Next September, the first son of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh (35 years old, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi ) will enter first grade. However, instead of waiting until the new school year, right before Tet, she was busy looking for a tutor to teach her son pre-primary school.
"Children now entering first grade no longer just learn letters and simple addition and subtraction. Many of them can read, write, and even do advanced math. I cannot let my child start when his friends are already far ahead," Ms. Oanh shared the reason for deciding to invest in her child.
After consulting many friends, colleagues and social media groups, the female parent chose for her child a teacher with a doctorate degree, currently a lecturer at a prestigious university of education.
Worried that their children will be 'out of breath' when entering first grade, many parents send their children to pre-primary school. (Illustration photo)
Ms. Oanh's son started studying with the teacher from the beginning of June, 2 sessions a week, each session lasts 90 minutes, costs 500,000 VND, the schedule is expected to last until the end of August. Although the tuition fee is up to 1 million VND per week, the female parent still finds it completely worth it.
"Money can be earned back, but if your child loses confidence and falls behind his friends, it is difficult to make up for it. I chose to let my child study 1-1 so that the teacher can practice every little thing, from holding a pen, mastering the alphabet, how to rhyme, reading and spelling, reading fluently; getting familiar with numbers and basic addition and subtraction. My child learns quickly, I feel much more secure," said Ms. Oanh.
She hesitated because she felt sorry for her young child, but after hearing the confidences from her colleagues, Ms. Dong Thi Ha (37 years old, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi) quickly registered her child for an extra pre-primary class at a price of 400,000 VND/session.
“My colleague once confided that because she did not let her child study in advance, when the school year started, the mother and child were like going to war every night. The child cried because he was tired and did not understand the lesson, while the mother was stressed and yelled, the whole family was in turmoil, unable to eat or sleep for the first few months of the school year,” the female parent said, adding that she did not want to fall into such a situation.
According to Ms. Ha, studying in advance not only helps children approach letters and numbers early, but more importantly, helps them get used to the learning rhythm, sit seriously, listen to the teacher, and not play around like in kindergarten. "That is what my child needs to practice the most before entering first grade. As long as my child makes a little progress every day, I am satisfied," said the female parent.
Parents spend half a million/session for primary school. (Illustration photo)
The story of Ms. Oanh and Ms. Ha is not unique. More and more parents in big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City... are willing to spend a lot of money, from several million to tens of millions of VND/month for their children to study in pre-primary school, expressing that they can manage the money, but the feeling that their children are left behind and have low self-esteem right when they first start their learning journey is very scary.
According to Ms. Nguyen My Linh, a primary school teacher in Hanoi, investing in children before they enter first grade is understandable, showing parents' concern. However, the pre-primary stage is the golden stage for developing thinking ability, learning style and helping children feel interested in self-study.
Ms. Linh warns that forcing children to study too early and too much will cause them to lose interest, reduce their creativity, and miss out on the opportunity to develop their physical and mental abilities, important factors for them to study well later on.
Sharing the same view, Dr. Vu Thu Huong, an independenteducation expert and former lecturer at the Faculty of Primary Education, Hanoi National University of Education, affirmed that children do not need to learn to read and write before entering first grade. What children need is to prepare mentally and have the necessary skills to be ready for primary school.
“For children who already know how to read and write, when they enter grade 1, they will have subjective thoughts, rely on others and no longer be interested in the teacher's lectures, even not listen to the teacher. This is the premise for the formation of a lack of concentration,” said Dr. Vu Thu Huong, who believes that the preschool education program basically provides all the knowledge and skills for children to have the prerequisite to enter grade 1. Learning to read and write in advance is not useful and necessary for children, but rather does more harm than good.
“ All the first grade teachers I have worked with have confirmed that if children are taught the curriculum in advance, they will only be better than their classmates for the first 1-2 months, then they will return to their original position. Thus, learning in advance is completely worthless and will only increase pressure on children,” Dr. Huong emphasized.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/chi-nua-trieu-dong-buoi-cho-con-hoc-lop-tien-tieu-hoc-co-can-thiet-ar949677.html
Comment (0)