Tetsuya Miyamoto, the Inventor of KenKen
KenKen puzzles are the invention of Tetsuya Miyamoto, a Japanese math teacher who invented puzzles so students could experience how much fun learning can be. Miyamoto runs a class for children whose parents want them to improve their thinking powers. Indeed, 80% of the children who attend his weekly classes later gain admission to Japan’s most exclusive schools.
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Tetsuya Miyamoto photographed by Leo Lewis |
That’s not all: for the past five years Miyamoto’s students have dominated Japan’s “Math Olympics," the country’s top competition in mathematics for students ages 11 - 15. His current and former students have won the top prizes.
This success is not due to any pre-selection of the children on the grounds of their ability; the pupils in Miyamoto’s class are accepted on a first-come-first-served basis. The success of his method is due to the method itself: the pupils spend 90 minutes every week on their own solving puzzles and learning that perseverance is one of the keys to success.
Miyamoto not only invented KenKen in 2004, he introduced it in a book published by Discover 21 under the title “kyo-iku puzzle.” He is an expert in recognizing what features make for a good puzzle. Aesthetic features, for example. In some of the puzzles you will notice a certain amount of symmetry. Miyamoto also makes sure that every puzzle has certain clues to help you to solve the puzzle. And, of course, every KenKen puzzle has only one solution.
Passionate about KenKen
“Have you considered getting puzzles incorporated into the latest textbooks? Western Canada is currently making textbooks for Grades 9 - 12. I shared some KenKen with four of the authors. The publishers are McGraw Hill Ryerson, Pearson and Addison Wesley."
-- Fred H., Richmond, B.C. |
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In Japan, the educational publishing giant Gakken launched KenKen in 2006. Within a year Gakken published fourteen books of KenKen “brain puzzles” -- and sales have now topped 1.5 million. Amazing, isn’t it? All started initially to help students.
The Ken of Miyamoto’s Philosophy
Miyamoto, a frequent lecturer, is known for the educational theory, “The Art of Teaching Without Teaching.” This is an instruction-free method of training the brain. His materials, he says, enable children to build “their ability to think thoroughly about things, which cannot be developed through recently popular memorization calculations methods like Hyakumasu Keisan (Hundred-square calculations) and Indian two-digits multiplication tables.”
The educational method is unusual. Why? Put simply, Miyamoto doesn’t teach. “Children are not taught or instructed,” he explains. “If you give children good educational materials, they will think, learn and grow on their own. They work in the same way as babies who naturally learn to stand up and start walking without actually being taught.”
That’s the heart of KenKen. Questions? Just click here to send us an email. And most of all, please spread the “ken” or wisdom -- the vital educational word -- of how young people benefit from KenKen!
------------- To read “Tetsuya Miyamoto Creates KenKen. Train Your Brain” (March 22, 2008), click for The Times website. |
