Raising an avid reader

Recently, I read an interesting article about raising an avid reader. Indeed, a child who reads becomes an adult who reads. Habit starts from young, good and bad... I have started my children on the reading habit since they were toddlers. Reading is one of the important element for improving one's language skill, especially Chinese. Read and they can pick up new words and learn the correct sentence structures. Read and they can learn to appreciate good literature. Read for growth of knowledge... The benefit is endless.  

I would like to share this article with you. My thoughts (if any) is added in italic. 
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A child who reads becomes an adult who reads. Most adults who begin reading at an early age continue to learn by reading throughout their lives. Reading is more than a necessary skill - it's a source for learning, entertainment, enjoyment and comfort. The skill of reading can be one of the most valuable gifts that you give to your - or any - child. 

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year) is just around the corner. While I’m fortunate that I do not need to do a lot of the preparatory work, it is a festive event that we, together many Chinese throughout the world, are excited about. I am putting together some of the information related to the Lunar New Year so that we can share with our kids and have a better understanding of the Chinese culture and customs. 

The Chinese New Year Story

Long ago in China, there was one horrifying monster that came out on the same day each year to eat people. This monster was named Nian (年), and the people marked the end of a year by his visits to the human civilization. That is where the Chinese word for year (年) came from.

This monster was the most feared by the people because every time it came out, a whole village would be destroyed at a time. So, every time the monster came, people would pack up all their belongings and hid in the mountain, not wanting to be eaten. This happened for many years until a wise man thought up a plan to scare the monster away.

This man proposed that the people should light bamboo. The bamboo would crack and make a lot of noise, possibly scaring the monster away. The villagers thought this was a very good idea and started to light the bamboo. The noise was tremendous. The monster was scared by the loud noise and ran back to its cave without eating any people.

The next morning, everyone was present. They were all elated. The people congratulated each other for executing the plan effectively. So, from then on, people stayed up late, lit firecrackers (to simulate the lighting of the bamboo), and congratulated each other when the new year came.

(Chinese version)

   传说，中国古时侯有一种叫“年”的怪兽，非常凶猛。每到除夕，就会到处吞食牲畜，伤害人命。因此每到除夕，村里的人们都扶老携幼，逃往深山，以躲避“年”的伤害。

　　又到了一年的除夕，乡亲们像往年一样，都忙着收拾东西准备逃往深山。这时候，村东头来了一个白发老人。白发老人对大家说，他能将“年”这怪兽驱赶走。

　　当“年”兽像往年一样准备闯进村里肆虐的时候，突然传来爆竹声。“年”兽混身颤抖，再也不敢向前凑近，反而仓惶而逃。原来“年”兽最怕红色，火光和炸响。 

　　第二天，人们发现村里的人都安然无恙，大家都非常高兴。从此，每年的除夕，家家户户都贴红对联，燃放爆竹，灯火通明。这风俗越传越广，就成了中国民间最隆重的传统节日“过年”。

The New Year Events

The Lunar New Year (农历新年) is the longest and most important festival for the Chinese. It is also known as the “Spring Festival” (春节); the start of the spring season in the Chinese calendar (农历). 

The Chinese calendar is used to determine many of the traditional Chinese festivals.  The first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar is known as “正月” when the Lunar New Year starts. The Lunar New Year lasts for 15 days and ends with the YuanXiao Festival (元宵节) on the 15^th day. 

Eve of Lunar New Year (除夕) is a day where families gather for their annual reunion dinner (团年饭). On the 7^th day, which is known as “人日”, is considered everyone’s birthday. Many people celebrate this day, wishing that prosperity and goodness will continue into the rest of the year.

Origins of 人日:

NuWa (女娲) created the living things on earth, one on each day. She created human on the 7th day. Thus the 7th day of the 1st lunar month is also known as everybody's birthday. 

The Chinese Calendar

The Chinese calendar is a solilunar calendar that integrates the revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the movement of the Moon around the Earth. It is divided into 12 months of 29 or 30 days. Each month begins with the new moon (invisible to us) and ends on the day before the next new moon. The full moon is seen on the 15^th (or sometimes 16^th) of the month. The calendar is adjusted to the length of the solar year by the addition of extra months at regular intervals. The year that has an extra month is called a leap year. Each successive year is named after one of 12 animals. These 12-year cycles are repeated continuously. 

Story of the 12 Zodiac Animals

There are several legends about how the animals were chosen for the zodiac in the Chinese calendar. This is one of them.

The Jade Emperor wanted to select twelve animals for the calendar. Upon hearing this, all the animals on earth rushed to the call, all wanting to be selected.

During that time, Cat and Rat were very close friends. When Cat and Rat heard about the race, they were very excited. They decided to go to the race together. But Cat was a sleepy head, often could not wake up on time. Thus he asked Rat to wake him up if he overslept. Rat readily agreed.

The next morning, Rat woke up very early, took his breakfast and went to the race without waking Cat up. On the way, he met Ox. He thought to himself "Ox is the fastest, strongest animal!" So Rat played a trick on the Ox. He asked Ox if he would like to listen to him sing. Rat opened his mouth but said nothing. After a while, Ox said, "Sorry Rat, I can't hear you." Rat told Ox to let him jump onto his back so that he could sing it more clearly, and the Ox agreed. Soon without knowing, the Ox was walking to the finishing line, forgetting Rat was on his back. 

When they almost reached the finishing line, Rat jumped off and claimed first place. Ox ended up second. The rest of the animals arrived subsequently, and this is how the ranking of the twelve animals came to be: (1)Rat, (2)Ox, (3)Tiger, (4)Hare, (5)Dragon, (6)Snake, (7)Horse, (8)Ram, (9)Monkey, (10)Rooster, (11)Dog, (12)Pig.

