Lots of people start each year with New Year’s resolutions. A resolution is a promise to help you live a better life. You plan to do something good or to stop doing something bad in the coming year. Here are some children’s New Year’s resolutions.

My name is Tony. I’m going to improve my Chinese and get better grades. How am I going to do that? I promise to work harder than before.

I’m Jenny. I have many different kinds of hobbies, like singing, dancing and swimming. This year, I’m going to take up a new hobby—taking photos. I will learn it from my uncle. He takes photos for some magazines and he is very good at it.

I’m Rose. I hope to be healthier. I usually watch TV a lot at night and only sleep seven hours a day. I will listen to my body and sleep more. Also, I decide to run for half an hour every morning. I know the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. It seems to make sense (有道理), so I’m going to eat some fresh fruit too every day.

It’s OK for you to have a big or small resolution. What’s important is that you should take it seriously and try to keep it. Don’t let it work only for a few weeks or months.

This afternoon our school will hold a meeting in the playground. At the meeting some teachers and students will talk about how to be a good student. Mary is a top girl. She does very well in all the subjects. She will talk about how to study the subjects well. Tom is very strong. He is interested in PE. He takes part in all kinds of sports. He will talk about how to keep healthy. Mr White is a maths teacher. He teaches very well. He is one of the most popular teachers in our school. He will tell us some good ways of learning maths. Finally our headmaster Mr Green will speak. He will tell us what good manners are. I hope we can learn a lot from the meeting.

In December or early January, almost everyone wants to plan for a wonderful new year! We make New Year’s resolutions and set our big goals (目标). But many of us can hardly ever keep them. Here are some ways to help you to keep your resolutions.

You need to know clearly what you really want first. It’s true that people can always keep working on what they are interested in but lose interest in those usual resolutions, such as eating healthier food or getting more exercise.

Having a goal is not enough. You need to think of some clear steps (步骤). So make a good plan. In this way, you know what to do next and how to reach the goal at last.

If you make the plan later, you may forget your resolutions slowly. It is important that you start making your plan right now.

You should write down your resolutions and plan in a notebook or diary, so that you never forget them. You can make a resolution in one day. It doesn’t mean you must finish it in one day. It may need a hundred small steps. New Year’s resolutions are just a starting point and you must keep on working on them for a long time.