The Importance of Sharing Holidays with your Students.
By: Teacher Ravisara When planning holiday activities in the classroom, it’s important to take a thoughtful and inclusive approach that honours diverse backgrounds, traditions, and family beliefs. By teaching students about holidays from various cultures and belief systems, teachers and parents help foster empathy and a deeper understanding of different people and perspectives. Most holiday celebrations across cultures emphasise traditions, history, and the reasons a community cares for one another. Introducing children to holidays from different cultures helps them recognize that, despite our differences, we share many commonalities, such as: Parents can enhance the discussion of holidays with their children by reading multicultural holiday books. A key benefit of sharing these books with your children is the opportunity to explain your own beliefs and traditions while addressing their questions. Even better, if you’re unfamiliar with the holiday, you can learn alongside your child. Here are some great books to begin with: Teaching children to appreciate the cultural traditions of others is essential for fostering healthy emotions and social connections. Parents, students, and teachers can nurture cultural sensitivity by explaining holidays to students and helping them understand why people celebrate in different ways.
