Dr. David Childs, D.D. Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University
Originally posted December 19, 2019 (With some new updates).
With the holiday season upon us, we thought it would be fitting to post another article on the topic of various holiday traditions. Religious pluralism is one of the hallmarks of a democratic society. People are free to practice their religion (Or not) according to their own convictions and not be concerned about repercussions or punishment from the government and or be intimidated by mob rule. Although Christmas is a religious holiday in its origins, it has also come to evolve into many secular traditions. Education World, an online resource for teachers, administrators and school staff, has created a lesson plan for teachers that allow students to explore this very topic, examining the diversity of beliefs and cultural influences that has made Christmas what it is today. Check out this lesson plan entitled Lesson Plan Booster: Surprising Origins of Modern-Day Christmas Traditions. It also allows teachers and students to get a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural background that makes Christmas what it is today. A fun and very informative article for students and the general public, it explores the historical origins of Christmas trees, it examines the significance of the date December 25, Santa Claus and even discusses the historical origins of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer. One can also explore the various historic Christmas cultural traditions in a 2018 article we did entitled Christmas Traditions of the Past and Present: Teaching the History of Christmas. 
Saint Nicholas gifting gold through the window to the father of the three daughters (Gerard David circa 1500 – 1510)
Along the lines of religious pluralism and the holiday season, Educator World has also created a lesson plan that teachers can use to teach about the Jewish holiday Hanukkah. The article is entitled Lesson: Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. The lesson includes ways to teach about the holiday across the curriculum. Here are other articles that shed more light on the holiday tradition of Hanukkah.
Other Resources
Hanukkah in the Classroom: Celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah with these lesson plans, articles, and teaching ideas
Teaching About the Holidays in Public Schools
Sharing Hanukkah at School
Hanukkah – Teacher Resources
Who Should Teach About Hanukkah and What Should They Be Teaching?
I like this article because it gets you to think about other during the holidays. We live in a world where we are free to celebrate any way we choose. This is important to remember that not everyone sees holidays as we might. I have been in classrooms where not all students’ views are the same. We have to make sure we are aware of this and able to be sensitive to these views. I do think it is very important to express interest in different views and maybe embark in trying to understand different holidays of your students. This is a way to make a connection with your students.
I really enjoyed this article. Holiday celebrations are wildly different from one culture to the next. Each culture has its own reason and history for each holiday. Some are based on myth, some based on history, and others are just based around the changing of seasons and the bringing in of a harvest or the coming winter. Holidays demonstrate what a culture prides themselves on and what they take to heart and/or what is most important to them.
Although Christmas has already passed, I am reading this article late, and will not be coming for another nine-month, I really enjoyed reading this article. I think it sheds some light on what a lot of teachers struggle with during the holiday season. Although Christmas is celebrated by 90% of Americans, we still do not want to make those who don’t feel left out. I took a look at the lesson plans in the article, the one that talks about the origins of modern-day Christmas traditions and the lesson about Hanukkah and the festival of lights. I think these lessons would be great to use in your classroom, to show students that there is more to Christmas than just Christianity and there are other religions celebrated during that time of year. I think you can also talk about how holidays aren’t always associated with religion, specifically when it comes to Christmas. I will be bookmarking the lessons thanks!
I really enjoyed this article because it discussed how all religious holidays should be celebrated, the world around us is becoming so diverse. Religious holidays allow us to get a deeper understanding of culture. This article also helped remind me of the history of Christmas. I liked how the lesson plans provided helped show the deeper meaning behind holidays
I know it’s nowhere close to Christmas time, but I wanted to take a look at this article. I am not very familiar with other religious holidays as much as a should be and this is not only my fault but schools as well. I also grew up in Catholic Schools so we only discussed the Catholic ways we celebrate Christmas. Since I am going to be a teacher, I thought this was important to read. I think every religions holiday should be celebrated and all students should be educated on them. Our world is so diverse and each and every culture deserves to celebrated. I enjoyed getting to look at the different lessons that were posted within this article. I think most times, we forget the origin of Christmas and focus too much on what it is now. That gave us more of the history on it. Then at the bottom I liked the other lesson on Hanukkah. I think I am intimidated on teaching these celebrations because I do not know much about it but lessons like this are extremely helpful.
I clicked on this article to read because I always get nervous when religious holidays come around and it is different than a students belief. I don’t want students to get upset, defensive, or feel left out when the discussion of a holiday approaches. But people are free to speak their opinions and practice their religion. In the article it states, “It also allows teachers and students to get a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural background that makes Christmas what it is today”. It is very important for students to learn about different beliefs and holidays that surrounds them all over the world. It is history and it is neat to learn about the background of a holiday.
I liked that this article discusses the importance of learning about different holidays, using the example of Christmas. The lesson plans provided go into deeper meaning of the holiday and the traditions and history behind it. I feel that many schools don’t often teach the meaning behind these holidays even though they celebrate it. I also appreciated that they added resources for Hanukkah lessons since I am Jewish myself. During my field placement last semester, the students found out that I was Jewish and asked if I could teach them about Hanukkah. I really wanted to teach them the meaning of Hanukkah and the story behind it. So, I told them Hanukkahs history, read them a book about it, and brought in some symbolic objects including a menorah and a dreidel for them to look at. Overall, I think schools should discuss a variety of holidays that take place during the winter.
I like the resource that the article gave to help students understand the many different traditions that are involved in Christmas. I can definitely see myself using Education World in my future lesson around the holiday season. I like how this website offers lesson plans, printable worksheets, and other resources to learn about the history and traditions of Christmas.
This article stuck out to me because I observed in a Kindergarten class at a local elementary school, in 2021. Before their winter break started, the teacher read a different book, each day, that talked about how people in different countries celebrate Christmas. After the book was read, the teacher would ask the students, “What is different from the way they celebrate their holiday, and the way we celebrate ours?” and “What is the same?”. This unit incorporated diversity in Christmas.
After reading the article I was very interested in the importance of lesson planning for your students with different backgrounds and diversity. This article can help me in various ways when trying to teach diversity around the holidays. Reading through the lesson planning and different ways I could teach this in my classroom definitely opened my mind to new ways and techniques for teaching.This statement caught my as eye as I think it’s important to mention historical backgrounds “It also allows teachers and students to get a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural background that makes Christmas what it is today”.