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Too much Christmas Education in my Public School
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Anonymous
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My DD goes to public school, we are Jewish. There are lots of Jews and other religions besides Christianity, but I get that the majority are Christian and the majority of teachers are Christian. There was just a lot crafts and learning about Christmas this year. All of the holiday gifts the kids made were Christmas related, they listened to Christmas music everyday for the last two weeks, they made pictures of elves, they called it a Christmas party and watched a Christmas related movie and my daughter learned about the three wise men and baby Jesus and the nativity scene (in spanish class) and there was caroling with everyone wearing Santa hats. All of these festivities could easily have been winter related. Instead of the rudolf ornament, they could have made a snowman, etc. I just feel all the blind Christmas stuff is over the top and slightly offensive to people who don’t celebrate. My DD (kindergarten) was slightly confused and definitely feeling left out today when she learned all about Christmas for the past month and then we went out for Chinese food. They did color a sheet with a menorah on it for Chanukah, so equality.
I want to bring this up with the teacher/admins. But don’t know how. It’s obviously over now, and I am not sure if they will totally forget by next year. |
Anonymous
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"All the gifts the kids made were Christmas related", you write.
What kind of gifts were they? |
Anonymous
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What school is this?
My kids are out of elementary school now, but their schools were always very careful to make everything about winter holiday fun, and never, never did anything directly Christmas related, other than situations where they learned about many different religions and cultures. I’d be curious to know what school is allowing what is described in the OP to happen: it sounds as though they are going backwards instead of forward. |
Anonymous
| She made a Christmas tree, a Rudolph ornament and an Elf ornament, and a Santa hat pencil holder. They were gifts from her to us. All the kids had to make the same thing. I would have been fine with one or two Christmas themed and then a snowman, snowflake, etc. |
Anonymous
| OP, it’s cultural activities. As for Rudolph, the story is about acceptance and recognizing different strengths. There is not much Christmas except for Santa delivering gifts. |
Anonymous
I know, right?! This was never the case when I was younger. I was surprised and kind of sad for her. They did do a thing where parents can come in and talk about your holiday and we did that over Chanukah... but the last three weeks have ONLY been Christmas. I do t want to call the school out, but it’s in DC. |
Anonymous
Those are all secular and non religous things. They learned about menorahs. Did they learn about advent wreaths? That would be an equivalent religious item. A menorah is religious. Santa, elves, reindeer and Christmas trees are not. |
Anonymous
Santa, elves, reindeer and a Christmas tree are not secular. They relate to Christianity and Christmas. How do you even justify your comments? Its not ok to teach that to public school kids and set them up. Its extremely inappropiate. |
Anonymous
Honestly, this is what I think the teacher thinks and it’s why I am hesitant to approach it because I don’t think anything will change. Jews were oppressed by Christians for hundreds of years. They were forced to celebrate Christian holidays. There is symbolism that doesn’t sit right with me with my daughter being made to do all of this. Again, I am fine with a few and all for some “cultural activities” but this was pretty much ALL for a month and Rudolph is Christmas... he is Santa’s reindeer. There are plenty of stories about acceptance that aren’t related to religion or religious holidays. |
Anonymous
But it’s all Christmas, a holiday my kid doesn’t celebrate and is excluded from because we are not Christian. Do you get it? The menorah was a 5 min activity. This was all day everyday for a month. And they learned about the nativity, the wise men and baby Jesus. |
Anonymous
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You gather up all of the crafts and have a meeting with the teacher. You lay they them out in the table and let her know your child’s participation in these activities makes your family uncomfortable.
If you don’t want this to continue in the schools, you need to say something. The teacher probably doesn’t think anything of it. You will need to specifically point out to her how these items are representations of Christmas and that not all children celebrate Christmas. You need to request that alternative activities be made available. Easter is coming soon....the Easter bunny will make an appearance in the classroom as a coloring sheet, a story, something. If they already learned about Jesus, the rest of the story may continue. It’s not supposed to be like this, but it is the way of the world. I’m 46 and this is what was done when I was in elementary school. I didn’t like it; it made me feel uncomfortable and I didn’t want the same for my children. My kids are in day school as a result. |
Anonymous
| Send her for a jewish education. |
Anonymous
The discussions in Spanish class about Jesus, the wise men and the nativity scene need to be brought to the principal's attention. I'd also bring up the weekslong focus on Christmas related activities. My kid's school has winter related activities (a winter party, making snowflakes, snowmen, gingerbread people/houses). You need to discuss it with the principle because talking to this year's teacher does nothing about your concerns for next year. As to the poster who suggested Jewish education classes, I agree. We all need to send our kids to religious education outside of school, and keep religion (including things about the baby Jesus) out of public schools. |
Anonymous
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NP.
Because the rights of the minority are protected in this country, esp wrt religious belief and practice. OP, is this the norm in your DD’s ES or just one teacher? |
Anonymous
| This sounds like a elementary school in flyover country circa 1983. |