Mother of AIMO Gold Medalist shares secret to teaching her child to be good at Math

During the AIMO Mathematical Arena rounds, Ms. Vu Thi Hien, lecturer at Phuong Dong University, mother of Pham Bao Nguyen, often followed her son closely to cheer and encourage him.

Ms. Hien shared that her son has loved Math since he was a primary school student. Thanks to the teachers' love and inspiration, every day, he loves Math more and more, and is more eager to learn Math. In particular, Nguyen is also good at English, so he is suitable for the Asian Mathematical Olympiad - AIMO, which takes Math in English.

As a teacher, Ms. Hien said that although she does not directly teach each lesson, she is always concerned about how to help her children develop their thinking and abilities to the fullest. Since childhood, she taught Nguyen learning methods and inspired him to learn on his own.

“Nguyen is a highly focused and serious person. Once he sits down to study, he is absorbed and does not pay attention to his surroundings, so even though he only studies 2-3 hours each night, it is very effective,” said Ms. Hien.

Pham Bao Nguyen is one of the outstanding faces who has just received a Certificate of Merit from the Central Youth Union. (Photo: Referee)

In the 2024-2025 school year, Bao Nguyen was admitted to three desirable specialized high schools at the same time: Foreign Language Specialized High School, National University of Education Specialized High School, and Hanoi - Amsterdam Specialized High School. Finally, the male student chose Hanoi - Amsterdam Specialized High School to study because this is the school he has been with for 4 years of middle school, and it is close to home so he can ride a bike to school.

Nguyen's mother also revealed that her son did not attend extra classes too much. For example, before the exam, he only attended one extra math or foreign language class per week.

Ms. Vu Thi Hien (lecturer at Phuong Dong University), mother of Pham Bao Nguyen

The mother also does not have to look for books and materials for her child because nowadays there are too many learning materials, even chaotic, if she chooses the wrong one, it will take her child a lot of time and not be able to solve the requirements. She chooses to trust the subject teachers and ask for more review materials for her child to do at home. But the family also believes that after a long day of studying, she needs time to eat, sleep and rest enough to regenerate energy, so the child usually goes to bed before 11pm.

“In particular, my child has a very high sense of self-discipline in studying. While studying, if a friend comes to ask him to go out, he immediately refuses,” said Ms. Hien.

Good at Math and English, the male student shared his dream of being admitted to the Information Technology major at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Solving math problems is fun

Bao Nguyen could not hide his joy and pride because after winning the Gold Medal at the AIMO International Finals in Japan, he and his friends were honored to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Central Youth Union.

"This will be a joy and motivation for me to continue trying harder on my learning path," Nguyen said.

The male student also shared that he loves both Math and English, but he finds joy every time he solves a difficult problem. When he encounters a difficult problem, he will write down all the information and data on scratch paper, trying to connect the knowledge to find a solution.

During his years of studying in high school, he solved many problems but Nguyen evaluated and evaluated AIMO as good and difficult, with many practical questions.

In addition to the time spent studying in class and doing homework assigned by teachers, Nguyen also revealed that he often looks for more sets of questions to practice and check his answers to improve his level and test-taking skills.