Photo courtesy of kuman Center
EXTRA HELP. Instructional assistant Katie Heizenrader (left) works with fifth-grader Chase at the Kumon math and reading center, which recently opened in the North End.
Students in Tacoma can now get a little extra help through the school year, or even move ahead.
Tacoma is now home to a Kumon Center, an extra-curricular academic center that has been available across the world for the past 50 years.
In June, Tacoma resident Jennifer Jensen opened her own center at the intersection of North 26th and Pearl streets.
This is the first Kumon Center inside the Tacoma city limits.
“I feel so fortunate that they opened a class here,” said parent Treva Owen, whose 7-year-old son Blaise started at Kumon in Tacoma this summer.
Owen said she enrolled Blaise at Kumon because the second-grader needed a little extra help in reading. The Lowell Elementary School student excels in math and science but is not quite where his mother thought he should be in the literacy department.
“There were some things he just wasn’t paying attention to in first grade, things that he just missed while looking out the window,” Owen said. “He gets it there (at Kumon).”
Owen’s sister, who lives in Los Angeles, recommended the program to her because of her good experience there with her own children.
The Kumon Center can be an option for struggling students, as well as high-achieving students who want additional challenges.
It works off the Kumon method, which stresses basic fundamental and computational skills in math and reading.
“What I really liked about it was self-learning – teaching kids to build confidence. They can learn to be better learners for life… they can be better contributing citizens,” Jensen said. She came across the Kumon philosophy online when she was looking for ways to enrich her own children’s educational experience a few years ago.
She now works with about 30 children at her North Tacoma Kumon center, and is hoping to increase the number of students she works with.
Kumon is geared at all ages of learners, with Junior Kumon for pre-school students getting prepped for kindergarten, up to adults who desire to freshen up on their computational skills.
Students visit the center twice a week for about 30 minutes, and practice for about 15 to 20 minutes at home each day on reading, math, or both.
Owen has not gotten any feedback from Blaise’s schoolteachers on his improvements yet this school year, but she has seen the impact Kumon has had in her son.
“He’s enthusiastic,” she said. “Last night we were reading a required book – and it wasn’t a struggle to get him to do it. He’s more confident.”
Gaining that perspective is one of the reasons Jensen is a believer in the method the Kumon Center uses to teach better learning habits.
“It’s really cool,” she said. “They learn to be better studiers, focus skills, strength and confidence. They can move forward at their own pace.”
The Kumon Center costs $100 a month per subject, with a $50 enrollment fee. Jensen plans to add financial aid options in the future.
The Kumon Center is located at 5703 N. 26th St. For more information, call (253) 212-0513.
