Las Posadas: A Mexican Christmas Celebration

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations. 

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The holidays are a great time to learn about a variety of cultures! One of the many holidays from around the world my Pre-K class will learn about in the coming weeks will be Las Posadas, a Mexican Christmas celebration. My Sunday School class learned a little about Las Posadas this week, and I thought I would share some of the fun we had with you!

Las Posadas is a nine day celebration (nine days to represent the nine months Mary carried Jesus). During that time, families take turns  each night re-enacting the Christmas story in their homes to symbolize  Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem. Two family members dress up as Mary and Joseph, and the home is the "inn". A procession follows Mary and Joseph to the "inn" and when the innkeeper lets them in, the procession follows and the guests come in to kneel and pray in front of the nativity scene. At the end of the journey, Christmas carols are sung and often children take turns to try to break a pinata filled with treats.

In our church this year, families will take turns to host statues of Mary and Joseph, each night staying at a different home. This week, our Sunday School class read Tomie dePaola's "The Night of Las Posadas". 

We then made Mary, Joseph and burro statues from clay. The children were very creative making their statues! We listened to multicultural holiday music as we worked. It was a lovely way to explore the holiday traditions of another culture.

We also talked about some of the German Christmas traditions and had a little German holiday snack!

The holidays are such a great time to enjoy traditions from all over.  Kindness, joy and and love are universal, no matter which country or faith you hail from. I hope however you celebrate this winter, that your holidays are merry and bright!

 Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

MULTICULTURAL CHILDREN’S BOOK DAY – THE LIONS OF GIR

#ReadYourWorld: Celebrating Children, Diversity and Humanity

“Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries.”

Hello, everyone. Ms. Brigid here, from Merit School of Music  in Chicago, IL. Thank you for joining me. I’m starting off 2015 by promoting books and multicultural literacy through the 2^nd annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCCBD), #ReadYourWorld.

Co-founders Valerie Budayr from Jump Into a Book, and Mia Wenjen, from Pragmatic Mom write, “Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. (We’re) on a mission to change all of that….to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these types of books into classrooms and libraries....Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book.” 

Young readers won’t find access to these books, however without adult help – from parents, caregivers, teachers, librarians and booklovers - and bloggers! That’s where I come in. I’m one of over 150 bloggers writing posts on a multicultural book this month! On January 27, 2015, all contributing bloggers – and their book reviews – will be linked together on the MCCBD site for a multi-faceted gala reveal.

MCCBD is also partnering with First Book to create a Virtual Book Drive for the event, and with The Children’s Book Council to offer readers quality resources. Be there or be ☐. No worries, however, the resource will be archived on the MCCBD website for all eternity…or until the internet ends, whichever comes first!

I was delighted to be matched with Meera Sriram, an author born and raised in India, now living in the U.S. In our introductory emails, Meera wrote, “When I decided to follow my heart and start writing for children, I really wanted to address the void in the children's literature scene in India. I now have four books published in India.” The book she chose to share was Dinaben and the Lions of Gir, co-authored by Praba Ram. http://www.tulikabooksusa.com/Dinaben-and-the-Lions-of-Gir-978-81-8146-761-4.htm.

The book opens a window into the world of the Maldhari community of Gujarat, India, some of who live in the Gir Forest. A bit of backstory may be helpful: The Gir Forest is famous for being sole remaining habitat for the Asiatic lion, and the Gir Forest National Park  and Wildlife Sanctuary were established for their protection. No human activity is allowed in the National Park, and only the Maldhari, famous for their dairy farming, are allowed to graze their cattle in the adjacent Wildlife Sanctuary. The Maldhari and the lions have coexisted for centuries, but the existence of both is challenged by other complex issues. 

 

In the first part of the book, the reader is introduced to Dinaben and the world she occupies. Standing in her house between suspended silver-colored water vessels, the richness of her clothing, and the textiles of other Maldharis shown on the next page, stands in stark contrast to a modest way of life.

Dinaben’s village is in the middle of the Gir Forest, home to a vast array of plants, birds and animals – including lions! The domestic cows and buffalos of the villagers also graze in the Gir. This can cause problems: “Sometimes, there are accidents among animals and humans. Generally, the Maldharis do not trouble the animals in the forest. They are busy with their work.”

