家庭语言教育（第十三篇）围绕主题： 春分，立蛋，四季（结合绘本
I am a Bunny
）展开。
在
购物季，聊聊"血拼"那些事儿（一）（不只是语言！收藏！）
一文中，小编引用了
全球著名的
scholastic
（学乐）有一个
研究报告
10 Research-Tested ways to Build Children’s Vocabulary
（
《10种基于研究的增加孩子词汇量的方式》
）
，其中与语言（中英文）启蒙与教育相关，一
“给孩子读书”
，二
“通过高质量的谈话提升孩子词汇量和句子量”
(原文是“engage children in rich oral language”)。
经常与孩子高质量地聊天（根据兴趣、年龄）与恰当可理解的解释（这个就看家长的内功啦），可以激发孩子思考、提问，营造良好的家庭语言环境，中文，英文，方言的输入均是如此。
因为竖蛋这一民间习俗，我们可以和孩子边玩“竖蛋”游戏，边聊“春分”，学习科学，区分习俗与真相 truth（不是春分才能立蛋 这一事实）。
【
一】
春分
the vernal equinox / the spring equinox
春分
the vernal equinox
，mark the start of spring标志着春天的正式到来
。
（vernal meaning "of or pertaining to spring," equinox meaning "equal night." ）
The vernal equinox is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.（
春分是北半球春天的第一天）
Spring equinox is a time for fertility 繁殖 and sownig seeds播种.
春分
有“昼夜平分”之意，
太阳直射赤道 (equator)，在古时又称"日中"，“日夜分”，“仲春之月”。此时，春暖花开，杨柳青青，莺飞草长，桃红李白迎春黄，宜农作田间管理；观光出游等。
The equinoxes, which mark the beginning of spring and autumn, have long held a special importance in human society. Particularly
the vernal equinox春分, which marks the first day of spring and the end of winter, the beginning of the season in which
daylight again
outlast
s darkness and
life springs anew
万物新生
( anew adv. if sb does sth. anew, the do it again forom the beginning or do it in a different way)
.
Flowers blossom
百花盛开,
trees shoot out new leaves and branches
树木抽枝发芽,
and animals give birth (or their eggs hatch)
万物复苏（或动物们破壳而出）
.
These
tangible
(that can be clearly seen to exist)
signs of the world’s rebirth
复苏
were of paramount importance to agricultural societies
（万
物复苏的明显迹象对于
农业社会而言 至为重要
）, and they naturally developed
elaborate fertility rites
to celebrate 庆祝 the occasion.
（elaborate: usually before noun, very complicated and detailed; carefully prepared and organized 复杂的，详尽的，精心制作的 fertility rite 祈求丰收的仪式 fertility: the state of being fertile富饶 丰产 fertile 肥沃的富饶的 rite:
a ceremony performed by a particular group of people often for religious purposes 仪式，典礼 ritual: a series of actions that are always performed in the same way, especially as part of a religious ceremony 程序 仪规 礼节 ）
【二】 立蛋
egg balancing
Question:
Can
you r
eally balance an e
gg on its end during the vernal equinox?
片段一：
By Heather Janssen, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
March 23, 2016, 7:33:23 AM EDT
"The origins of this myth are attributed to stories that
the ancient Chinese would create displays of eggs standing on end
during the first day of spring," John Millis, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Anderson University stated in an
about.com article
.
However,
this myth is only partly true. It is possible to balance an egg on its end, but
it
has nothing do to with
the vernal equinox.
In fact, it can be performed on any day of the year. 与春分无关
To stand the egg on its end,
try using a rough surface or an egg that has a bumpy (not even 不平的) end for better balance
.
Millie added, "the ancient Chinese celebrated the first day of spring about six weeks earlier than the equinox古代中国人提早六周庆祝春分, meaning that the recreation of this event was not even on the correct day."
The equinox is when the poles point neither toward or away from the sun.
Though standing an egg on its end can be easily
disproved 证明……是错误的
, there are many interesting facts about the vernal equinox关于春分的有趣事实如下:
It is true that on the equinox, the sun rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west. This is true no matter the location on Earth, Slooh Astronomer Bob Berman said.
A second known fact is that the first day of spring has roughly has the same length of day and night around the world, with typically five to seven more minutes of daylight
(白天比黑夜多5-7分钟)
, according to Berman.
"The time of equal day and night actually happens about four or five days earlier than the equinox
昼夜均分事实上发生在春分之前的四五天
," Berman said. Lastly, during vernal equinox, the sun's movement across the sky occurs in a straight line as opposed to a curved shape.
(
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/can-you-really-stand-egg-on-end-vernal-equinox-spring-begins/56110930
)
片段二：
The Chinese are often cited as
having originated the practice of standing eggs on end
during the equinox. Just as the equinox symbolically restores balance to the world by signalling its rebirth after a season of darkness, the equinox literally balances the day by dividing it into equal portions of darkness and light. If the symbol of fertility, eggs, could be balanced on end during a day equally divided between day and night, this was a sign that all nature was in
harmony
.
Nonetheless,
the vernal equinox
brings no special egg-balancing properties with it
.
