She criticized her handwriting as 'ugly as chicken scratch', parents raced to find writing classes for their children.

Seeing that their children are afraid to go to class because the teacher says their handwriting is bad, parents are turning to handwriting training centers to send their children to classes at very low fees.

Since the beginning of November, every 2 days a week, after work, Ms. Le Thi Thuy (34 years old, Hoang Mai, Hanoi ) hurriedly left the office to pick up her first grade son at school to go to the calligraphy training center.

Previously, with the wish that their child would have a complete childhood, the couple never thought of sending their child to any extra cultural or gifted classes. “Then, less than two months into first grade, suddenly one morning before going to school, the child whispered that he did not want to go to class. I was startled and asked the reason and received the answer that in class, the teacher praised all the children for their beautiful handwriting, but because of his bad handwriting, he was often reminded and felt ashamed,” said Ms. Thuy.

After asking the parents in the class, Ms. Thuy learned that before entering primary school, most of her child's classmates had attended handwriting classes. Everyone expressed the opinion that bad handwriting was not a crime, but beautiful handwriting would be more sympathetic. She quickly went home to discuss with her husband about sending her child to handwriting classes, but was immediately rejected.

“My husband thinks that our son’s handwriting is not too bad, he can still read it. He just started first grade, he needs to practice gradually to write well. However, neither of us have any teaching experience, how can we teach our son?”, Ms. Thuy sighed. The fear that our son will be self-conscious and embarrassed in front of his friends has made the parents unable to sit still.

Criticized by the teacher for bad handwriting, parents scramble to find handwriting classes for their children. (Illustration photo)

Introduced by another parent, she immediately signed up for a calligraphy course at a center near her home for 4 million VND/course (16 lessons). Here, her son will be taught by experienced teachers how to sit and write in the correct posture, how to hold a pen, control hand strength and perform precise movements to create beautiful, neat handwriting.

Except for the days she goes to the center, the rest of the evenings, Thuy and her daughter sit and practice writing at home until late at night. "Many times, I sit until 11 pm, I tell her to go rest and not write anymore, but she insists on writing everything because she wants to be praised by the teacher, even though she sometimes complains to me that her hands and neck are sore," the female parent said.

In a similar situation, Ms. Nham Thuy Hang (36 years old, Gia Lam, Hanoi) was shocked when she received a text message from her homeroom teacher complaining that her son, a second grader, had “bad handwriting like a chicken scratch”. Opening her son’s practice notebook, she was startled to see that the handwriting was crooked, the lines were up and down, sometimes big, sometimes small, one letter connected to another in a crooked manner.

“I don’t know since when my child’s handwriting has become so sloppy. Last school year, although his handwriting wasn’t as nice as his friends’, it was still easy to read. Now, after writing, he can’t even translate his own writing,” Ms. Hang said sadly.

Fearing that if she did not practice writing early, her child would become more and more careless and then fail to write, Ms. Hang went online to find a home tutor to practice writing. After some consideration, she chose to hire a young teacher through a center. The price for a writing practice session is 230,000 VND/1.5 hours of study.

Before making the decision to pay, the female parent was promised by the teacher and the center to help her child write beautifully in just 2 months, and at the same time grasp the principles and standards of light and bold strokes, stylized letters, advanced letters...

“I don’t like it, but I don’t dare disobey my mother, so I reluctantly go to school. Whatever I learn is good. I’m still young, so I have to practice. I can’t let it go,” said Ms. Hang.

Many parents are willing to spend millions of dong to send their children to calligraphy training centers. (Illustration photo)

Being a person who likes beautiful handwriting, Ms. Nguyen Thanh Ha (34 years old, Thai Binh ) is proud when looking at the round, sure handwriting of her daughter, who is in 5th grade.

The female parent said that although her daughter's handwriting was not bad, because she always wanted her child to have "clean notebooks and beautiful handwriting", she sent her to the center as soon as she entered first grade. Up to now, her daughter has undergone two basic and advanced handwriting courses, with a total cost of nearly 10 million VND.

“I used to be a student with bad handwriting, so I understand how much this makes me feel disadvantaged and ashamed in front of everyone. Therefore, I want to train my child from a young age to write correctly and beautifully,” said Ms. Ha.

According to Ms. Bui Thi Nhon, a teacher at Tan Thanh A Primary School ( Binh Phuoc ), in reality, many parents are willing to spend a large amount of money to hire a tutor or send their children to a calligraphy training center, even though their children's handwriting is not too bad.

"It is undeniable that practicing beautiful handwriting will bring students good qualities such as carefulness, meticulousness, neatness... However, we should teach children to write clearly, instead of forcing them to practice beautiful handwriting. Don't force your child to be both good at writing and have good handwriting because children are not superheroes," said Ms. Nhon.

The female teacher believes that writing beautifully is also an art, and art always requires talent. If children can write large, clear, and with enough strokes, parents should not waste time on teaching their children to write beautifully if they do not want to.

"Learning anything requires interest to learn well. If you force children to practice writing too much, it will easily cause them to develop some bad personalities such as boredom with studying, fear of studying, and even have inappropriate attitudes towards parents and teachers," Ms. Nhon emphasized.

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/co-che-chu-xau-nhu-ga-boi-phu-huynh-chay-dua-tim-lop-luyen-viet-cho-con-ar910042.html