VietNamNet Bridge – Some students go to the countryside. Others attend music and arts classes. Others have a “working holiday” when they spend time attending private tutoring classes to prepare for exams.

Many parents continue to argue about what is best for their children in the summer, classes or leisure.

Dr. Nguyen Le Hang, Director of TEST, a children development consultancy center, believes that summer is the time for children to play and put lessons aside.

Nguyen Thi Hue, a teacher of the La Thanh Primary School in Hanoi, said she sends her son to the countryside every summer.

“My son is a primary school student and he enjoys the countryside landscapes very much. He usually asks his grandfather to take him to places where he can see how farmers graze cows,” she said.

According to the Hanoi Education and Training Department’s Deputy Director Pham Xuan Tien, it is a good idea to send children to the countryside in summer.

“Children will be able to immerse themselves in the fresh air and the landscapes in rural areas. They can see clumps of bamboo, buffalos and rice fields, the things that they cannot see in their cities. Being closer to nature is always very good for humans,” he noted.

Hue, who is also an educator, thinks that the biggest problem for urban students is that they only receive theoretical knowledge at school. Bringing children to the countryside is a good way to make them closer to the nature and practice what they learn.

“I bought seeds and showed my son how to sow them, water and take care of plants. He liked the job very much. The first thing he did every morning after he got up was to see how the plant grew overnight,” Hue said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hang suggested taking children to parks and museums, where they can communicate with people and learn from the cultural environment.

“It’s better not to leave children in closed rooms, even if they spend time playing music or painting,” Hang said.

While many parents believe that summer is the time for children to play after they finish the academic year, others believe that it is the time for them to review the knowledge they received before.

Tien believes that the best solution is one that allows children to both play and study. Children should be asked to begin learning again in July. However, they should not be forced to study too much.

“I know some parents who ask their children to do a lot of exercises every day and tell them not to play until they finish the work,” Tien said.

“However, this does more harm than good,” he added. “The children will become tired of learning if they cannot play even during the summer holiday”.

“Vietnamese parents nowadays all hope their children can obtain high education levels. However, forcing children to learn too much is not a good choice to reach those goals,” he said.

Bao Anh