Attractive summer courses

Summer vacation is the time when many families, especially in big cities, look for programs, summer courses, and summer camps for their children to experience and supplement their life skills. To meet this need of parents, summer activities have become increasingly diverse and professional. These can be summer camps that teach skills, physical fitness; swimming lessons or online courses.

Various forms of summer learning for children.

The life skills summer camp model is very attractive and appealing to both students and parents such as: Military Semester, Learning to be a useful person, Integrating with nature, Learning to be a farmer, Summer retreat, Police Summer Camp, Survival skills summer camp... These summer camps can come from the school where the children study, experiential schools or specialized organizations. This year, the Military Semester program of the Hanoi Youth Employment and Support Center (a career unit under the Hanoi Youth Union) has 3 programs for children from 7 to 17 years old, including: "Military Summer", "Cadets Summer Camp", "Bilingual Military Summer Camp". Each program is organized into many courses at different times and locations and lasts from 7 to 10 days. Tuition for each program ranges from 6,200,000 to 9,950,000 VND.

With a period of time away from home from 7 to 12 days, children live completely independently and study and play in a collective environment, helping them become more confident and bold. In particular, summer camps teaching survival skills, fire escape skills, swimming skills and self-defense skills... are of interest to many parents.

With nearly 70 years of operating in the field of out-of-school education , Hanoi Children's Palace is also one of the addresses chosen by many parents to send their children to summer school. Ms. Vo Thi Thanh Diep, Deputy Director of Hanoi Children's Palace, said that in addition to traditional educational activities like every year, this year, this unit has many new playgrounds such as: Organizing safe online summer playgrounds; managing emotions for children. In addition, Hanoi Children's Palace has also piloted a boarding school model with 9 skill activities for students to study all day, which has attracted the attention of many parents. Tuition fees for each program are quite reasonable.

In addition to skills courses and summer camps in the country, some parents also let their children participate in summer study abroad courses. When participating, children will experience the cultures of countries around the world . However, the cost of these courses is quite high, some courses cost up to hundreds of millions of VND depending on the time and location chosen by the family.

How to choose effectively

The trend of picnics, experiences or summer camps is becoming a trend among students in many provinces and cities across the country. However, there have been tragic accidents. Although there are no complete statistics, the incidents are also a wake-up call for parents and experience organizers to help children and students have a safe summer learning experience.

Parents attend summer school with their children.

Expressing his disappointment at letting his child attend a firefighting summer camp where he did not learn much, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh (Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi) said: “The curriculum is not as advertised. I registered for this course through social networks with the hope of equipping my child with basic knowledge and skills in fire prevention and fighting, but after the course, my child is still clumsy in situations.”

In an interview with reporters, Dr. Tran Thi Thin, a former lecturer at Nghe An Pedagogical College, admitted that there was a situation of “head elephant, tail mouse” in some organizations. Because of profit, there are programs, experts only teach for the first time, then students practice and play meaningless games, poor quality content, haphazardly edited programs, and low safety levels.

Dr. Tran Thi Thin believes that parents should not expect their children to change after ten days of attending summer courses. This time is only enough to form but not maintain habits for children. Accordingly, when choosing a summer camp for their children, parents should put safety first. Next, register for activities that suit their children's interests and wishes so that they can have a useful and enjoyable summer vacation.

Sharing the same opinion, Ms. Vo Thi Thanh Diep said that parents should consider carefully when letting their children participate in summer courses because the advertisements are "hot" but may not be suitable for children. “Of course, advertising is good, so when choosing a summer camp program for their children, parents should not only refer to many channels but also directly test it to see if it is suitable for their children's age before deciding to register. The experience of some parents is to choose based on the brand and reputation of the organizing units. As for new clubs, parents should research how they did in previous years and whether they had a large coverage. In addition, parents need to carefully consider the program, whether they go to boarding school or during the day, and see what the facilities and living conditions are like for their children. The important thing is whether the professional qualifications of the teaching staff and school management team ensure knowledge and skill level. For children, parents should let them study at centers and clubs near their home to avoid frequent travel, which affects their health. Choose centers with full functions and tasks, if they do well, then you should let your children participate,” said Ms. Diep.

As for Ms. Hoang Mai Lan (Vinh City, Nghe An), summer is the time to consolidate and learn more cultural knowledge. Ms. Lan shared: “Every child in the class goes to summer classes, if my child stays home to play, he will not be able to keep up with his friends during the school year. Sooner or later, he will have to go to extra classes. However, the family is still wondering where to let him study, what subjects he needs to study and how much time he needs.”

According to the recommendation of Mr. Dinh Van Thinh, Director of Angel Skills Education Company (Ho Chi Minh City), extra teaching and learning has many positive meanings, but at the same time there are also negative manifestations. Instead of saying should or should not, there needs to be a balance and suitability. “Taking care of children is necessary, but during the summer, parents force their children to study too many subjects, taking away their time to experience, play and entertain, which needs to be considered, because of comprehensive education. For children to have a truly beneficial summer, it is necessary to balance between playing and studying, setting clear goals and implementation plans. Summer is the time for children to experience more activities that develop their talents such as playing instruments, singing, dancing, favorite sports; develop communication skills, confidence in front of crowds, learn about life skills; develop skills related to emotions and relationships. Children can visit their grandparents, experience life in their hometown, travel to explore new lands, learn about culture, people, food... These activities not only help children put down their phones, avoid playing games too much, but also make their lives more experienced, joyful and meaningful, and make them feel valuable.”

Article and photos: HA KHOA