For 15-year-old Auckland student Ramahl, studying ahead of his school grade in Kumon Mathematics and English has provided him not only with a solid foundation for high school – but for all his future endeavours as he grows up in a world undergoing rapid and exciting changes.

Ramahl was enrolled into Kumon in 2015. He started by revising the basics of mathematics and reading, before eventually pursuing advanced study that was more than five years ahead of his school grade. Now, in school, Ramahl is studying Year 12 and 13 mathematics despite only being in Year 11, and studies both Year 12 English and New Zealand Scholarship English – a university-level extension course.

Ramahl embraces challenges. He attributes this attitude to his prior Kumon study.

“Kumon’s put me on that path from a young age where I can now realise, I have the courage to take up challenges,” he says.

Ramahl attributes his confidence to the strong foundation in mathematics and reading, which he built in Kumon. He says that learning basic mathematical concepts such as the four basic operations or English concepts such as simple sentence structure, are just as important as the more advanced concepts.

“Kumon makes sure you have a really good understanding of the simple concepts first before extending you to those harder problems,” Ramahl says. “If I didn’t understand times tables or algebra, I wouldn’t be able to do the calculus that I can do today.”

“I also think reading is probably the most important thing you can do for an understanding of English,” he continues. “I know that I probably wouldn’t have read nearly as many books if I hadn’t gone to Kumon, because I had to read book extracts in my Kumon worksheets.”

“I really liked how Kumon introduced me to non-mainstream texts from which I could learn new words, genres and writing styles. This helped me to have a sense of reading and English skills in my future.”

Kumon provides students with a strong foundation in mathematics and reading, the basis for the study of all other subjects at school. Ramahl believes that his mathematics and English knowledge from Kumon extends to his other school subjects.

“I think mathematics and reading and writing isn’t just about maths and English, but they also apply to pretty much every subject, especially in high school where every subject has an element of writing to it,” Ramahl explains.

“I can use my vocabulary to better get points across in science, for example, and science is also all about mathematics. And there’s geography and history, they require strong reading, writing and critical thinking skills, and that’s what an early understanding of maths and English really develops.”

“Therefore, a foundation of those two core subjects allows me to go into what I want in other subjects too, and extend myself in those.”

However, it’s the challenging spirit and have-a-go attitude, which Kumon fostered in Ramahl, that he believes will be of lifelong benefit.

“I think Kumon sets you up with the confidence to take on challenges. Not just in mathematics and reading, but in my case, studying science, doing drama, learning Māori, taking up cultural groups and service groups, because in setting up a strong foundation is what allows you to take up extra things in life,” Ramahl says. “I know I’m doing the best I can; I know I’m taking the most advanced classes I can. I think Kumon sets you up on a different trajectory for life, knowing that different pathways are open and available. It’s a domino effect that helps you understand where you can end up and what you can do.”

Rae, Ramahl’s father, says he enrolled his son into Kumon because he deeply appreciated the programmes focus on developing students’ foundational knowledge in mathematics and reading, before moving onto more advanced concepts.

“I think that there are very much two foundations to education, and that’s maths and English,” Rae says. “If you don’t have either or both of them, your education’s not going to be very good and you’re not going to get very far if you want to educate yourself.”

Rae says he is grateful that Kumon has opened up so many different opportunities for Ramahl. He believes that with rapid technological change transforming how people live, work, and learn, top-quality education is critical. Rae sees Kumon as the building base for the future learning.

“I want to do my very best to ensure that Ramahl has the best pathways open to him in his future,” Rae says. “I’m so happy that he is headed in a direction that blows my mind away a bit actually. And school teachers who have had Ramahl in his class too, they just say to me, ‘The world’s his oyster.’”