Rethinking holidays, great books for kids and oh, the climate!

Hi friends,

It is already December! 
For many of us this means a long awaited break from school. A chance to spend time with family and friends and to celebrate the arrival of a new year. It is also a time of year associated with well known religious and cultural traditions most notably Christmas among Christians and Hanukkah for those of the Jewish faith. In our schools, not everyone belongs to these faith communities, how do we acknowledge that and insure that our classrooms (and offices) remain inclusive during the ‘holiday season’?

Teaching Tolerance offers resources for looking at our classroom practices regarding holidays. This collection of three options invites us to consider looking at the school calendar and asking critical questions. Among them: How do we honor the diversity of beliefs and cultures while acknowledging the many ways that we privilege certain customs over others?  As much as I enjoy Christmas caroling, I have to remind myself that I could be more proactive in finding out about other faith traditions beyond my own. Also on the TT website I found a  list of resources for elementary students which includes stories of children navigating situations which revolve around belonging to a non-dominant religious group.

If you find yourself in the process of organizing gift giving, there are some excellent lists of children’s books which feature protagonists from a variety of backgrounds. On the We Need Diverse Books blog, author Rebecca Kim Wells has created a lovely buffet of possibilities for young readers. Whether looking for the kids in you life at home or at school, the WNDB community is an excellent place to start your search.

December is also the month where specific weather wishes feature prominently (“Let it snow” to which I humbly reply in the age of climate change, “Let it go”.) When we return to our classrooms, there may be opportunities to talk about the climate and recent trends in youth activism. Greta Thunberg is Time Magazine‘s person of the year but there are many other young activists throughout the world who are indigenous or folks of color who merit our attention as well. I invite you to consider this article on Vox which profiles several US activists of color including Mari Kopeny (Little Miss Flint) who has been fighting for clean water in her community for 5 years. She is admittedly no longer “little”. 

That’s it for this month. It’s always a challenge to keep it brief since there are soooo many great resources available to us. Enjoy the winter break, stay safe and be well!

Sherri

images via Pixabay.com CC0