Combining educational elements to help children develop comprehensively

Experts shared with parents many orientations to help their children develop comprehensively in the online consultation session “Comprehensive education for preschool and primary school children” co-organized by VnExpress in collaboration with Saigon Pearl International School. ISSP) organization. The program had the participation of Mr. Lester Stephens – Principal of Saigon Pearl International School (ISSP) and Ms. Tran Thu Ha – journalist and author of the books “Think about it, I don’t know”; “Let go of my hand and let me fly”; “Everybody deserves to be happy”.

Criteria for comprehensive development in children

Mr. Lester Stephens said, when a child is born, their brain weighs about 400g on average, by the age of 7 the brain will weigh about 1.4 kg, almost the same as an adult brain. This means that 75% of brain development occurs in the first 7 years. Therefore, it is essential to help children develop comprehensively from before birth. This action will begin with the emotions, mood and nutrition of the mother during pregnancy.

Sharing the same view, Ms. Tran Thu Ha emphasized that comprehensive education for children in the first years of life is very important. To do that, parents must constantly foster and learn every day to set an example for their children.

In fact, early childhood education in the country is placing great emphasis on cognitive education for children to go to school, while neglecting the social and emotional aspects of their children. “In my articles, I often reflect that Vietnamese parents are very interested in sending their children to school. People are only interested in growing weight and height and learning letters and math, but forget about it. go to education about the brain, emotions, personality or social interaction, …”, Ms. Tran Thu Ha added.

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), parents need to focus on all-round development of their children in five areas including: physical and motor skills; social and emotional competence; language development; approaches to learning and cognitive development.

Mr. Lester Stephens analyzed: “When we talk about holistic education, in my opinion we should not prioritize each aspect, but develop all these aspects with different levels of sophistication for different students. They should be combined and complement each other, not ranked from 1 to 10. For that reason, I believe that ISSP School is operated to create balance through a Convergence Learning approach. suitable with Reggio Emilia, and also through the school’s common pedagogy: “student agency” – giving students mastery of the classroom and later the 10 qualities of students studying in the IB program – International Baccalaureate for elementary school”.

Ms. Tran Thu Ha believes that all of her children’s attitudes and personalities are firmly formed since kindergarten. It’s the little things like: sharing with others, civilized behavior, honesty, art, sports,… Therefore, parents need to prepare their children for a comprehensive foundation right away. from preschool and primary school; thereby helping children to integrate into life with a confident and steady mind.

How to help children develop comprehensively?

Numerous studies show that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life are critical to their social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. To help children develop comprehensively, it is necessary to balance comprehensive development at school and at home.

To do this, Mr. Lester Stephens, Principal of ISSP recommends that parents start with themselves: take care of themselves and learn to recognize their emotions. In the process of raising children, try to develop a vocabulary rich in emotions and listen to their mood every day. In particular, parents also need to allow their children to explore the vast world around them. The most important thing is to set firm, fair boundaries and stick to them by caring, supporting, and encouraging them.

Besides, Ms. Tran Thu Ha commented: Criteria for choosing a school in the first years of schooling is also a very important factor in the journey of raising children. Because some of the psychological damage in the process of going to school will take a long time, even a lifetime to erase it. Therefore, Ms. Thu Ha wants parents to find out carefully before sending their children to a new learning environment with factors such as: learning about educational methods, visiting the school, and seeing how to behave. of school staff from janitors to security guards… More specifically, preschool age needs stability and safety. Therefore, parents should consider finding stable learning environments without sudden changes.

Mr. Lester Stephens said, the educational environment is quite complex if we take into account the needs of many stakeholders such as parents, students, teachers. But there are two most important factors when choosing a school that parents need to keep in mind: culture and strategy. Saigon Pearl International School equally develops these two aspects. In addition, the school also has many activities to support the development of students such as: social-emotional development, physical, child protection, as well as academic development.

“Currently, the school is teaching according to the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy for preschool and is a candidate to teach the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IB PYP). Therefore, ISSP can set up standards and measures from American standards combined with the standards of the Ministry of Education and Training in the country with lesson plans, curricula and tests are personalized for each student and grade level; thereby making a difference to better meet the needs of each child,” shared Mr. Lester Stephens.

Huyen My

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