Miss Anne's Adventures as a Kumon Instructor

Practice Being Like a Child
by Jim Rohn

Remember the master teacher once said 2,000 years ago, “Unless you can become like little children, your chances are zero, you haven’t got a prayer.” A major consideration for adults.


Be like children and remember there are four ways to be more like a child no matter how old you get :


Curiosity
Be curious. Childish curiosity. Learn to be curious like a child. What will kids do if they want to know something bad enough? You’re right. They will bug you. Kids can ask a million questions. You think they’re through. They’ve got another million. They will keep plaguing you. They can drive you right to the brink.


Also kids use their curiosity to learn. Have you ever noticed that while adults are stepping on ants, children are studying them? A child’s curiosity is what helps them to reach, learn and grow.


Excitement
Learn to get excited like a child. There is nothing that has more magic than childish excitement. So excited you hate to go to bed at night. Can’t wait to get up in the morning. So excited that you’re about to explode. How can anyone resist that kind of childish magic? Now, once in a while I meet someone who says, “Well, I’m a little too mature for all that childish excitement.” Isn’t that pitiful? You’ve got to weep for these kinds of people. All I’ve got to say is, “If you’re too old to get excited, you’re old.” Don’t get that old.


Faith
Faith like a child. Faith is childish. How else would you describe it? Some people say, “Let’s be adult about it.” Oh no. No. Adults too often have a tendency to be overly skeptical. Some adults even have a tendency to be cynical. Adults say, “Yeah. I’ve heard that old positive line before. It will be a long day in June before I fall for that positive line. You’ve got to prove to me it’s any good.” See, that’s adult, but kids aren’t that way. Kids think you can get anything. They are really funny. You tell kids, “We’re going to have three swimming pools.” And they say, “Yeah. Three. One each. Stay out of my swimming pool.” See, they start dividing them up right away, but adults are not like that. Adults say, “Three swimming pools? You’re out of your mind. Most people don’t even have one swimming pool. You’ll be lucky to get a tub in the back yard.” You notice the difference? No wonder the master teacher said, “Unless you can become like little children, your chances, they’re skinny.”


Trust
Trust is a childish virtue, but it has great merit. Have you heard the expression “sleep like a baby”? That’s it. Childish trust. After you’ve gotten an A+ for the day, leave it in somebody else’s hands.


Curiosity, excitement, faith and trust. Wow, what a powerful combination to bring (back) into our lives.

Wow, wow, and WOW! The below article really gives me some new insight into "selling" Kumon to potential families.

First, a little info from my personal experience... then the article.

Kumon North America rolled out some new Parent Orientation materials last year. The info and materials were great and customizable (thanks, KNA!) I did everything I could to incorporate these amazing materials and script into my family orientations. I completely revamped my "new family" meetings.

What happened? FEWER ENROLLMENTS! I suppose that the "script" and "buzzwords" were just not me. I started "playing a role" rather than conveying my true enthusiasm and belief in the Kumon program. I stopped being as personal and individualized as I had been about "making the shoe fit the foot" of each potential new student. I started sounding "cannned", rather than authentic.

Good gosh! I am so glad I realized this sooner, rather than later. I've gone back to my "old" authentic, enthusiastic, and personal orientations. What I missed hearing from families when I used the "one-size fits all" script was that they "knew/felt my respect and belief in the Kumon program. Now that I have gone back to my "own" version, EVERY parent lets me know that they feel and appreciate my passion for Kumon.

This authenticity makes a difference. My enrollments are increasing :-)

Read on, my friends...

Selling Your Authenticity
~ Roger Dawson April 6, 2010

The truth is incontrovertible, as Winston Churchill would say. You cannot be a top producer unless you genuinely believe in the value of your product or service and can enthusiastically convey that to your buyers.

Let’s be clear about what I mean by enthusiasm. I don’t mean the mass excitement generated at rock concerts and sales rallies. That kind of frantic jump-up-and-down excitement is short-lived. What good does it do to get all pumped up at one of those rallies if the thought of making a cold call gives you a migraine?

