Fearing their children will be isolated, parents rush to register them for extra classes before entering first grade.

Although there are still more than 6 months until the new school year 2024-2025 begins, Ms. Tran Lan Huong (born in 1990, Hanoi) is eagerly looking for a pre-primary school class for her child.

A month ago, she did not know what pre-primary education was, but one time when she was riding the elevator and met her neighbor's child coming home from extra classes, she found out that "nowadays every family sends their children to pre-primary education". "This neighbor advised me to send my child to pre-primary education before entering first grade, otherwise it is easy to be isolated and fall behind when entering the new school year", Ms. Huong said.

Up to now, the couple has always agreed not to force their children to study if they do not want to, prioritizing the comfort and freedom of primary school age. However, since hearing about cases of isolation because they cannot spell when going to class, she has been worried. She is partly worried that her children will study worse than their friends, but most of all, she is worried that her children will be psychologically shocked if they are teased by their friends.

This parent plans to call 3-4 other parents in the same apartment building to organize a home study group and invite a tutor to teach if they cannot find a place to study.

Study like a student preparing for university

Unlike Ms. Huong, Ms. Nguyen Minh Tam (born in 1981, Quang Ninh) has experience in sending her children to pre-primary school because her first child attended the class 4 years ago. This year, Ms. Tam's second child is about to enter first grade.

Just after the Lunar New Year, Ms. Tam contacted the teacher who taught her first son to ask about opening a class and to set up a schedule. Every week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, at exactly 7pm, Ms. Tam's husband is responsible for taking their son to the teacher's house to study.

"At the extra class, I get to know the letters, practice holding a pencil, learn to spell, and count numbers." She said that after nearly 2 months of studying, Ms. Tam was happy because her child had made a lot of progress and was confident that her child would study well in first grade.

Ms. Tam revealed that the price for one lesson is 200,000 VND, a regular month is about 2.5 million for her child to learn Math and Vietnamese before entering first grade. Although both husband and wife work in an office and their salary is not too high, Ms. Tam is still determined to spend a lot of money for her child to study in pre-primary classes.

Recently, Ms. Tam and her husband discussed letting their child take an additional life skills class. "Knowledge is only one part, the child needs many more skills to be ready for first grade such as concentration skills, communication skills, emotional management skills...", the parent confided.

After searching on social media, Ms. Tam registered her child for a basic skills class at a center near her home. The class schedule "fits" right on Tuesday and Thursday evenings every week.

Ms. Tam's family aims to help her child become a well-rounded person, both studying well and actively participating in extracurricular activities to have a good profile to enter grade 6 at a famous middle school in Quang Ninh. This parent even plans to register her child for extra piano and drawing lessons on weekends to develop her child's artistic talent.

Some friends advise against letting their children study too much because they are still in preschool age, but Ms. Tam believes that extra study is not too difficult, the children can combine studying and playing, so they feel very comfortable. At the same time, getting used to studying early will help children feel less confused and pressured when they move on to higher grades.

Should I take extra classes before entering first grade?

Ms. Le Diem, a teacher at Tran Hung Dao Primary School in Quang Ninh, is assigned to teach many classes in one semester. Thanks to that, Ms. Diem has a general understanding of the students' situation when they first enter first grade.

"At the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, every first grade class I taught had students who had gone through pre-primary school. In some classes, two-thirds of the students already knew the alphabet, counted numbers, and could even do basic math. This situation has been common for many years," the female teacher said.

Students who are introduced to letters early are often very active, raising their hands to express their opinions on the lesson, but many students are distracted from their studies in class, talking, doing their own work, and not paying attention to the lecture because they have learned the knowledge before and are no longer interested.

"It is really difficult to answer the question of whether or not to let children take extra classes before entering first grade. Because each child has a different level of awareness, development, and personality," she said, adding that taking extra classes may be good for one child but not necessarily good for another. The decision to take extra classes early or not and to what extent depends on the conditions and wishes of each family.

"Whether students have had prior education or not, when entering first grade, teachers will wholeheartedly practice skills and knowledge from the beginning, developing evenly, parents do not need to worry about whether their children will be isolated or not. All students are equal," Ms. Diem emphasized.