03.21丨RDFIS Principal's Letter 瑞得福國際學校校長信

瑞得福國際學校校長致長朋友們、同學們、各教職工同事的一封信

Dear Parents, Students, and Employees,

親愛的家長朋友們、同學們、各教職工同事：

A few years ago, there was a series of public service advertisements with the slogan “Family—Isn’t it about Time?” The purpose of the advertisements was to encourage parents to remember that it is very important to spend time together with your family. They encouraged parents to seek high quality and more frequent family time.

幾年前，曾有一系列公益服務廣告，它們的宣傳標語是“家庭——它不是關(guān)于時間嗎？” 很顯然，廣告的目的一方面是鼓勵父母記住為家庭生活付出時間非常重要，另一方面也鼓勵他們?nèi)で蟾哔|(zhì)量和更多頻次的陪伴家人的時間。

During these days of at-home education, many of us have some extra time to spend with our children. For many of us, these days are very fulfilling. Since you may have extra time together—and at the suggestion of our wonderful board executive, Mrs. Mona Zhang—I would like to offer a few suggestions for fun and memorable family times together.

在當下以家庭作為中心、學校提供教學支持的學習模式下，讓家長們有了更多與孩子互動的機會，許多父母與孩子在一起的時間有所增加。對于我們來說，這些日子是充實的家庭時光。由于家長們在家的時間比較充裕，我想為各位家長朋友提供一些與孩子共度美好時光的建議。

* Think about what you can teach your children at home 考慮一下我們在家可以教給孩子的東西

Today, my eldest daughter cut my hair for the first time. Before that my wife has consistently been the person to cut my hair. I always cut my son’s hair,and when I was young, my father cut my hair. I have even cut Gina’s hair from time to time. Cutting hair has been a family tradition, not because it saves money or time (though it does), but because we love to talk together and help each other. So this morning, I teased my daughter that she would need to learn to cut hair before she could graduate. She laughed, knowing that I was partly serious! As she cut my hair (she did a great job), we talked about current events and about a scholarship

今天，我的大女兒第一次為我剪了頭發(fā)。在此之前，我的妻子一直是為我剪頭發(fā)的人。我一直也為我的兒子剪頭發(fā)（在我小時候，我父親也是這樣做的），我也時不時會為我的妻子吉娜理發(fā)。為家人剪發(fā)一直是我們家的傳統(tǒng)，但這并不是因為它能幫我們節(jié)省很多錢或時間（雖然確實如此），而是因為我們喜歡在一起聊天談心并且互相幫助。因此，今天早上，我跟我女兒開玩笑說，她需要學會剪發(fā)才能算高中畢業(yè)。她笑了，也知道我并不是全是開玩笑的！當她為我剪頭發(fā)時（她剪得特好），我們談到了當下的時事和她目前正在考慮提交的獎學金申請——這個申請很有助于她實現(xiàn)大學的夢想。

* Learn to cook together學習一起做飯

All family members can find joy in good food and cooking. Although it may be easier for some family members to enjoy or accept the role of cooking at home more than for others, it is wise for each family member to learn to prepare healthy food for themselves and their family. Consider asking your child to plan menus and recipes, write down what foods are needed for a meal, shop for the food, and prepare meals together. Children will learn important lessons in this way and strengthen family relationships in the process.

所有家庭成員都能在美食和烹飪中尋找到快樂。雖然可能有些人比其他人更容易享受或接受在家做飯的角色，但對每個家庭成員而言，學會為自己和家人烹飪健康飯菜是一件非常明智的事?？梢钥紤]讓你的孩子參與制作菜單食譜，寫清楚一頓飯需要哪些食物及其所包含的營養(yǎng)成分，一起去買菜和烹飪等。孩子們將會學習到這生活中極為重要的一課，并在此過程中建立起更加穩(wěn)固的家庭關(guān)系。

* Eat together 和家人一起吃飯

Many studies have shown that eating together as a family has many benefits. When family meals are prepared and shared at home, not only do families members eat healthier foods and enjoy better nutrition, but more importantly, the family members communicate thoughts and feelings that might not otherwise be shared. When children discuss at the meal table what they are learning at school, their performance can be improved. Moreover, children often avoid or overcome unsafe behaviors under the care and guidance of their parents fostered at meal time. A host of conversations occur that would never otherwise occur without a family ritual of eating together.

有許多研究表明了一起吃飯具有很多益處。一家人在一起做飯和吃飯時，我們不僅可以吃到更健康的食物和攝取更好的營養(yǎng)，而且更重要的是，家庭成員間還可以交流原本可能沒機會說出的想法和情感。當在討論正在所學的知識時，孩子的成績能提高；孩子們在父母的關(guān)愛和指導下也能避免或克服一些不安全的行為。如果沒有家人一起吃飯的習慣，許多積極有效的交談對話就很難發(fā)生了。

* Learn about home storage and organization 學習家庭應急物品的儲存和管理

The COVID-19 pandemic is sobering to all of us, and it is also a good reminder of the many kinds of emergencies that could come to any part of the world—including natural disasters, plagues, or war. We hope for none of these, but life is such that many of us will face more than one of these during our lives. Storing a little extra food and water, saving money for an emergency or season of want, and maintaining basic supplies for health such as medicines and first aid supplies will help your family in unforeseen emergencies and will bring a sense of peace and calm to your home. I recommend these practices to everyone—of course to be implemented with wisdom and moderation, and not with an attitude of panic, anxiety, or hoarding.

