More Than Christmas: Traditions Open the Door!

I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas…

Welcome to December, everyone! I’m sitting here watching White Christmas, the most magical holiday movie ever created. As much as I love this time of year and the Christmas holiday, I have become more aware over the years of how much children are inundated with Christmas- even at school!

My family and I celebrate Christmas, but of course not every student in the US does, and while there has been a meager attempt over the years to include Hanukkah or Kwanzaa into our school craftivities, we are really excluding a large number of children this time of year. I used to think that just because every child in my class may celebrate Christmas, it was fine to include some yuletide fun here and there in the weeks leading up to the break.

Now, I am not AT ALL against a little Christmas Cheer, but this year I took a different approach to my holiday schedule and honestly, it’s been way more awesome than I could have imagined!

Holiday Traditions!

Here’s how we started things out. Let me begin by saying that after Christmas we had 3 full weeks to plan for until Winter Break. The first week of December I told the class during our Morning Meeting that we would not be focusing on Christmas. They were initially surprised (and a little upset!) until I explained that we would still be celebrating, but not in the way they may have in years past. We have had a marked focus in room A-29 this year on world geography and cultural awareness. My co-teacher has always lamented our 5th grader’s lack of geographical awareness and I have always been disheartened at the lack of cultural appreciation (not just with 10 year olds, btw, but everywhere!). So this year, we took both tasks on full force! From attendance questions to reading passports, I am pleased to say that our class is surprising me everyday with the amount of curiosity and knowledge they have gained-mostly of their own doing!

But, more on those fun things later.

Let’s get back to our Holiday Celebrations! We began the first week by sharing our own Christmas Traditions- start with what you know, right? Last Monday’s morning meeting was so sweet! You should have seen their eyes light up and the number of hands in the air when I asked them to tell me what they do this time of year with their families! It was cool, but the most amazing thing that happened was actually not what I expected. As we were sharing our traditions, after endless Elf stories and Santa tales, one boy sheepishly said that his family didn’t “do the Santa part.” No sooner had he said that then 2 other kids gasped as if you’d told them the WiFi was out. I immediately jumped in and explained that by doing that, they are making it seem as if the way THEY celebrate Christmas is better than HIS way. Of course, they chimed in with, “No, we didn’t mean it THAT way!” “I know,” I said. “But by reacting that way, you are sending the impression that his way is not as good. We need to be aware of our reactions and be open to others’ interpretations and ideas.”

This brought on more kids’ hands in the air, sharing traditions that they were too shy or embarrassed to share before, but now felt an opening and a safe space. I sat there in awe as my kids told each other about practices their families have that they didn’t think were “normal.”

Y’all it was crazy! The “Christmas Pickle,” cookies, trips to multiple houses, plantain tamales, moving a magic marker, pj’s, prayers, special lunches, Three Kings Day. The list went on and on. No one made fun of anyone. On the contrary, the kids were excited when they heard something new, and commented about how they should tell their own family about it!

The assignment for the week was to write a descriptive paragraph about their own traditions. On Friday we shared them and we learned that even though we all celebrate the same holiday, we celebrate it in VERY different ways! And, most importantly, all of those ways are awesome. This opened up the window to explore OTHER cultures in the coming weeks, and the traditions they have in their countries.

Which brings me to my new favorite word- TRADITIONS.

I have stopped saying phrases like “Christmas Around the World,” or “Holidays Around the World.” I now simply talk about the TRADITIONS that other countries and cultures practice. We know about Christmas. For Pete’s sake even if you DON’T celebrate Christmas you definitely know about it because it’s everywhere! And while I LOVE this holiday, I have to remember that there are tons of beautiful cultures with amazing traditions that some of my kids may identify with.

If you are not sure how to approach this season, either because you have a very multi-cultural class or because you are afraid of remaining “PC,” I encourage you to discuss traditions in your class and see what happens. For us, the effect has been beautiful and it’s growing still.

I used a triangle template I purchased from Panicked Teacher on TpT for them to write their final drafts on. These are assembled into a tree shape in the end. Our class traditions built our ‘Class Tree’, but for the ornaments we are going further. Over the last 2 weeks before break we are exploring the cultures of other countries around the world- 12 in all- and creating ornaments that reflect the traditions and holidays they celebrate!

So in the end, my giant metaphor is that we start by reflecting on our OWN traditions, but we become more beautiful and complete when we have the traditions of everyone as part of the picture.

Enjoy your traditions this season!

What do you do to celebrate with your class this time of year?