Demand increases, supply increases
Just type the keyword "thinking math" on Google, a series of centers are introduced with good quality in Ho Chi Minh City, suggesting parents to let their children register for trial lessons, experience thinking math with many models of countries such as Singaporean thinking math, Japanese thinking math, American thinking math... There are online teaching programs, direct teaching programs, places that teach thinking math entirely in Vietnamese, and parallel programs in English - Vietnamese.
Children learn mental math at a center in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of June 3.
The introduced textbooks are translated from abroad, supplemented and arranged to suit Vietnamese students, including age-appropriate knowledge topics (similar to the math textbooks of the Ministry of Education and Training). In addition, they also include many typical thinking topics such as group thinking, proportional thinking, rules, etc.; a system of exercises designed by topic (from providing basic knowledge to advanced training) and directions for applying thinking, etc.
On Ta Quang Buu Street, Ward 5, District 8, Ho Chi Minh City, one weekday evening, in front of a math thinking center called KM, quite a few parents parked their bikes waiting to pick up their children after school. Located in Phu My Hung urban area, District 7, a math thinking center on Nguyen Van Linh Street on a Saturday morning is also bustling with students and parents coming in and out.
Having opened offline classes since 2011, and switched to online teaching in 2019, the number of students at the VS Math Thinking Center, with offices in District 7 and Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, is introduced as having more than 15,000 students, from kindergarten age 3 - 4 years old. Meanwhile, the A. Math Thinking Center, which teaches directly, currently has 25 centers in many provinces and cities in Vietnam, saying they have 12,000 students studying...
Why are parents "crazy" about mental math?
Ms. Trinh Thi Nghia Thao, math teacher at Asia International School, said: "Currently, according to the 2018 General Education Program, the Ministry of Education and Training has set out the goal of teaching and learning math to improve math skills such as: Mathematical thinking and reasoning skills, math problem solving skills... In addition, current math textbooks have also added many practical, interdisciplinary contents, hoping that students will achieve the above math skills."
"However, the duration of teaching sessions is quite limited and the characteristics of each child are different, so teaching children to think is something that every teacher wants but is very difficult to do. Math thinking centers have more time and do not have too much pressure on scores, so communicating and guiding children to learn how to think will be more effective," Ms. Thao explained the attraction of math thinking centers in recent times, especially during the summer.
Mr. Tony Ngo, a master of Harvard Business School and a bachelor of Stanford University, an overseas Vietnamese who returned to Vietnam to start a business, and co-founder of Everest Education Center (specializing in developing independent thinking, logic and math skills for students) in Ho Chi Minh City, said that children aged 3-4 can learn mental math. In the US, many 2-year-old children are taught mental math by their families.
"In the future, calculating quickly is no longer important, but how to apply it to life to make math truly useful. Math teaches logic, problem-solving skills, and helps children go from understanding - deciding to solve using this method - doing - checking again, so it is increasingly getting more attention from parents," said Mr. Tony Ngo.
Ms. Ngo Thu Hien, academic manager of the VISPARK Math Thinking Center, said that when parents look for any learning program for their children, they need to know what their goal is in sending their children to school. Many people want to register for math thinking so that their children can get high math scores at school. Many people let their children study out of curiosity. However, parents need to know their goals clearly, then when looking for centers, they need to know clearly which curriculum the center teaches. And clearly, learning math thinking is not to immediately get high math scores in class. Scores are just an immediate result, not a sustainable long-term direction for math thinking.
Many parents tend to let their children learn math thinking with the hope that their children will do well in math.
Parents' mistakes
Mr. Pham Chau Lich, Professional Director of Mathnasium VN, pointed out many basic misunderstandings of parents when sending their children to study math. Some parents think that math is a completely different type of math compared to the math program that students learn at school according to the textbooks of the Ministry of Education and Training.
Some parents often expect and compare their children's progress (thinking development) with other students without realizing that their children's thinking development will depend on each child's ability. Parents should only consider and compare each child's changes according to each stage of their learning to see how much or how little progress they have made.
"To have thinking skills, students need to have thinking habits. Most students do not have this habit, they only have calculation skills. Forming or changing habits with students takes time and depends on each student's ability. The more students are used to a stereotyped, mechanical way of learning, the more time it takes to change," said Mr. Lich.
What is mental math?
Ms. Trinh Thi Nghia Thao said that mental math is a subject that uses numbers, images, visual tools, etc. to help children achieve mathematical abilities as well as logical thinking, analysis, reasoning, synthesis and problem solving.
Ms. Thao said that some parents misunderstand the difference between difficult problems and thinking problems. The thinking here is to help children think, reason, analyze, and confidently come up with solutions to difficult problems.
Mental math is not a form of repeating math problems, but here it also involves thinking, self-learning ability, children may encounter math problems that have never been instructed, a problem in life that they have never experienced, and each child will choose a solution for themselves.
"That solution may be right or wrong, but that is the mindset - observing, synthesizing and finally solving the problem," said Ms. Thao.
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