Our Education Philosophy
by Ado Arai, Administrative Director
Nanaimo Kumon Centre / Nanaimo Junior Kumon Programs

Our Motto: A Pure Mind, A Healthy Body and A School Spirit - Spirit of Inquiry
I believe that the three most important elements that should be found in children receiving an education are a pure mind, a healthy body and a school spirit, as outlined below:

A Pure Mind:
To sympathize with others, to look after one's surroundings and to be able to distinguish between virtue and vice.

A Healthy Body:
To eat well, to build a strong body and to maintain a positive attitude towards study.

A School Spirit - Spirit of Inquiry (as the motto of all the students and teaching staff):
To have an inquiring mind, and the eagerness to study on one's own and to create an environment suited to doing so.


A Three-Party Education
Children learn all kinds of things, 24 hours a day, sevendays a week, 365 days a year, regardless of where they are. There is no distinction between school as a place of learning and home as a place to spend time, and it makes no sense to use such definitions. Education must be carried out through cooperation between the parents, the child and the teacher. If the school is thought of as a daycare centre, it will not be possible for the child to obtain a good education. As long as the child is learning at school, the parents should know the educational policy behind the teaching methods, and it is important for the teacher to be infromed by the parents about the child's home life. As I first mentioned, if education takes place 24 hours a day, what is learned at school should be reviewed at home.

The parents must share the important role of having the children practice the manners they have learned at school. It is also very important that the parents participate actively in meetings, class visits, and school events and that the parents and children create an environment in which they can study together.

The teacher is in the best position to know what the children are doing at school and to assess their behaviour. In addition to the obvious role of keeping track of each student's academic progress, the teacher must collect a great deal of information on the student's physical fitness and health, extent of cooperation with others, personality, strong and weak points, etc. - all of which is indispensable for predicting the child's future growth and for planning future teaching. The teacher must then examine this information, and discuss it with child's parents.

In other words, it is highly advisable for the parents and teacher to cooperate and talk with one another, and to determine an individual teaching plan for the student while sharing their respective observations. When the parents and the teacher have the same information, there is less likelihood of a misunderstanding between the school and the home, they will be learning naturally and continuously in a similar environment to that of the school.

Furthermore, it is essential to create an environment in which the children can freely express their problems and doubts to their parents and teachers. It is important to provide many opportunities for interviews with the parents and their child, and for discussions between teachers and students.


Unity of Opposites Theory
In this age of multi-tasking, even if it is impossible to know everything, it is essential to acquire a certain amount of knowledge and skill pertaining to various fields. A biased education will create people with a biased way of thinking. Biases such as "I can play the piano, but I can't clean my room," or "Even though I can use a computer, I don't like reading books," are not attitudes that will lead to success on the international playing field.

I think that it is important for people to try to unify paradoxical fields, allowing them to say, "I can play the piano, and I can also draw pictures. What's more, I can clean my room and assemble a computer." One should not divide things into what one likes and doesn't like, or into what one is good at and bad at; it is important to foster an INQUIRING MIND in the students so that they learn to explore fields that are totally unknown to them and to experience the joy of learning something new. I would like to aim to raise well-rounded people who are willing to try anything and who believe in themselves.


Manners
Good manners are of utmost importance in any society. People are not solitary creatures; in a gathering of two or more, manners inevitably take on importance. Because good manners are acquired in a very natural way, they should be taught from early childhood. I would like to implement an educational policy that instils in our students good manners, particularly with regard to greetings, clothing and speech, as outlined below:

Greetings:
Greetings are an important form of communication. We should teach our students on a daily basis to properly greet not only their parents, teachers and friends, but also visitors to their home and school, with confidence and with a smile.

Clothing:
Wearing inappropriate clothing in a place of importance not only lessens the dignity of the wearer, it also reduces his or her awareness of manners. There is appropriate clothing for study, for sports and for play. The children must be taught to dress according to the content and aims of each particular activity in which they are involved.

Speech:
A calm, polite way of speaking shows depth of knowledge and thoughtfulness on the part of the speaker. A manner of speech that indicates a feeling of respect for the party being addressed is important in any society. The ability to explain things calmly and logically, using just the right words, to make appropriate responses, to know the proper word usage and attitude for making requests and inquiries of others - these are skills that will be useful for all students when they leave home and go out into the world.

Chidren acquire their particular attitude and manner of speech gradually as part of everyday life, and parents and teachers throughout the school should cooperate closely in providing guidance.


Infantile Education
I believe that infantile education in Pre-Kinder and Kindergarten is a very important and indispensable education process of human life. It is necessary to support the habit of studying, researching, observational skills, arranging and organizing skills and creativity during the infancy period to elementary with a remarkable development of their brain.

In the kindergarten period, the daily schedule should be constructed clearly, and infant students should follow the schedule with different activities to improve their skills of time using and switching subjects at a certain point to concentrate.