Teaching holidays at school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have the opposite problem. We are Christians and never once is Christmas explained or even mentioned. The Dawalii story and candles are explained year after year.
The Hannakua story is explained every year. But nothing about Christmas is referenced or explained. Even for Multicultural night, Christmas is not represented.

Maybe because Xmas is not considered multicultural? It's considered the norm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have the opposite problem. We are Christians and never once is Christmas explained or even mentioned. The Dawalii story and candles are explained year after year.
The Hannakua story is explained every year. But nothing about Christmas is referenced or explained. Even for Multicultural night, Christmas is not represented.

This is my experience as well. Any other holiday, but Christmas or Easter, is acceptable to talk about at public schools. Live in NYC, card-carrying Democrat.

I have a vivid memory of FCPS (where our kids were at school previously) posting last year that Easter was the day that Christians celebrated the resurrection of Jesus and it was a very clear and succinct statement of a religious interpretation of Jesus. I was surprised by the fact that they didn't post something about bunnies and spring, but religion. And my kids had previously been told by teachers (erroneously, might I add) that they couldn't talk about their faith at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have the opposite problem. We are Christians and never once is Christmas explained or even mentioned. The Dawalii story and candles are explained year after year.
The Hannakua story is explained every year. But nothing about Christmas is referenced or explained. Even for Multicultural night, Christmas is not represented.

This is my experience as well. Any other holiday, but Christmas or Easter, is acceptable to talk about at public schools. Live in NYC, card-carrying Democrat.

Same. I've never even seen the words Christmas or Easter in anything the school has sent or said. It's "winter holidays" and "Spring break".

That being said, I moved to a very Jewish area in middle school and the majority of kids were Jewish. I really didn't know anything about the Jewish religious holidays and wished they'd been explained to me more (I was a bit insulated at a Catholic school). I think OP should have said what the story of Hannukah is about. I also think it's fine to say that Christmas to Christians is a holiday to celebrate the day Jesus was born. And then segue into how everyone celebrates it with family, trees and elves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have the opposite problem. We are Christians and never once is Christmas explained or even mentioned. The Dawalii story and candles are explained year after year.
The Hannakua story is explained every year. But nothing about Christmas is referenced or explained. Even for Multicultural night, Christmas is not represented.

This is my experience as well. Any other holiday, but Christmas or Easter, is acceptable to talk about at public schools. Live in NYC, card-carrying Democrat.

+1

I remember my MCPS elementary school (greater Bethesda area) discussing both Hannukah and Kwanzaa but never Christmas or Easter. Very, very liberal/blue area but I have literally never met anyone that I know celebrated Kwanzaa.

[Anonymous]

Update: their class watched another video about Christmas today. This time, my kindergartener said he learned that "a man and a woman had to travel a long way to find shelter and that woman had a baby in her belly and that baby was Jesus."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Update: their class watched another video about Christmas today. This time, my kindergartener said he learned that "a man and a woman had to travel a long way to find shelter and that woman had a baby in her belly and that baby was Jesus."

Your kid should tell them that Jesus wasn't even born in winter or December. The whole holiday is borrowed from other religions and traditions (though they all are)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Update: their class watched another video about Christmas today. This time, my kindergartener said he learned that "a man and a woman had to travel a long way to find shelter and that woman had a baby in her belly and that baby was Jesus."

Your kid should tell them that Jesus wasn't even born in winter or December. The whole holiday is borrowed from other religions and traditions (though they all are)

Christians know that it’s not the gotcha that you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Update: their class watched another video about Christmas today. This time, my kindergartener said he learned that "a man and a woman had to travel a long way to find shelter and that woman had a baby in her belly and that baby was Jesus."

