As it seems the vast majority of contributors to this blog are American I thought it might be a good idea to give everyone a better understanding of what takes place here in Australia, including the spelling of 'flavour' in the title. Yes, we do spell many words differently to North America, but that's something for another time. Now of course I can only speak in general terms about various types of services around the country, but will be more specific in relation to where I work.
As opposed to the Northern Hemisphere, the Christmas/New Year period occurs during the Summer months. Hence,, schools have their summer vacations, or holidays as we say here, at this time and therefore are closed for an extended time. Many children's services are also closed for the same period, from about a week before Christmas until the end of January. Most preschools adhere to these holidays, but long day care settings, such as the one I work in vary in how long they break for.
I returned to work the first Tuesday in the new year. You can read about my return here. All I will add is that with Christmas still fresh in their minds we spent much time talking about what we had gotten. During this time I sprung a surprise on them, showing my favourite Christmas gift and didn't they love it?"
I sometimes regret not having the same holidays as the schools as I would be able to spend more time with my own kids. The break from the paperwork is a nice touch too. yet, I miss doing what I love too much and would most likely become unbearable at home for 6 weeks.
So there you have it. A little insight into the Christmas/New Year period in this Aussie's neck of woods.
LOVE the Santa surfing image, Greg! I got used to "flavour" and similar spellings after living in England for a year and a half. My daughter lived there almost 5 years, so she has to really think about how words are spelled now! I stumbled your post! :) Deb @ LivingMontessoriNow.com
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