唐詩：下課坐車時ㄧ個禮拜讀ㄧ首，每天花1-2分鐘而已。

I have started using this particular book for my dds (10 year old “Georgia” and 13 year old “Charlotte”).  It was published in 1991 and was probably a used copy that a friend gave us a few years back.  My girls have memorized a few poems before and did a Chinese stand-up comedy a couple of years back.  So, they are familiar with classic Chinese poems.  We are using this during their car ride back home from school.  I simply have them read one new poem a week and they each recite the poem about 5 times a day.  All it take is about one to two minutes a day for each girl.  There is well written explanation on the pages.  I read the poem ahead of the time myself, as my knowledge on the subjects is fairly limited also (maybe about twenty poems).  I make sure to explain to them the poem myself the first day they read it.  I don’t need them to memorize the poems this first time around, but they can memorize it somewhat by the end of the week.   So,  1-2 minutes a day in the car, easy peasy.

This is the first poem.  They know this one already, as likely do many children.  So, we skipped ahead.

This is the second poem, which they read last week.  Nice and easy to understand.

This third poem, they know already.  So, we skipped it this week.

They are reciting this fourth poem this week.  It is another easy to understand poem.  After all, this is a book for kids.

If things go well, we can go through some 30-40 poems in a year, when school is in session.  That will more than I knew myself as a kid (and now, LOL).  We will come back a second time next year and they will be able to memorize the same poems readily then.  What’s the purpose of learning classic Chinese poem?   I don’t think they are on the AP Chinese exam.  But, we don’t learn Chinese for testing purposes.  It is just to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Chinese culture.  In addition, they will learn broader usage and definition of Chinese characters and words as well.  Benefits on the side: they may be able to better understand the lyrics of some of 周杰倫 Jay Chou’s songs, but not for the fact that one simply can’t understand his enunciation!