The last part of the book looks closer at what Dinaben does during her day whlle her husband is busy with their cattle.  

Dinaben also is responsible for churning butter, making curd from milk, and making ghee, similar to clarified butter.  Her husband, as is the custom, takes these products to sell.  The book ends, "The Gir is Dinaben's home. It also belongs to the lions. So, let us help protect the forest."

What I liked:

-The book sheds light on a part of the world and a way of life very different than what is generally known in the U.S. It is also shows how rural people live and work (dairy farming) in relatable terms for young children – with the additional bonus of lions in the neighborhood! 

-The book’s photos document a wide variety of animals and birds, most of them uncommon to North America.

-Text is straight-forward and bi-lingual. The book I received had Tamil and English text, but is available in multiple languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Gujarati, and others.

-Many pages include a charming line drawing of a playful young lion, which adds a touch of whimsy to an otherwise strict, non-fiction presentation.

-The “More about lions” at the end of the book, offers kid-friendly information on lions in general, and clearly describes the differences between Asiatic and African Lions.

What I would have liked:

-More connection between the two stories.

-The development of a clearer message. The ending, “….let us help protect the forest.” gives no clear directive or action plan.

-People-animal conflict is alluded to, but in vague terms. The photos could better support the text, “Sometimes, there are accidents among animals and humans.” I can imagine the authors wanting to be sensitive on this subject, given that the book is written for children 4+-6 years old. More information for the adult reader (me) would have been helpful, perhaps as an afterword. That being said, the book is written for children living in India, so perhaps the adults reading it there are already well informed about Gir, the lions, and the Maldhari, in a way that I wasn’t.

-More, and larger photos of Dinaben and Maldhari life. Captions of what is portrayed would have been helpful.  

-I would like to know more about Dinaben – how she felt about her life, the lions, or what gave her pleasure.

After I finished reading the book, I wondered about what Dinaben wondered, e.g., what did she think about her family, her life, and the lions. What inspired her exquisite textile work? It also made me curious about the Asiatic lions, the Maldhari, and the resettlement of families that took place when the preserve was created. I spent hours searching the internet for articles and images on both subjects. Final verdict: The book made me care about Dinaben and prompted me to go on a further journey. I would share it with young children.

Connections:

Many ideas for pre-K and K family and classroom connections come to mind. Some of the following activities were suggested by my friend, Allison Ashley, who teaches at Covenant Nursery School.

1.    Make butter.

2.    Bring in ghee – widely available in grocery stores – and serve it with crackers.

3.    Explore lion lore, using the book’s  “More about lions” pages. Play Saint Saen’s “The Royal March of the Lion”  from Carnival of the Animals, and invite the children to move like lions, with the occasional “roar” thrown in.

4.    Provide paper, glue, and brightly colored tissue paper for children to make their own artwork inspired by Dinaben’s appliqué and stitched textile. Talk about geometric and organic shapes, repeated patterns. Invite the children to include family pets in their compositions.

5.    Share Indian “nursery rhymes” or simple songs. Mama Lisa’s World is a great place to start.

Day by day, more bloggers are publishing their reviews, which can be found on MCCBD ‘s Twitter (https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay) or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay). These links will not work if you do not have an account. More information can be found on MCCBD’s paper.li, https://paper.li/MCChildsBookDay/1419776073#, an intriguing, new (yes, another new thing) social media platform.

Multicultural Children’s Books Day would not be possible without the help of MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors:                                                                                          

• Platinum Sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Daybreak Press Global Bookshop, 
• Gold Sponsors:  Satya House,  MulticulturalKids.com,  Author Stephen Hodges and the Magic Poof,                                                                                                             
• Silver Sponsors: Junior Library Guild, Capstone Publishing, Lee and Low Books,  The Omnibus Publishing.                                                                                 
• Bronze Sponsors: Double Dutch Dolls, Bliss Group Books, Snuggle with Picture Books Publishing,  Rainbow Books, Author FeliciaCapers, Chronicle Books,  Muslim Writers Publishing,  East West  Discovery Press.