Your kid should tell them that Jesus wasn't even born in winter or December. The whole holiday is borrowed from other religions and traditions (though they all are)

It doesn’t matter what day was picked as we literally don’t know. If it was celebrated in June would you tell all the Christian’s he wasn’t born in June? Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Update: their class watched another video about Christmas today. This time, my kindergartener said he learned that "a man and a woman had to travel a long way to find shelter and that woman had a baby in her belly and that baby was Jesus."

Your kid should tell them that Jesus wasn't even born in winter or December. The whole holiday is borrowed from other religions and traditions (though they all are)

I don't need to turn my kid into a crusader against Christianity. I'm not trying to own the Christians or begrudge them their beliefs. I just don't think they should be teaching my Jewish kid about Jesus in public school. Leave those lessons for Sunday school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Update: their class watched another video about Christmas today. This time, my kindergartener said he learned that "a man and a woman had to travel a long way to find shelter and that woman had a baby in her belly and that baby was Jesus."

Your kid should tell them that Jesus wasn't even born in winter or December. The whole holiday is borrowed from other religions and traditions (though they all are)

I don't need to turn my kid into a crusader against Christianity. I'm not trying to own the Christians or begrudge them their beliefs. I just don't think they should be teaching my Jewish kid about Jesus in public school. Leave those lessons for Sunday school.

It would really help for context if you could say which school district you are talking about.

I'm the PP who mentioned growing up in Bethesda and I am sure that if one of the local elementary schools showed a video about the birth of Jesus then a million lawyer parents would have complaints lodged within a week. People here generally agree that religion should be kept out of public school.

The opposite is true in many southern states. Most people want to put more religion (Christianity) into public schools. If you live in a place like that you will need to think carefully about whether you want to make a complaint, move away, or just not rock the boat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Update: their class watched another video about Christmas today. This time, my kindergartener said he learned that "a man and a woman had to travel a long way to find shelter and that woman had a baby in her belly and that baby was Jesus."

Your kid should tell them that Jesus wasn't even born in winter or December. The whole holiday is borrowed from other religions and traditions (though they all are)

I don't need to turn my kid into a crusader against Christianity. I'm not trying to own the Christians or begrudge them their beliefs. I just don't think they should be teaching my Jewish kid about Jesus in public school. Leave those lessons for Sunday school.

It would really help for context if you could say which school district you are talking about.

I'm the PP who mentioned growing up in Bethesda and I am sure that if one of the local elementary schools showed a video about the birth of Jesus then a million lawyer parents would have complaints lodged within a week. People here generally agree that religion should be kept out of public school.

The opposite is true in many southern states. Most people want to put more religion (Christianity) into public schools. If you live in a place like that you will need to think carefully about whether you want to make a complaint, move away, or just not rock the boat.

We're in FCPS and the school is very diverse. My kid isn't the only Jewish kid in his class and there are Muslim and Hindu kids, as well as Christian.

[Anonymous]

Are they going to explain Eid and Diwali too OP? What about Holi, Vesak, Solstices....

[Anonymous]

So let us get this straight...: you were very happy to indoctrinate other children about your religious holiday but you don't want your little Jimmy to learn about other people's holiday traditions??



Really, this post is pure comedy and surely the OP is full of grandeurs of delusion. To suggest only one holiday is important. Are we to believe that holidays are being colonized now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Update: their class watched another video about Christmas today. This time, my kindergartener said he learned that "a man and a woman had to travel a long way to find shelter and that woman had a baby in her belly and that baby was Jesus."

Your kid should tell them that Jesus wasn't even born in winter or December. The whole holiday is borrowed from other religions and traditions (though they all are)

I don't need to turn my kid into a crusader against Christianity. I'm not trying to own the Christians or begrudge them their beliefs. I just don't think they should be teaching my Jewish kid about Jesus in public school. Leave those lessons for Sunday school.

Do you think mentioning Christmas is when the birth of Jesus is celebrated by Christians is "teaching" religion? Is mentioning the Russian Revolution "teaching" Communism? Next year explain why Chanukah is celebrated. It's not "teaching" Judaism.

Peace