As we move into the Christmas season we as a staff are committed to keeping things as low-keyed and authentically meaningful as possible. Not only for the children, but for ourselves as a staff as well!

As a staff we will do our best to fit the holiday celebrations into the curriculum in a meaningful way. Through holiday celebrations, family and friends feel the special bond of gathering to be together for religious and cultural celebrations. When we celebrate holidays in the classrooms, we acknowledge these important days in the children’s lives, and in this way we support children’s cultural identities and strengthen an important connection between school, their home and families. Along with helping develop a strong sense of community in the classroom, celebrating together also promotes self- esteem in children as we validate what they are doing in the home by doing some of those same things here at school.

Last week during our thanksgiving celebrations, the children talked about all of the wonderful things that they have to be thankful for. The classes also enjoyed a diverse variety of harvest treats. Many of the classes did their own cooking. Enthusiastic children made various vegetable soups, apple and cranberry crisps, and sweet potato pies. Thank you all for your various donations that you sent in.

As Christmas and Hanukkah arrive, we will do our best to respect each of the children’s holiday traditions. Holiday activities that are done on a rote, product oriented basis, offering children little connected information or opportunity to develop individuality are essentially worthless to everyone involved. Cute little secularized Christmas projects don’t even recognize that Christmas is a religious holiday.

We also try to emphasize the process of holidays as opposed to focusing on end products. Christmas has become such a commercialized time; we will try and eliminate the emphasis on material things. That is the reason we are asking parents and children to give hats and mittens for less fortunate children for our “mitten tree”. So we will try to keep things as meaningful and process oriented as possible during the holidays.

It is also important that children understand that people from different religious and cultural traditions who celebrate other holidays or the same holiday in a different manner are not unworthy or of less value. If families have any holiday traditions that they would like to share with us please let us know. In this way children can share their traditions from home and learn about those of their classmates.

Again let me remind you all that as far as young children go less is usually best. Children are easily over stimulated. Lots of food, visiting relatives and friends, and all kinds of exciting activities, is pretty much the order of the day during holidays. It’s all wonderful fun, but too much of a good thing for small children can easily overwhelm them! So do keep this in mind as you schedule holiday activities.

Also, as you plan you family’s holiday activities you can help your child by keeping in mind children’s perceptions of holidays based on their age and developmental level. The following list may help you think about what would be appropriate for your own child.

Two Year Olds

• Need to be with their families on holidays.
• Can “catch” excitement from adults, but don’t understand what a holiday is about.
• May be over-stimulated or upset by a lot of change in routine.

Three Year Olds

• View holiday celebrations in terms of their own family experience.
• Are egocentric and think that everyone celebrates the same as they do.
• Need to see their family’s special holidays reflected in their school environment.
• Learn from holiday activities that are concrete, accurate, and connected to their own experiences.
• Understand and respond to the feelings that holidays bring, rather than to the reasons people celebrate them.

Four Year Olds

• Still view holidays primarily in terms of their own family experiences.
• May remember a celebration from last year and look forward to it.
• Begin to realize that some people celebrate holidays other than their own, and celebrate in different ways.
• Can talk about similarities and differences among holidays that connect to their own experiences.
• Understand simple (and accurate) information about the meaning of holidays.

Five Year Olds

• Enjoy celebrating holidays with friends as well as families.
• Like to prepare for celebrations by making special foods, decorating, etc.
• Want celebrations to consistent, “like last year.”
• Understand that people celebrate different holidays and enjoy learning about them.
• Can understand the historical or social reasons why a holiday is celebrated.