(Chinese version)

  据说，古时候，玉帝为了给人们排定生肖，决定召开一个上肖大会。他给各种动物发了道开会的圣旨。
   

  那时候，猫和老鼠是很要好的朋友。开上肖大会的圣旨送到了猫和老鼠那里，它们都很高兴，决定一起去参加。猫爱打瞌睡，所以在开会前一天，就预先和老鼠打了招呼,请老鼠叫醒它。

  老鼠拍着胸脯说：“你放心睡好了，到时候我会叫醒你的！”猫就放心地去睡了。第二天早晨，老鼠很早起来，吃过早饭，独自上路去了。对正在熟睡的猫，它一声也没有叫。

  在路上，老鼠遇见了牛。老鼠心想：牛身强体壮，跑得很快，要是能载我一程，该多好啊！于是，它便对牛说：“牛大哥，我唱歌给您听好吗？”牛想到有歌声陪伴，便答应了。但等了一会儿，牛都没听到歌声。老鼠便说：“可能是我的嗓子太小了，您听不见。不如，我跳到您背上唱，您就可以听得清楚些。”牛答应了。

  走着，走着，眼看就快就终点了。牛也忘了老鼠还在它背上呢。老鼠马上跳下来，直冲终点，取得了第一名的位置。牛的了第二。其他的动物也陆续到了终点。它们的排名是：（一）老鼠，（二）牛，（三）老虎，（四）兔，（五）龙，（六）蛇，（七）马，（八）羊，（九）猴，（十）鸡，（十一）狗，（十二）猪。

Customs and Traditions

Customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Lunar New Year vary widely, even within China. Here are some of the commonly observed customs that we practise today:

1.  The Chinese New Year is seen as the perfect time to do some spring cleaning. According to an ancient text (《吕氏春秋》), this practice started as early as the period of emperors YaoShun (尧舜).  It was believed that cleaning house for the new year’s celebrations swept bad luck away and helped ensure good fortune in the year to come. Dirt in Chinese (尘土的“尘”) sounds the same as “Old” in Chinese (陈旧的“陈”). Thus by sweeping away the dirt, people hope to get rid of the unwanted bad things/ bad luck and start the new year afresh.

2．On the eve of Chinese New Year, all family members will come together, no matter where they are, and enjoy a feast (团年饭).  

3.  Red decorations are everywhere, because the color red is considered to be one of the luckiest colors of all.  Older family members use red envelopes (红包) to give gifts of cash to their younger relatives. The red packet is also known as "压岁钱". It is believed that the red packets can suppress evil spirits as "岁" sounds the same as "祟" which means evil spirit. Thus children receiving red packets will survive the year peacefully.

4.  守岁is the practice of staying up until midnight on New Year's Eve as a family to greet the new year. It is in remembrance of the New Year legend to stay up in anticipation of conquering the evil and looking forward to good year ahead. For the children, the practice is also believed to extend one's parents' longevity. 

5. During the Chinese New Year, people often greet each other by saying “auspicious phrases” thought to bring good luck. Couplets are also hang up on the doors or inside the house. Some examples are 恭喜发财，万事如意，身体健康，步步高升，一本万利，龙马精神，学业进步. Often, the word “福” is hung upside down, meaning prosperity (福) has arrived (倒 sounds like 到).

6. Traditional foods include fish (鱼), which is served at during New Year’s meal and symbolizes abundance (年年有余 as 鱼 sounds like余 which means abundance). Sticky fruitcake (年糕) is also one of the many favorites as “糕” sounds like “高”. It symbolizes improvement in every aspect of our life. Many restaurants have come up with many unique names for their specialty dishes that symbolizes good fortune.  

7.  On the 7^th day, family and friends often gather together and celebrate "人日" with a dish of Yusheng (捞鱼生). There are standard ingredients in the dish. As people add in the various ingredients, they will say some auspicious phrases like these:

红萝卜丝——鸿运当头啊！
青木瓜丝——青春永驻啊！
三文鱼条——年年有余啊！
胡椒粉＋五香粉——五福临门啊！
一碗香油——来啊、财源滚滚来啊！
酸柑汁＋酸甜酱——大吉大利、甜甜蜜蜜啊！
干果＋花生碎＋碎饼—— 金银满屋、遍地黄金啊！
起筷捞生——捞啊！捞个风升水起啊！捞出运气、福气和财气啊！

After all the ingredients have been add, that’s when the action starts. Everyone will put their chopsticks into the dish and toss the food as high as possible, symbolizes a better year ahead.

Craft for New Year decoration

Here are some simple craft that you can do together with your kids.

1. Lantern

Fold 4 corners of a red packet.

Join 4 red packets together by stapling the corners together. Make 2 of these.

Attach a red packet horizontally to the bottom of one of structures that has been completed. Complete all 4 sides.

Attach another completed structure made earlier to the above to close up the lantern.

The completed lantern.

2. Small lantern

Fold a red packet into half horizontally, and cut as shown above.

Open it up.

Join 2 ends of the red packet to form a cylindrical shape. Tape them together.

Make a few and string them up together. 

3. Fish decoration (年年有余)

Use a square red packet. If you can't find one, cut a rectangular one into the size of a square.

Then cut into the shape as shown above.

Overlap the 2 lower ends and staple them together.

Make a few and string them up together.

4. Fire crackers

Row the red packets into slim cylindrical. 

Use a piece of red packet as backing, paste the cylinders in an inverted "V" shape.

Completed work.

Happy Lunar New Year everyone. May you have a blessed and prosperous year ahead.