Celebrating holidays in early childhood settings is not only fun and exciting, it offers additional opportunities to develop children’s early literacy skills by connecting lessons to occasions occurring both in the context of their daily lives and cultures and those around the world. Holiday literacy lessons involve books, dramatic play, drawing/writing, cooking, crafts, games, etc. that support children’s vocabulary and language acquisition and develop their writing skills. Throughout the season, be sure your lessons and experiences share how diverse cultures celebrate different holidays and pay equal attention to the holidays celebrated by different cultures, especially any that might be unique to the students in your community, such as:
- Hanukkah (12/25/24-1/2/25),
- Kwanza (12/26/24) ,
- Rohatsu (12/8/24),
- Christmas (12/25/24),
- Chinese New Year (1/29/25).
Check out this link Anti-bias and Holidays on the NAEYC website and this link Diversity and the Holidays from the International Literacy Association for more information on how to be culturally responsive this holiday season and all year long.
As mentioned in previous posts, intentionally avoid books or activities that denote or evoke stereotypical, derogatory, or otherwise insensitive messages about a particular culture or ethnicity. Here’s a resource for selecting diverse books: how to_select_diverse_childrens_books and here’s another for evaluating the diversity of your classroom library: Classroom-Library-Questionnaire_FINAL
Below are a few book titles to consider about celebrations around the world :
Lynne Hall is a research associate at the Indiana Institute on Disability & Community’s Early Childhood Center. She holds a Master of Science in Education and an Indiana instructional teaching license (Early Childhood Education and Services; Elementary/Primary Generalist; Elementary/Intermediate Generalist). She formerly taught preschool in a variety of settings for over 15 years. Her expertise includes early literacy instruction and inclusive preschool classroom practices. Email her at hallma@iu.edu
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