At 3 pm every Thursday and Saturday, Nguyen Nguyen Khoa meets his 70 friends online to share experiences on how to use free online teaching sites.

After showing friends how to use the apps, he plays lecture videos and practices doing exercises. The class becomes lively when Khoa asks friends to solve math questions together with him. After that, he asks every member of the group to show his way of solving questions.

Many members are confident in solving mathematics questions, while others acknowledge they ‘forgot’ and needed more minutes to check the lessons again. A member of the group said to Khoa “Professor, may I ask some questions?”

All the members of the class were excited and not shy as they are in an official class, and those who could solve questions did not feel pressure.

After each class, Khoa and his classmates summarize and review what they have learned. They even create competitions to create a constructive and funny atmosphere.

My Hanh, the mother of Khoa, said as the boy could not go to school because of Covid-19, he talked to his mother about organizing online meetings to connect with friends of the same age group.

The idea was later shared by Hanh on chat groups and 70 students from many cities and provinces have joined the class.

Hanh was happy when seeing her son preparing ‘lesson plans’ to teach his friends.

“The fact that my son has knowledge in a certain subject is not as important as that he can be a useful person who can transmit and share knowledge with others,” she said.

When Khoa turned two years old, Hanh familiarized the boy with reading books and relating stories before sleeping. The boy gradually became interested in books, and could read books when he was 3 years old.

“At that time, he could do all the exercises in the English book, for example, filling letters to create words. He also had a great passion for solving math questions,” he said.

When Khoa turned six years old, he could communicate in English and use English to learn Russian himself.

For mathematics, Khoa spends most of time learning from Khan Academy, a famous website teaching mathematics and sciences for free.

Khoa, a fifth grader, now can solve mathematics questions designed for ninth graders. The boy doesn’t go to private tutoring classes, but studies on the internet. 

Thuy Nga

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