12/01/04

Holiday hoopla seems to start earlier and earlier every year. In early childhood programs all over the United States, hot debates emerge about including holidays in the curriculum. With the retail blitz starting with Halloween and continuing throughout the winter holidays, we are faced with many decisions about whether and how to include holiday observances in our programs. Classroom practices range from a "no holiday celebrations" policy to a holiday-centered, thematic approach that focuses a good portion of the school day on holiday activities. Public school educators must realize which traditions are associated with religious practices and be very careful about the way they are approached in the classroom. Educators in religious schools also try to untangle religious traditions from secular customs. As always, teachers also need to remember the importance of maintaining the routines and predictable schedules on which young children rely.

When carefully planned and thought out as one part of a multicultural curriculum, holidays can be a vehicle for learning about the traditions and values of the families in our programs and exposing children to the traditions of others. When poorly planned, holiday celebrations might trivialize or provide incorrect information about cultural or religious celebrations, or encourage myths or stereotyping of groups of people. In this article, we invite you to think about your current holiday practices and reflect on what is meaningful and appropriate for the children you teach and their families.

Why Are Holidays Important to Us?

In our hectic lives today, holidays are often the time we can set aside our daily routines to be with family and friends. Many of us think about eating special foods, singing and hearing holiday music, and decorating our homes with special winter ornaments. For some, holiday traditions help us connect with our ancestors or engage us in thinking about religious or ethnic identity and how we want to perpetuate it.

The Challenge for Teachers

It's easy for teachers to become caught up in the excitement and creativity associated with the popular observances in fall and winter. By nature, many early childhood teachers are creative and enthusiastic people who enjoy eliciting delight in young children. Many teachers look forward to this time of year as another opportunity to express themselves and enjoy the excitement in the classroom. In this excitement, even the most experienced teachers can lose sight of developmentally appropriate objectives and practices. The challenge for us as early childhood educators is to consider how to make holiday celebrations meaningful to the children we teach.

Sometimes, on the other hand, teachers concerned about how to meet the needs of their very diverse student populations choose not to celebrate holidays at all. But, since the components of children's everyday lives are what drive curriculum in a Creative Curriculum^® classroom, this solution doesn't sound responsive to children's needs. In addition, you may have children in your class who celebrate holidays that are not typically seen or acknowledged in the decorations, advertising, and celebrations of the larger community. You have the opportunity to acknowledge something that is valued in each and every family in your program. Holiday observances can be done in ways that are respectful, sensitive, and developmentally appropriate.

What Can Children Learn From Holiday Activities, Discussions, and Celebrations?

We encourage you to consider that there are many ways children can experience various holidays other than through eating food, making decorations or gifts, and having parties. Begin by thinking about some of the big ideas that you hope children will learn from your introducing different holidays into the classroom. For example:

• Families may celebrate the same holiday in different ways.
• Different families may celebrate different holidays.
• Not everyone celebrates every holiday.
• What my family does is valued at my preschool.
• We can all learn about different holidays and how they are celebrated.
• There are special feelings associated with holidays; they are more than costumes, food, and parties.

Making Decisions About Holiday Activities Throughout the Year

Survey the families

Begin by learning about the different observances and traditions of the families in your classroom. In Celebrate!: An Anti-Bias Guide to Enjoying Holidays in Early Childhood Programs, author Julie Bisson suggests using parent surveys to collect information about families' observances, traditions, and preferences. Surveying can help you plan a culturally sensitive and meaningful program throughout the year.

We all know that concerns about what to do in early childhood programs about cultural and religious observances flare at this time of year. As a result of the dazzling and sometimes overwhelming interest in Christmas in this country, staff and parents are sensitive about how to address the needs of all families. We sometimes get so caught up in the effort to stay balanced, that we forget holidays don't only happen in fall and winter! And, the date of many holidays fluctuates. Take for example many of the holidays that people consider "winter holidays." Some of these observances take place at different times each year. For example, this year, Ramadan, which began on October 15, is observed until November 13, so you will want to know if there are Muslim families who are fasting during the day. This year the eight day festival of Hanukkah begins the evening of December 7, but some years it occurs later. Diwali, a four-day Hindu festival observed by many Indian families begins November 12 this year. This festival of lights sometimes occurs in December.

You can see from just this very brief list of observances, not all important holidays occur in December, so it would be misguided to overemphasize cultural observances only in December. This only underscores the importance of making sure that your program is culturally diverse ALL YEAR LONG, and does not emphasize holidays as the only way to learn more about other cultures.

Check the policies in your program

Make sure you are familiar with your program's policies about celebrating religious holidays. While public school programs may not focus on the religious aspects of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan, children can learn that these holidays have significant religious components for some families. Thus, it is often more offensive to offer a watered down holiday celebration in which it is implied that all the holidays are really the same, with the same values being taught. With young children, if you focus on showing them how the families in the program celebrate, you are celebrating their lives and the lives of their families.

The decisions you make about holiday activities should mirror the decisions you make about everyday classroom experiences. Here are some points to keep in mind:

• Make sure holiday activities don't become the whole curriculum. Holidays should have no more significance or emphasis than any other subject you explore in your classroom at any time during the year.
• Remember that preschool children, with their limited understanding of time concepts, may not remember what their families did last year and may have difficulty thinking about celebrations that will take place several weeks from now.
• Think about other ways to respond to what children notice about the observance. For example, many objects children notice--pumpkins, gourds, lights, candles, decorated trees--can become materials for scientific investigations rather than holiday-related activities. You can make use of these learning opportunities.
• Think about ways to involve family members. Invite family members in to talk about their family customs and to share special objects related to the observance or holiday.
• Preserve the regular routines of your classroom. Remember that holidays can be overstimulating for young children. Following the simple routines that they have learned in your classroom can be comforting.
• Keep activities simple and low-key. With this in mind, look for books that describe different practices. Learn songs (nonreligious) from different cultures and about traditions. Consider what related objects you can make available for children to explore in interest areas.
• Incorporate open-ended activities that give children choices about what they make and how their creations are used. For example, Julie Bisson, in her book Celebrate! An Anti-Bias Guide to Enjoying Holidays in Early Childhood Programs, suggests an art activity like making homemade wrapping paper that can be used for holiday gifts or at any time of the year. She also mentions making candleholders with playdough or clay. Her point is that these products can be used differently by children in different families. With this approach, you may not need to find alternative activities for children who, because of their religious beliefs, may not participate in holiday celebrations.
• Beware the "holiday party" which is really a Christmas party with a few nods to other traditions.

When in doubt, remember that "less is more." Listen to your children. Respond to a child who talks about Santa Claus a lot by showing him books about Santa Claus, without having the whole class focus on Santa Claus for the month. What may be most important to the children is that you, their teacher, remain calm and relaxed at this time of the year. Then, you can respond to the questions children ask about and build holiday activities and celebrations that do not take over but that acknowledge children's own experiences and respond to their interests and those of their families.

Resources:
National Association for The Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Early Years Are Learning Years [Article Series]: Celebrating Holidays in Early Childhood Programs.

National Association for The Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Early Years Are Learning Years [Article Series]: Holiday Celebrations Around the World.

Bisson, J. Holiday Books for Children and Families and Resources for Critical
Thinking about Holiday Celebrations and Anti-Bias Curriculum.

Bisson, J. Celebrate!: An Anti-Bias Guide to Enjoying Holidays in Early Childhood Programs. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.