Teach children how to preserve school supplies

One of the problems many parents face when their children are in elementary school is the loss of school supplies. Books, pens, pencil cases, or rulers seem to mysteriously disappear.

"Elementary school students are still young and don't fully understand the value of personal belongings. Every few days, my son (who is in 4th grade) says: 'Mom, I lost my pen,'" shared Ms. Bui Thi Cam Tien, a parent in Hoc Mon District (Ho Chi Minh City).

Parents need to be patient when teaching their children about the importance of taking care of their school supplies.

Some parents take precautions by stocking up on pens at home without telling their children. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, a parent with a 4th-grade child in District 10 (Ho Chi Minh City), shared how she helps her child keep their school supplies safe. "I usually buy five pens to keep at home without telling my child. Each time they go to school, I only give them one pen. Since there's only one, they can't lose it," Ms. Lan said. In addition, she uses a little trick: choosing pens with designs her child likes or buying cute stickers for them to put on their supplies. "Thanks to this, my child takes better care of their things because they are things they like," she added.

In the 2018 General Education Program, lessons on taking care of personal belongings are taught in subjects such as ethics starting from grade 2. Ms. Nguyen Hoang Duy Hieu, a teacher at Nguyen Trai Primary School (District 12, Ho Chi Minh City), shared how she applies this to her students.

According to Ms. Hieu, students can write their names or mark all their belongings individually for easy identification if they get lost. Using pencil cases or bags to store school supplies is also a way to help students develop the habit of keeping things tidy.

"At the end of each lesson, the teacher spends a minute asking students to check their desks, under their feet, and count the items in their boxes. The teacher reminds students that they need to be responsible for taking care of their school supplies, which helps save their parents money," Ms. Hieu said. To help students find lost items, Ms. Hieu also created a shared supplies corner in the classroom where students can leave items they find and help their friends retrieve them.

To help students better understand the importance of saving, Ms. Hieu presented a spending calculation. "A school year has 10 months. If you only use 5 pencils and 3 erasers, the cost is only about 40,000 VND. But if you use 2 pencils and 2 erasers per week, the cost will be 20,000 VND/week, and after 35 weeks, you will have spent 700,000 VND...", Ms. Hieu explained. Through this, she advised the children not to be wasteful but to appreciate their school supplies, because besides school supplies, the family has many other expenses to cover.

Ms. Hieu also advised parents not to buy expensive items for their children, but to choose only common and practical items.

According to Ms. Nguyen Khanh Chi, Director of Training at GLink Academy (Ho Chi Minh City), to overcome this problem, parents should let their children choose their own belongings according to their preferences, and engrave their names or mark each item on it. This helps children become more attached to their belongings and responsible for taking care of them. In addition, parents should regularly teach their children to identify and name their personal belongings and let them pack their things before going to school.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/day-con-biet-cach-bao-quan-do-dung-hoc-tap-185241029151853934.htm