Holiday celebrations in the class?

With the holidays coming up I think it is a good time to think about to what degree would we be willing to celebrate in our classrooms and schools. What do we celebrate, if anything? What do we teach our children about religions and the celebrations that they partake in?

I believe that much of this is governed by the culture of our community and school. Given that, it is my belief that when we say that we will not be having any references to Christmas I think we are doing the kids a disservice. Look around and we see holiday decorations all around us. They permeate our culture. If we try to eliminate this and censor ourselves in the classroom, I think we are alienating ourselves from one another. The holidays can be approached with in a secular manner. In fact the Supreme Court has ruled as such, saying things like Santa Claus and Christmas Trees are indeed secular symbols. A teacher can and in my opinion should teach about the spirit of family and giving that permeate the holiday season. It doesn't have to, and in fact shouldn't be an indoctrination in a religious point of view. But I think that pretending the fact that the holiday break and Christmas occur at the same time is some kind of happy coincidence is folly.

As I mentioned before the culture of your classroom should be your guide as to what you do in the class. Take time to teach about how other cultures may or may not celebrate during this time of year. Show other perspectives and validate them for kids because I truly feel that one of the best things we can teach our children is respect and compassion for all others. This however should not be at the expense of what we have come to celebrate.