I am the author of the article Literacy becomes a preschool ‘graduation’ standard for elementary education.
We are slow when we have to wait until first grade to start teaching children when children can receive these content earlier.
We are in a hurry to create a program that forces children to recognize all letters, rhymes, and sounds in just one semester.
Slowness and haste are now made worse when children are taught in a very formulaic and academic way instead of teaching vividly with images and sounds.
As adults, we assume that when teaching children to combine the sounds `bo a ba` with `huyen` it must become `ba`, with `sac` it must become `bo`, and find it too easy.
Therefore, adults’ forced way of imposing marks is ineffective, counterproductive and creates psychological inhibition.
>> ‘The amount of knowledge for elementary school students should be reduced by 50%’
Regarding learning to write, five or six year old children have both gross and fine motor movements of their hands and fingers not yet perfect.
I have observed, researched and found that, due to the development of children’s brains, miswriting in reverse symmetry is very common at this stage.
Here, the teacher will remind but should not correct harshly because at some point the child will be able to adjust on his own.
For teachers or parents, we need to be really patient and accept children making mistakes.
Coming back to the current situation, I think we need to seriously acknowledge that children need more time to get used to letters, learn to read and practice reading.
>> Do you agree with the idea of teaching children early literacy?
Pham Thien Ha
The first grade teacher constantly complains because my child writes and reads slowly
Grade 1 students study extra day and night