I am continually inspired by The Children’s Music Network (CMN) community. an international group of socially conscious musicians, educators, librarians, families, songwriters and good people, who “celebrate the positive power of music in the lives of children by sharing songs, exchanging ideas, and creating community.” Please visit CMN, and find a gathering in your region.

©2015 Brigid Finucane  * 847-213-0713 * gardengoddess1@comcast.net

http://prekandksharing.blogspot.com

http://brigidfinucane.blogspot.com

@booksinger1

BLOG HISTORY

Dec.2014. Singing a Storybook – Wintertime / A Winter’s Tale

Nov. 2014. Singing a Story – The Magic of Musical Books: Part II

Oct.2104. Singing a Story – The Magic of Musical Books: Part I

Sept. 2014. Educators Who Care, Share. Singers, Sites & Songs from the Heartland Part III: From the Midwest & Great Lakes Regions (Listening Locally)

Aug. 2014. Educators Who Care, Share. Singers, Sites & Songs – Part II: Midwest & Great Lakes (Listening Locally)          

July 2014. Educators Who Care, Share. Singers, Sites & Songs Part I: Midwest & Ontario (Listening Locally)

June 2014. Garden Lessons, Typographic Art Apps and Thank You Notes

May 2014. Spring! Songs, Chants & Apps to Welcome the Season

April 2014. Part II. Dancing, Singing & Drawing Legato and Staccato

March 2014. Part I. From “Hush Little Baby” to Yo-Yo Ma – Using Books, Apps and YouTube Videos to Introduce Legato and Staccato

Feb.2014. Pete Seeger – A Time to Thank

Jan.2014. Gung Hay Fat Choy! Stories, Books & Apps to Celebrate the Chinese New Year

Dec.2013. Singing Time! Embracing Appadiction

Celebrating Diversity With Chinese New Year Activities

Hello again and Gung Hay Fat Choy, or Happy Chinese New Year! It's Ayn from little illuminations! 

If you know me or read my blog, little illuminations, you know that we celebrate diversity in my pre-k classroom. I try to include a variety of cultural celebrations throughout the year, especially those celebrated by my students. Sometimes it seems hard to present information on holidays that you personally don't celebrate, but even a few small activities can help every student feel included, special and important.

I usually touch on Chinese New Year in my class, but since we have a couple of Asian students in our Pre-K group this year, I'm giving it a little more attention. I had planned on several activities, but the children have really been interested in learning more so we keep finding fun ways to learn about this holiday!

Chinese New Year begins on February 10th this year and lasts for 15 days. Each year is named for one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. 2013 is the Year of the Snake.

Today I'm sharing some of the fun things we've done so far. There is still so much more fun ahead! On Friday, one of our class moms will bring the traditional costumes for both boys and girls for us to see, share some of the traditional holiday customs and also make Chinese dumplings for us to taste! We are very excited!

These Chinese lanterns are fun to make, great practice for cutting skills and make lovely decorations!

We are using kabob skewers as improvised chopsticks and practicing our chopstick skills by picking up pom poms. I thought the children would tire of this quickly, but even after a few days, it remains a popular free choice activity!

I was making one or two of these firecrackers to decorate a bulletin board and the kids jumped right in and started making tons of these! We just used small rectangles of red paper and made designs with markers and added a little white pipe cleaner for a fuse.

I made this little snake as a prop for one of our class discussions.

Later, some of the kids made some of their own snakes in art center.

They have also made a few dragons.

We've also been reading some great books about celebrating Chinese New Year. Here are a few of our favorites:

 

Be sure to stop by little illuminations next week for more of our Chinese New Year Activities! We will be making dragon puppets, paper fortune cookies (and writing our own fortunes!) and having a dragon parade! See you there!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!  

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

 

  

Teaching Diversity to Children

National holidays have a sweet way of bringing Social Study lessons to life.  I love the feeling of comradery knowing that teachers all around the world will be teaching their students about equality, love, and respect next week.  Our love for learning and one another bonds us together.  Could you imagine if we didn’t teach lessons based upon our founding fathers or great leaders, such as Martin Luther King? Would parents? I think my students' parents do a great job of teaching their children at home but as a parent myself I often forget about important dates in history that I want my children to know about and forget to really teach them everything I want them to know.  As parents, we are often burning both ends of the candle so as an educator, I think Social Studies lessons are just as important as English, Science, and Math.  Our role as an educator provides a wonderful influence to a child’s character and ability to understand the positive influence they can have on the world.