No, I’m talking about the genuine enthusiasm that comes from a sincere belief in what you’re selling. To develop enthusiasm, start truly believing in your industry, your company, your product and your ability to serve your customers. If you truly believe in your product, you won’t need superficial excitement to motivate you. You’ll be sitting in front of that phone thinking, I can’t wait to pick up the phone and start telling people how good this is.

Here are some tips on how to grow your enthusiasm:

1. Get feedback from your customers. A lot of salespeople don’t want to hear from people they have sold. No news is good news for that kind of salesperson. Get feedback. The more you hear from your customers that they were delighted with their purchase, the better you will feel about what you do.

2. Improve the quality of your customers’ feedback with this mantra: I’m going to promise my customers less but deliver more. If you are closing sales by exaggerating the worth or value of your product, you are always going to have unhappy customers.

3. Stimulate your sales presentation with enthusiastic third-party stories. If you sell vacations and you can’t get excited about going to Hawaii, you can still enthusiastically say, “Jo and Bill McAuley were so excited about their vacation in Hawaii. They called to tell me that it was the best time they’d had in their lives.”

4. Learn about your competitors and their shortcomings. Some salespeople are reluctant to do this because they have no intention of knocking the competition. That’s fine, but hopefully, the more you know about your competitors’ problems and shortcomings, the more enthusiastic you will become about your own product.

I’ve never met a more enthusiastic salesperson than my good friend Peter Shield. I first met Peter in Brisbane, Australia, when he introduced me to the audience at one of my Power Negotiating seminars. About 15 years later, Peter emigrated from Australia to Las Vegas, where he got involved in the timeshare industry. He has taken to the timeshare industry like a duck to water. He loves it.

For years now I’ve tried to break Peter’s enthusiasm for timeshare. I’ve never been able to do it. Every project he has worked on has been the most incredible bargain in the world. “Come on Peter,” I’ll tease him, “when I want to go on vacation I can pick from thousands of travel bargains on the Web. Why would I need to buy a timeshare?”

“Roger,” he replies, “we’ve been friends for over 15 years now and I’ll tell you the truth from the bottom of my heart. You will never, ever find a better buy than the project that I’m working on now! And apart from that, you get my service. My service comes with every sale I make. And you can’t buy me online.”

What does that teach me about Peter’s approach? It teaches me nothing will ever shake his enthusiasm for his product.

Buyers are not persuaded by logic. They are persuaded by how well you can communicate your belief in your product and service.

So... I recieved an awesome (and surprising) e-mail from Mr. Jim Coakley (the King of Kumon Branding) last week. In the e-mail, he offered me the opportunity to participate as a member of Kumon North America's Branding Advisory Committee. I am honored and humbled by this amazing opportunity, which I, of course, accepted!

Here is some addition information, as published in the April edition of "The Bridge":


"In the January-February 2010 edition of The Bridge, we announced the establishment of new subject-specific Instructor Advisory Committees in order to give distinct and focused attention to each of the many important components that go into operating Kumon Centers. (...) Selection of committee participants was based on a variety of factors, including recognition of the Instructors’ conviction in the Kumon philosophy and method, proven ability to implement the program and operate their businesses effectively, demonstrated interest and proficiency in the particular focus of the committee, and leadership skills. Committee members serve a one-year term and may be reappointed."

Branding Advisory Committee (BAC)
Arti Balakrishna ........................... (Southeast)
Kasia Braun ................................. (Northeast)
Marilyn Fenton ............................ (Canada East)
Bruce Fitterer ............................... (Northwest)
Sue McLean ................................ (Central)
Anne Parham ............................. (Southwest)
Hina Patel .................................... (Central East)

I'm a little intimidated about being included in this group of amazing, successful, experienced Instructors, but I am absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to share my experiences, learn from the group, and MAYBE provide some ideas/thoughts/suggestions as to how KNA will increase KUMON brand awareness in North America. Increased awareness and "top-of-mind" recognition will benefit all of us :-)

I'll keep you posted on the upcoming BAC happenings and am looking forward to visiting with my fellow Kumon Instructors this summer in NYC.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate, and "happy weekend" to everyone.