COVID-19新冠肺炎疫情的大流行使我們所有人都感到震驚，這也很好地提醒了我們世界各地可能發(fā)生的各種緊急情況，包括自然災害，瘟疫或戰(zhàn)爭。我們都不希望這些事情發(fā)生，但是生活就是這樣，我們中的許多人一生中可能會面臨不止一個緊急事件。儲存一些額外救急的食物和水，為緊急情況或家庭需求開銷多的旺季去省些錢，以及維持基本的醫(yī)療衛(wèi)生用品，例如藥品和急救用品，這將在緊急情況下幫助到我們的家人，并能為我們的家?guī)砥胶团c心安。我向所有人都推薦這些做法-當然要以智慧和節(jié)制的態(tài)度來實施，而不是以恐慌，焦慮或囤積的態(tài)度來實施。

* Learn to clean學會做清潔衛(wèi)生

At RDF International School, we teach that all of us feel better in a clean environment. Orderliness and cleanliness help our minds and bodies focus on beauty and truth. Disorder and uncleanliness make us uncomfortable, waste our time, and distract us from better relationships and learning. A routine of family cleaning time or a chore chart with rotational turns for family members can help us learn lessons in cleanliness that will save us stress, time, and money and will become an important foundation for learning and living together in peace and harmony.

在瑞得福國際學校，我們堅信一個道理，在干凈的環(huán)境中我們所有人都會感覺更好。條理和清潔有助于使我們的身心專注于真善美?；靵y和不整潔則會使我們不舒服，浪費我們的時間，并使我們無法專注于提升更好的人際關(guān)系和學習。例行的家庭清潔時間或家庭成員輪流做家務的分工排班表可以幫助我們學習清潔衛(wèi)生方面的課程，這將節(jié)省我們的壓力、時間和金錢，并將成為我們的家庭學習以及和諧相處的重要基礎 。

* Read and talk together一起閱讀和分享

In my family, we read books together and discuss what we are learning. We do this every day. This week, we have been reading and discussing a popular book that includes a delightful comparison of population migration to the ancient practice of pruning and grafting tree branches as a means to improve the quality of a tree’s fruit. This led to a very interesting discussion in my home about lessons we have learned as we have been “pruned from America” and “grafted into China” and about how fruit becomes ripe by being near riper fruit, and how people improve by being near other good people. We all decided that we want to be good people, the kind that helps others become the best they can be.

在我們家，我們每天都會一起閱讀和討論分享我們所學習到的東西。本周，我們閱讀和分享了一本很受歡迎的書，書中進行一個讓人覺得開心的比較——它將人口的遷移比作古代為提高水果質(zhì)量而進行的修剪和嫁接樹枝的技術(shù)。這個讓我們家開始了一個很有趣的分享討論——關(guān)于我們來自美國，“嫁接到”中國這片土地上時所學習的東西；一個生果如何在靠近已經(jīng)熟透的水果旁邊時加速成熟，同樣，人類是如何在其他好的榜樣身邊變得更加優(yōu)秀的。我們一致達成共識，我們都想要做一個好人，一個善良的人，從而能幫助其他人去成為他們最優(yōu)秀的自己。

*Listen and talk傾聽和交流

Some of the most memorable times I have had with my children are when I listen to them speak about what interests them. A few nights ago, one of my sons came into my room in the evening, and we lay on the bed talking about computers and the concepts he is coming to understand about computer processors. To be honest, my son knows more about these things than I do. In these moments,I became the learner and my son became the teacher. It was delightful to learn, and to see his passion for what he was teaching me.

我和孩子們一起度過的最難忘的時光是，在我聽孩子們談論他們所感興趣的事情的時間。幾天前的一個晚上，我的一個兒子晚上來找我聊天，我們躺在床上談論計算機以及他對計算機處理器的理解。老實說，他比我更了解這些東西。在這個時刻，我成為了一個學生，我兒子成為了老師。學習以及看到他在教我時的熱情是令人特別開心和自豪的。

Finally, one of the most important lessons I have learned about parenting over nearly 19 years of raising our six children is that how you interact with your children is how you can expect them to interact with others and with their children, your grandchildren. Patience and kindness may be difficult to practice consistently at every moment, but if you want to be better, you will naturally begin to develop according to your desires. As a father, I want to be patient, fun, understanding, and kind at all times, and I am seeking with earnestness to develop those attributes. As I seek and strive personally to develop a loving heart and mind, I am becoming more consistently characterized by those attributes which I desire most. And when we make a mistake or are less than we should be, it is okay to apologize—for children need to see and learn that, too.

最后，我在養(yǎng)育六個孩子近19年的經(jīng)歷中所學到的關(guān)于為人父母的最重要的經(jīng)驗之一是：您如何與孩子溝通交流將影響他與其他人，以及與他們自己的孩子或?qū)O子溝通交流的方式。耐心和好脾氣可能有時很難始終如一保持，但是如果您想變得更好，您自然會根據(jù)自己的想法開始學習發(fā)展的。作為父親，我想一直保持耐心，有趣，理解和友善，并且我正以誠懇的態(tài)度尋求發(fā)展這些特質(zhì)。當我尋求并努力發(fā)展那種友愛的心靈和意志時，我變得越來越能跟自己最期望的那些特質(zhì)（耐心、有趣、理解和友善）相一致。另外，當我們有些事情做得不對或者做得不夠好時，我們可以道歉，因為孩子們也需要觀察并學習到這一點。

I am happy for all of you, and pleased to be your Principal. May you all have a delightful weekend, filled with joy!

我為你們所有人感到高興，并很開心能成為你們的校長。祝大家周末愉快！

Yours truly,

誠摯的，

—Leland Anderson

Principal, RDF International School

瑞得福國際學校校長