The whole family is anxious as the child takes their semester exams.
My child is in second grade, and tomorrow they have their first semester exams in Math and Vietnamese. All the children in the neighborhood attend the same elementary school, but they are in different grades and share the same exam schedule.
Ten days prior, the teacher distributed study guides for the students to review for the exam, detailing each essay writing exercise, vocabulary and sentence practice, and various math problems such as addition, subtraction, finding x, and converting units of mass and measurement. The teacher also communicated with parents in the class's Zalo group about the exam schedule, asking them to closely supervise their children's studies.
So every day, my parents took turns studying with me, urging me to do my homework, and guiding me through difficult problems. Not only did I complete all the exercises in the teacher's syllabus, but I also challenged my child to solve similar math problems and calculations. Only when my child complained of fatigue, aching hands, and a headache did I let them rest and urge them to pack their books for school the next day.
Like many other parents, I also suffer from the obsession with academic achievement. My daughter is one of the youngest in her class, and while I've been lenient with her a little, she still has to study every evening under my supervision. I've tried everything, from coaxing and threatening to forcing her to study this way or that way. She writes with ink, and her handwriting is terrible. I made her practice writing slowly, using the correct size and line spacing.
On evenings with less homework, mother and daughter practice handwriting together to keep the child from getting bored. Every evening, mother and daughter study together, moving from Math and Vietnamese to English. Children now spend all day at school, with teachers and students repeatedly reviewing the material, yet parents still feel uneasy. Even if the child is only in first or second grade, they cannot leave their education entirely to the teachers and the school. Any parent would believe that investing time and effort in teaching and guiding their child from a young age is the most effective approach.
 |
| (Illustrative image) |
As the semester exams approach, the atmosphere in every family becomes intense and urgent, making the most of the short study period. Children wanting to play or watch TV are definitely not an option. I always say, "Let's study and review thoroughly so you can get high scores, and after the exams, I'll let you play freely." But the mischievous children always find ways to sneak out and play together when their parents are busy. They only get to play for a short while before their parents call them back home to study.
Not only parents but even grandparents worry when their grandchildren are about to take exams. I even teased my next-door neighbor, calling her a "model grandmother" because she was so concerned about her granddaughter's homework. My grandmother, wearing glasses, reviewed the test papers the teacher returned, and if my granddaughter got any questions wrong, she called me to ask. I mumbled vague answers and promised to give her the correct answers in the afternoon. I reviewed the textbooks and my granddaughter's workbooks, checking the teacher's instructions for similar questions, to discuss them with my grandmother.
My grandmother frowned and showed me a stack of my granddaughter's test papers, all with scores of 9 and 9.5. I burst out laughing: "Grandma, your granddaughter is doing so well!" My grandmother shook her head: "If she's good, she should get a 10. She got all these easy questions wrong…"
For children in grades 1, 2, and even higher grades in elementary school, achieving the "Excellent Completion" title is very difficult. Even if a child gets scores of 9 or 10 in Math and Vietnamese, but doesn't achieve a "Good Completion" level in subjects like Crafts, Music, Art, and English, they will still miss out on the "Excellent Completion" certificate.
That's why, right before the semester exams, we still receive messages from teachers asking parents to urge their children to redo their Craft and Art assignments. That's why we see parents anxiously scolding their children, telling them to focus on Math, Vietnamese, and English, while they do the Craft and Art assignments for them to finish quickly. Is it the child's semester exam or the whole family's semester exam? If the child gets a 9 or a 10, it's certainly thanks to the parents' and grandparents' hard work.
I confided in my colleagues, "Since my child started first grade, I haven't had a chance to watch a movie; I'm always studying with her." Everyone agreed that their children's education was the biggest concern, and fun and entertainment had to wait until summer vacation. Parents are already busy studying with their children on weekdays, and during exam season, they have to speed up and closely supervise their children to ensure they "finish the race" with the highest possible scores.
I didn't aim for my child to get a perfect score on the semester exam or to be recognized as an outstanding student. But I still diligently helped my child review lessons, study guides, and reread textbook material. After the exam, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then came the anxious wait for the results, followed by mixed feelings of joy and sadness during parent-teacher meetings...
When children take their semester exams, the whole family anxiously helps them review and re-examine the material until they know it by heart, yet they still worry that the child will forget, get confused, or miss a question. For elementary school children, semester exams are the most important, and no parent dares to be negligent or simply give empty reminders; they all feel the need to study alongside their children to feel at ease.