I hope you all experience something amazing today~

~~~Miss Anne

Communication with Your Elementary Age Child
by Denis Waitley

In communicating with children of all ages, eye contact and physical contact are important. These should be part of our everyday dealings. A child whose parents use eye and physical contact will likely be more comfortable with himself and others, be a better communicator and have better self-esteem.

Eye contact, especially, is a little gesture whose presence or absence can covey big meaning. There’s surprisingly little eye contact in many households, and when it does exist, it’s usually negative, such as when the teen is being reprimanded. The more you can make eye contact in a loving way, the more your child will feel nourished.

You send several hundred verbal and nonverbal messages to your children each day. You don’t have to say a word to send a message to your child. You can turn off verbal communications, but not the nonverbal ones. Ninety-three percent of all communication is nonverbal. Parents under stress often withdraw from one another and from their children, and when they do communicate, it tends to be bossy and irritable.

First you listen, and then you talk. Decide that for you the conversation is going to be about listening. Devote your attention to what your son or daughter is saying, because kids are very good at detecting insincerity. Make it clear that you are listening and trying to understand your child’s point of view. When your child describes an event, repeat what you think your child has just said. You might say, “It sounds like you’re saying….” Don’t be too quick with advice. Pat answers imply that the child’s problem is too simple and maybe not significant. Listen while the child explores all aspects of the situation. Often, your child will talk himself or herself into the same solution you were eager to offer.

Stress to your child the importance of using positive, affirming language. Teach your child that his/her language is a reflection of his/her thoughts and attitudes. Also, that others will form attitudes about us, based in part on what they hear us say.

Four Words That Make Life Worthwhile
by Jim Rohn

Over the years, as I’ve sought out ideas, principles and strategies to life’s challenges, I’ve come across four simple words that can make living worthwhile.
First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don’t know will hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences—negative or positive.

We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people’s experiences, both positive and negative. I’ve always said that it is too bad failures don’t give seminars. Obviously, we don’t want to pay them, so they aren’t usually touring around giving seminars. But that information would be very valuable. We would learn how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people’s experiences and mistakes is valuable information because we can learn what not to do without the pain of having tried and failed ourselves.

We learn by what we see, so pay attention. We learn by what we hear, so be a good listener. Now, I do suggest that you should be a selective listener. Don’t just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read, so learn from every source. Learn from lectures. Learn from songs. Learn from sermons. Learn from conversations with people who care. Always keep learning.

Second, life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can’t just learn. Now you have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference. Try to make some progress. Try to learn a new skill. Try to learn a new sport. It doesn’t mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?

Third, life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project, see it through. Sometimes calamity comes; then it is worth wrapping it up and that’s the end. But just don’t end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.

And lastly, life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all, you will get some results. If you care enough, you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.
Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care.

What difference can you make in your life today by putting these words to work?

When I read this "opinion" letter in the Albuquerque Journal, I truly thought I misunderstood what the author was trying to say. So I read it again. And then, one more time. THEN, I tore it out of the paper and showed it to my husband, because I still couldn't believe someone had written these words!!! Read it for yourself... But make sure you are sitting down :-)

Friday, February 05, 2010 - Albuquerque Journal

There's a Simple Reason Why Math Education Doesn't Add Up

I didn't like math when it was first presented to me well over half-a-century ago, and I still don't. And there is a very simple, non-scientific reason for it.

Numbers are boring. They have no intrinsic meaning. (Whatever meaning they do have usually tells you something you don't want to know, like what is lacking in your checkbook.)

Think about it. You can take a set of numbers, scramble them around in any order you want, even add in some letters for good measure (usually "x" and "y") and still — you don't have anything interesting.

But letters — that is another matter altogether.

You put letters in a certain order, and voila! You get words! Words have meaning! Words can be placed in an infinite number of combinations and you get stories, even literature. Stories can you make you laugh, or cry, and most importantly, for students, they can make you want to keep turning pages to see what happens next.

I cannot recall a single instance in my life when numbers have ever given me the desire to keep turning pages to see what happens next.

Why should this be such a difficult concept for educators to understand?

J.D.
Albuquerque

"We will receive not what we idly wish for but what we justly earn. Our rewards will always be in exact proportion to our service."

— Earl Nightingale, Motivational speaker and author