their education and we’re trying to stick to it as best we can. The temptation to simply subscribe to Disney and just plonk them in front of the TV is there of course. As is the temptation to reach for the wine glass, the second they’re tucked up in bed.
I say all of this despite the fact that my wife and I are both qualified teachers with 30 years’ experience between us. Home schooling is hard, very hard, especially in the current climate.
We do have one additional advantage with our home schooling though, one I want to share with everybody. I run the local Kumon Centre in Harrogate. Kumon is a Maths and English supplementary education programme which originated in Japan in 1958. The Harrogate Kumon Centre has been operating for over 10 years and is based in St. Marks Church on Leeds Road.
At this point, I’d just like to clarify this isn’t a sales pitch. My Kumon Centre was there long BEFORE this awful virus. I’m very determined to make sure my Kumon Centre is still there long AFTER this awful virus.
But perhaps most important I want you to know my Kumon Centre is there for you DURING this awful virus. The centre itself of course is closed for the safety of the children, their families and the wider public. But my centre is still very much operational.
Kumon is NOT an app, or a hastily thrown together piece of computer software looking to make a quick profit from the current situation. I’m sure your Facebook newsfeed has been littered with adverts for such online learning platforms, I know mine has.
At Kumon our children use paper worksheets and pencils.
Every day our children complete around ten pages (front and back) of maths and/or English worksheets. These are not questions randomly thrown together. The questions are structured and ordered in such a specific way that progress is inevitable. The worksheets have been adapted and ‘tinkered with’ throughout the 62-year history of Kumon.
Over 4 million children all around the world are using the Kumon method of independent learning today and every day. In England there are approximately 40,000 ‘Kumon Kids’.
In my centre in Harrogate there are around 90, and in my house, using our small kitchen table as a desk, there are 2, my boys Lachlan and Ethan.
We’re lucky enough to have been able to build our timetable for our home schooling around the Kumon programme my boys already did, before all this uncertainty. Many of the parents of the children I work with are doing the same and are very grateful their children are already used to a culture of working independently.
So why am I telling you this? Well, I’m telling you this because I AM still able to help in the current climate. But it’s a balancing act. I was an educational provider before this difficult period and hopefully I still will be after it. The balance I speak of is ensuring I make you aware of what Kumon can do, but at the same time, the last thing I want to do is profit from the situation.
I HAVE taken on several new customers in recent days. But I’ve also faced the prospect of LOSING many valued customers due to the financial uncertainty many of them face.
I’m not Carol Vorderman or a computer programme with little or no overheads. Fair play to Carol for trying to help by the way. I have staff, rent, utilities and living costs to pay, the same as everybody else.
But I am determined to help both new and existing customers alike.
Every new customer I enrol in the weeks and months ahead enables me to ensure The Harrogate Kumon Centre survives this difficult time. In turn, this enables Kumon Head Office in Japan to help me support parents facing a period of financial uncertainty and the difficulties of managing their home schooling.
The Kumon programme of worksheets in Maths and English work. Kumon has 62 years of experience, evidence and data to back that up. I use the Kumon method everyday with my own children. I did before this, I will after, and I especially will during it. In fact, Kumon was started in Japan by one man, Toru Kumon, a father who provided his own son and children in his local area with worksheets to help them learn at home. This is exactly what I am in the position to be able to do right now for my boys Lachlan, Ethan and the children in the Harrogate area.
Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. I can enrol new students by post or virtually during the lockdown period. I can also get worksheets to you by post without endangering anyone’s safety.
I can help you and in doing so, you can also help me support the education of children whose parents might otherwise not be able to afford to continue with their ‘Kumon Kids’ programme.
I’m not going to put my contact details on this blog.
I don’t want to profit from the weeks ahead. I just want you to know that during this period of home schooling, there’s an independent learning programme perfect for your current needs, operating right on your doorstep.
I was here before the virus, I’ll be here after the virus, but most importantly, I’m most definitely here during it.
As I said, no contact details are attached to this blog. I don’t want to bombard people with short term offers or free, often unproven, software.
I just wanted to make sure you knew about my Kumon Centre in Harrogate. Hopefully, if you’ve read this blog, you’ll find me if you need me.
Stay safe. David
