Grayson wants to be better tomorrow than he was today!

Grayson's mom, Jackie, shared a heartwarming story with us about her son's journey since starting Kumon. 

"When Grayson was 2 years old, we were given the news that he was unable to attend school until the age of 5, due to health issues. As parents we were worried; “what would our child lose out on, on an academic level?  And how would this affect his social development?”  Over the years of being educated in the home environment, it became clear that Grayson had a love for words, reading, and mostly numbers. We tried to nurture this, along with his nanny, as much as we could.

On a social front, Grayson lacked confidence in himself and his ability to interact with other children, often showing over-emotional reactions to these interactions and being very hard on himself at times. We were uncertain of how long it would take for Grayson to catch up to the learning of his peers both on a social and academic level. We needed help!
 
ALONG CAME KUMON… 

Grayson began his Maths journey at the Modderfontein Kumon Centre in September of 2020, at the age of 5 in grade RR. He started at a level where he was developing his number writing skills and sequencing ability. He was shy, emotional, and devastated when he felt that he did not achieve a goal.  

FAST FORWARD TO 2021 AND BEYOND… 

“WOW! What a change, who was this child?” He was more confident to try what he did not know, he wanted to get everything right still but was willing to get it wrong first because he knew that was how he was going to learn. He began to call his Kumon worksheet  ‘Mrs. Teacher’ as his instructor had shown him that the page in front of him would always guide him. He faced challenges head-on with minimal emotional “breakdowns” when he did not overcome them the first time around.  

Kumon took that initial love of numbers and developed it into a love for Maths and he was flourishing on an academic level.  By December of 2020, he had reached his first Kumon study goal and was studying at his international grade level. We were in awe! 4 months into studying at the Modderfontein Kumon Centre and our child had not only caught up to his peers on an academic level but was now superseding these goals.  
At the Centre's award Ceremony in October 2021, Grayson received the highest academic award; he was Susan Fuller's 1st Maths student to reach Kumon’s Advanced Student Honors Roll. By September 2022 Grayson was studying vertical multiplication at Kumon putting him 2 years above his school-grade level in South Africa and again reaching a 1st for the Modderfontein Kumon Centre as he became Susan’s 1st C by 1 student.  

When Grayson started “Big School” we really had the opportunity to see all Kumon was doing for him translated into his everyday school life. He was now strong, assertive, and goal-orientated. He interacted with his peers with ease, and excelled at show and tell which developed into a love for Eisteddfod where he scored a 94% for Choral Verse in 2022, Kumon had developed his ability to think quickly and internalize information with speed - this has helped him to learn 4 languages at school, his report cards are near perfect, scoring 7’s and 6’s across all subjects and most importantly he has continued to nurture his love for learning!  

In July of 2022, Modderfontein Kumon Centre began to offer the Digital Kumon App to the students. We signed up and yet again, another ‘WOW!’ We saw our child grow even more. Thinking deeper, moving faster, and taking ownership of his daily study. The Kumon App gave him the opportunity to interact with his study records and at the age of 7, our child was setting daily goals for himself really thinking hard about how he could be better tomorrow than what he was today.  

From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank Kumon and Susan Fuller for all that we have been given as a family; peace of mind and trust in a method of study that has been the reason for so many amazing changes in our child."