給北美的孩子講中國春節

我被孩子老師邀請，去學校講了兩次中國春節，寫出來也許對將要去孩子班上講春節的家長有點幫助。因為你去得說英文，所以我附帶了我想說的英文段落。你完全可以自己現場發揮。不是所有人都能當老師的，準備一下還是好的。好多材料可以從網上查來。

每年我們給孩子們巧克力金幣紅包包. 有一年兒子班上一台灣人給每一孩子$1，我聽其他家長背後的反映不是太好。他們說莫名其妙你為何給我孩子錢? :-(



自己做的有孩子中文名字的賀卡很受歡迎， 這張是前年的。他們很高興看到自己的名字寫成中文。你有時間，書法又好，可以當場寫。事先了解一下你孩子班上同學的名字，別像我， 對於較偏的英文名，有時當場逼半天也翻譯不出個好的中文名來。


如學校老師允許，孩子們很喜歡品嚐餃子和春卷 (最好不要油炸的)。帶食品去學校，一定要與老師商量好。我就買Sam's Club 的餃子煎了帶去，老美吃著放心。我事先還通過Email告知所有家長。如有人不同意，可以跟老師說，或教孩子不嚐餃子，但至今還沒碰上反對的。




傳統的春節對聯，剪紙，郵票， 有實物顯示最好。





接下來當然要發揚光大中國了: 國旗(National Flag), 國徽(National Emblem)，國歌(National Anthem - March of the Volunteers)








然後是中國大概, 我做了Slides, 還帶了中國地圖。問得最多的是我是從哪兒來的, 在哪兒上的學，為什麽來美國 :-)。 這張也是前年的。現在要用噢幫馬了 :-)




孩子們對同齡人很關心，可以大大地發揮一下國內小學教育。你可用國內孩子的家庭作業嚇嚇他們 :-)


如想送孩子小禮物的可以在 Oriental Trading Company 買。如果老師給你多的時間，你可以在他們網上買些中國新年有關的小手工藝 Kits，讓孩子們當場做。

我知道有高中學生的父母去學校教高中生們包餃子的。放肉餡的，菜餡的，甚至巧克力餡的都有。孩子們吃著自己挑的餡自己包的餃子，很是開心。也就記住了中國新年。

Chinese New Year
China’s most popular traditional holiday, Chinese New Year (CNY) is a time for feasting, family reunions, fun and celebration! Every year, Asians throughout the world spend weeks preparing for the 15-day celebration, officially called the Spring Festival. In 2010, Chinese New Year falls on Sunday, February 14th. It is lunar year 4708, the year of Tiger according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

Last year, the CNY begins on Monday January 26 in 2009. It is the Year of Ox, year 4707 on the Chinese calendar.

Here are some of the ways you can celebrate CNY:

1. Clean House - Before the New Year arrives, the Chinese consider it very important to give the house a thorough cleaning, sweeping away any bad luck that may have accumulated over the past year.

2. Decorate! - Doors and window panes are also often painted red, considered to be a lucky color. In addition, people like to hang paper-cuts and Chinese Calligraphy on doors and windows. Paper cutting is an ancient Chinese art form.

3. Ware brand new clothes – it will bring you a better New Year and prospect.

4. Don't clean for the first few days of the New Year - if you do any sweeping during this time, you may risk sweeping away your good luck.

5. Offer a Sacrifice to the Kitchen God - Many families have a poster or statue of the Kitchen God in their kitchen. The custom is to offer a ceremonial sacrifice to the Kitchen God, to make sure that he gives a good report on the family's behavior when he returns to heaven. Rice sticky cake (Nian Gao) is popular, or children may rub honey on him.

6. An important tradition on New Year's Eve is for families to gather together and spend the evening preparing Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi – wheat flour or Yuanzi – rice flour). According to Chinese culture, it is common to hide a coin in one of the dumplings. Whoever gets the dumpling with the coin will supposedly have good luck in the coming year.

7. Give out money packets - On New Years day, children receive the “Spring Festival Money Gift (or yashuiqian), a red packet decorated with gold symbols and filled with "lucky money".

8. Like Thanksgiving and Christmas in the US, Chinese serve festive foods throughout the CNY season. Certain foods are served because they symbolize abundance and good fortune. Besides preparing special dishes, tangerines and oranges are often passed out to children and guests, as they symbolize wealth and good luck.

[huilan]

Thank you so much!

[sapixmom]

做的太好了! 我把國歌打印下來，剛才讓兒子在鋼琴上試奏了一下，把我感動得一塌糊塗。。。謝謝！

[jennyma]

Thanks!

[秀山]

Good Job!

[ivyfree]

very good