I recently received an email from a young teacher wanting to share the joy of the Christmas holiday with her underprivileged children. I answered her email and felt the topic is one that others might find helpful as well. I hope you find these strategies to be helpful in this time before winter break.

The winter holidays are a tricky time of year for any teacher. For many, celebrating a special holiday is something to be cherished. We want to share the joy of our traditions with others. However, not every teacher and certainly not every student in our class celebrates the same holiday. Right now the media and stores are pushing Christmas. We are inundated with Christmas music, Christmas trees, and messages of buying Christmas presents. For those of us who celebrate Christmas, this all seems perfectly normal. (Although don’t get me started on the whole materialism focus instead of celebrating the birth of Christ.) However, not everyone celebrates Christmas. Unless you are teaching in a Christian private school, you will have students and families with a wide variety of beliefs and holiday traditions.

Different religions have different holidays. Different cultures have different holidays. Where are the trimmings and attention for those? They are pushed to the side while the retail industry focuses on the largest purchasing market in the winter season. What about those students and families who do not celebrate Christmas? They feel left out and isolated. Many schools do not allow any kind of holiday celebration or holiday trimmings. However, if your school does allow the celebration of winter holidays, consider everyone in your room. Instead of focusing on and using the symbols of only one holiday, try one or more of the following:

1.) Ask students to bring in something that represents a holiday their family celebrates.

2.) Have students to share pictures, stories, and symbols of their family celebrating a special winter holiday. You might encourage them to make a collage or a poster that explains the holiday and/or winter traditions of their family.

3.) Let everyone share a special tradition followed in their family at this time of year. Some families do not celebrate any kind of religious holiday, but perhaps have other traditions for this time of year.

4.) Older students can write a personal narrative about their favorite memory of a holiday celebrated by their family, an informative piece that describes the holiday they celebrate (or why they do not celebrate a
holiday), or a poem that expresses their feelings about a holiday celebrated by their family.

5.) Send home a letter to parents letting them know that you would like to show the symbols from a wide variety of holidays celebrated this time of year. Ask if they would be willing to send an item to class along with an explanation of the meaning/use/purpose. This becomes a wonderful opportunity for multi-cultural lessons within the classroom. Place these objects around the room as your decorations and then send them home for winter break..

I understand that you want to share your excitement of this time of year with your class, but it is important to remember that not every family celebrates with a tree, ornaments, and gifts. Just because their beliefs are different from yours does not mean that they miss out. Rather, they celebrate their own holidays and family traditions. Giving your students a chance to share their own traditions gives them a feeling of support and encouragement instead of feeling left out.