Instilling confidence in children is so rewarding
Before becoming a Kumon Instructor, Audrey worked in corporate roles in the finance sector and later worked part-time in the family business, juggling home life and raising three young children. Life was busy, but she wanted to do something independently that would allow her to become her own boss. One day, while looking for additional maths and English support for her own child, Audrey came across an advertisement looking for someone to establish a new Kumon Maths and English Study centre in her local area. Audrey decided to explore further and liking what she found and after completing her training, Audrey opened the Kumon Firhouse Study Centre in November 2019.
Audrey shared her motivations behind becoming a Kumon Instructor with us, saying:
“I have always been passionate about education. I wanted to be part of a business community that effectively helps children to find their way in maths and English and develop their potential. The programme itself instantly appealed to me. I like the fact that Kumon has a linear curriculum: each topic has a logical transition into the next, and each topic is mastered before moving onwards.”
What does a typical day entail for a Kumon Instructor?
“It is hard to describe a typical day”, she told us. “You are running your own full-time business, so it is varied. There are business matters and administration that need to be completed each week or month, but except for the set class times, I am generally able to set my own agenda and complete work when I choose. This involves; reviewing each student’s homework records and setting new work, arranging progress meetings with parents, responding to new enquiries and arranging assessments and of course, general administration such as placing regular orders for my stock of Kumon study materials, submitting my monthly reports on each student, and collecting payments. I also complete regular training and personal development, as well as marketing my centre locally through social media and centre development activities.”
Instilling confidence in children and contributing positively to the local community is very important to Audrey and is one of her favourite aspects of the role. She told us, “When I initially meet with and register a student, we’ll agree a detailed progress plan of how we’ll expect them to progress over the coming months. It never ceases to amaze me when a student commits to the progress plan and daily work and then goes on to completely surpass my expectations of them.
Many students join my class because they are struggling in school. A few months later, sometimes it‘s like dealing with a different child! They have developed confidence in their own ability, they are working with purpose through their daily worksheets, fixing their own mistakes, and figuring out solutions to problems that they previously would have given up on and walked away from. As you can imagine, helping a student to find confidence in their own ability is extremely rewarding!”
Audrey’s advice to those looking to become a Kumon Instructor is, “Learn as much as possible about Kumon. The Kumon Instructor training, which took place in London over a number of weeks, is very thorough and useful. It surprised me to see that it was very much focused on how children learn and how they are motivated rather than just the mechanics of the Kumon maths and English programmes. If new and current Instructors can continue to engage and motivate children to become self-learners and instil a growth mindset, these children will be capable of reaching their full potential!
I love my role and running the centre and I fully recommend becoming a Kumon Instructor to anyone who, like me, finds education and working with children stimulating, and is looking for the challenge of working for themselves. Having the training and support of such an established company like Kumon is important to me, and with Kumon’s unique programmes I know that I am delivering the very best to my students.
Kumon has developed and grown internationally over the past sixty years, largely by word of mouth and personal recommendations. Perhaps it’s because we form such close relationships with students and their families that I’ve seen my centre grow, largely because of these recommendations from parents and teachers.
The Kumon brand is well established, and as Instructors, we’re supported to market our own centre locally. I also run advertisements in my local newspapers and promote my centre using Facebook. There are real opportunities to expand student numbers as your reputation and centre become more well known.”
Looking ahead, Audrey aspires to keep growing the Kumon Firhouse Study Centre over the coming years and to continue helping local children in her community to reach their full potential.
