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HCM CITY— Children in Việt Nam are often forced by their parents to study excessively and excel in school, but this pressure could have adverse consequences on their health and cognitive development, experts have said.  

Asso. Prof Dr Nguyễn Võ Kỳ Anh, of the Institute of Education for Human Potential Development (IPD) in Hà Nội, told Việt Nam News that many parents focused their attention on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences only.

They force their children to learn at centres of foreign languages or mathematics in the evening or on weekends after school, Anh said.

“Stuffing children’s heads with too many things could cause stress for them. It is a misconception,” he added.

Parents should pay attention to the theory of multiple intelligences developed by Dr Howard Gardner at Harvard University and psychologist Thomas Armstrong.

A set of books on the theory has been published in Việt Nam.

Gardner emphasised that people have a variety of intelligences and can be stronger in one area than another.

Besides linguistic and logical-mathematics skills, children also have gifts that account for a broader range of human potential, including musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal intelligences.

However, parents often ignore these qualities in their children and focus on the traditional concept of intelligence, Anh said.

Many parents should take time to talk to their children more often to discover their interests and skills, he added.

At a press meeting on Thursday (April 21) held by the IPD and Wyeth Nutrition, Dr Lê Bạch Mai, Việt Nam Nutrition Institute, said that parents should spend 30 minutes a day to talk with their children in order to develop communication skills.

They also should pay more attention to providing sufficient nutrition, Mai said. — VNS