By John Collins, Kumon

Adapting to ever-growing demands within the educational franchise industry took center stage for Kumon North American in 2024.

The 70-year-old brand, grounded in an analog past, made the leap into a digital future with the launch of several new major programs this year. One is Kumon Connect, which moves the everyday work of Kumon students from paper to a tablet, and the other is English as a Foreign Language. These types of innovations have helped the company continue its success.

“Adapting to the needs of customers is essential for any organization’s success,” said Mike Shim, Kumon’s senior vice president of field operations. “And that’s especially true for Kumon. As a global company for the last 70 years, we have constantly had to adapt to changing market demands. Our customers are both our students and Instructors, and this year marked a significant step in Kumon’s evolution to address their needs.”

Kumon Connect

Kumon Connect had been years in the making, and testing, when it finally made its U.S. debut in the spring. But making an institutional change that significant didn’t come without some skeptics.

“I was completely against using Kumon Connect and bringing this change to my center,” said Stuti Desai, the Instructor and owner of Kumon Center in Carmel, California. “My philosophy aligned with the old-school way of learning and keeping everything paper to pencil. It was only when I learned that I was able to see more, do more and make more time for myself, that I truly began to change my ways and invest into Kumon Connect.”

Individualization has always been a key element of the Kumon Program, with every child’s starting point based on their placement test and their advancement based on their performance on their worksheet assignments. Those same principles apply to Kumon Connect.

“Our educational approach remains rooted in Kumon’s proven methods,” Shim said. “While Kumon Connect might exist in a digital medium, it’s roots are based on the tried-and-true Kumon Method, which focuses on independent learning and mastery of skills.”

Through Kumon Connect, students use their own tablet to sign in to the web-based app. There, they can view graded worksheets from the previous day and access their homework. Instructors can “replay” students’ work, provide feedback and update lesson plans accordingly. Also, parents can monitor their children’s progress through the app.

Kumon Connect has been embraced by Kumon Instructors, and it has been successfully implemented in more than 90 percent of all Kumon centers as the study platform for nearly 40,000 students. This increases the connection between students and Instructors, leads to improved learning outcomes and enhances the value of Kumon for families.

“Kumon Connect has significantly improved my ability to understand and support my students, not just during class sessions but also when they are on vacation,” said Nibha Menon, the Instructor for Kumon of Folsom-Southeast and Natomas in California. “A key principle of the Kumon Method is to maintain students at their ‘just-right level’ of learning, and this platform greatly facilitates that objective. With Kumon Connect, I can easily monitor and adjust the learning materials to match each student’s current capabilities, ensuring they are always challenged yet capable.”

English for Spanish Speakers Program

Also in 2024, the company launched its English for Spanish Speakers Program in South Florida and Los Angeles as part of Kumon’s global English as a Foreign Language Program.

The program caters to the unique needs of Spanish-speaking students who want to enhance their English proficiency. By leveraging the Kumon Method, students in select centers in Florida and California now have access to a comprehensive and structured approach to master English with Kumon.

Claudia Antelo, the Instructor at the Kumon Center of Weston-Saddle Club Road in Florida, was one of six Kumon Instructors to pilot the program.

“This program aims to bridge the gap for Spanish-speaking students by helping them develop essential English reading and comprehension skills,” she said. “The English as a Foreign Language Program introduces English vocabulary and expressions used in everyday life. It also leverages audio supplements to enhance listening and speaking abilities, allowing students to learn more quickly and naturally in an independent manner that Kumon Founder Toru Kumon would have loved.”

The language program is a linguistic bridge for students whose first language is Spanish. Through proven methods, the program helps them develop essential English reading and comprehension skills and broaden their language abilities by using audio supplements to enhance listening and speaking abilities. Students learn more quickly and naturally in an independent manner.

“The program’s success is already evident,” Shim added. “That valuable support, and the success it provides, has already shown to be successful.”

The same program, launched in other countries, has already been credited with helping more than 100,000 students worldwide.

“We know it’s going to do the same here,” Shim said. “This is just another area where our Instructors can make such a positive difference in students’ lives.”

John Collins is Kumon North America’s vice president of center network development and has worked with the company since 2012. Collins served as Washington, D.C., branch manager from 2012-2016, general manager for the Northeast Region 2016-2018 and vice president and manager of Center Network Development from 2019-present. For more information about IFA franchisor member Kumon, please visit franchise.org/franchise-opportunities/kumon-math-reading-centers.