We don’t have school on Monday, so Tuesday we will be embracing all things Martin Luther King.  This is one of my favorite social studies lessons because the more diverse our world becomes, the more important lessons on respect, tolerance, and love need to become and remain a priority.  I think if you teach children early to love others and appreciate our differences, it can have a lasting impression on their life. 

Working hand in hand with parents, we can provide great learning experiences that enrich the lives of our students .  We are doing our part to help raise the next generation too.  It takes a village, right? Sometimes I feel more like the village idiot than the leader, but I know and understand that my role as a teacher is important in the life of a child. How exciting is that?!! J

If you haven’t heard already, I LOVE Pinterest. It is an amazing resource! (Yes that is exclamation point worthy!) Here are a few ideas I found to help me teach MLK Day next week.  These aren’t my own creations.  Like most teachers, I am a life learner and depend on the brilliance of all of you to help me to teach to the best of my ability. J

I love this art project.  Children can choose any paint color. I think the important lesson is that love is what holds us together, 

not the color of our skin. J

A Box of Crayons and The Crayon Box That Talked are great books to read and discuss differences. Using a crayon theme as a guide, the possibilities are endless when creating a lesson.  I like how this teacher created a giant crayon box and allowed each student to decorate a crayon.  Even if I gave my entire class all the same color crayon, they would each design it differently because they each are unique children. The lesson possibilities are endless! Here are a few other great books to help teach diversity:

                                                   

 My favorite lesson is the egg activity.  You would discuss how the eggs are different.  The most obvious answer will be that they are different colors. BUT…when you crack them open, the center is the same.  This is a GREAT visual representation of diversity.  Even though we are all different and unique, we are the same and share a common love and respect for the world around us.

You can find all of these pictures on my Pinterest Social Studies board by clicking the link below.  Happy Martin Luther King Day. May your students learn to love and value one another for the beautiful creations they each are! J http://pinterest.com/kreativekinder/social-studies/

Take a look at all of these other ideas from our blogging friends out here in cyber-space!!

An Open Letter for the Holidays + Teachers

Dearest Debbie and Each and All of My Friends who LOVE and CARE FOR our children:

 

Chanukah Candles

Source: lilteacher.com via Debbie on Pinterest

Christmas Candles

Source: google.com.au via Julie on Pinterest

These beautiful holidays of lights--Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa - are always filled with layers of memories and messages.  Yes, sparkling trees, glowing menorahs, flickering candles and gifts of all sizes and wrappings abound but the brightest flames of all are the shining sparks of wisdom that help us remember the true gifts we share.  Gathered from decades of being with young children in settings across the country, my resolutions for the coming year are rekindled by memories such as these.

Kwanzaa candles

Source: allthingschristmas.com via Betty on Pinterest

         

Our long ago program director, Linda, was looking out of her living room window and watched in

frozen shock her young almost four year old son picking EVERY flower in the garden.  As she opened the door for him, she tried not to show her dismay at the deflowering of her beautiful, hard-earned work.
          "Darling," she said, "You didn't have to pick ALL the flowers in the garden for me, you could have just given me one flower."

          "Mommy," he explained as he poured the flowers over her, " I love you too much for just one flower. I love you more than all the flowers."

         

Judy, one of our most beloved subs in our early childhood program, awoke one morning feeling very low, a real downer. She arrived at  the classroom of three and a half year olds with a heavy step and low energy. As she walked into the classroom, Josh welcomed her with a loud, enthusiastic greeting,

         "Hello GORGEOUS!" It made her day!

Dawn taught mostly children of poverty, dysfunctional families and transient addresses for many years in an urban school system. She was a devoted and committed teacher who felt a deep commitment to her chosen profession.  One day, one of her young students, who also had a speech challenge, stuttering, came up to her and said,

      "Mi...Mi...Miss Heyman, I  I  I have have a ri-ri-ri-riddle for you!"

      "What is it, dear?"

      "Wha-wha-what what has two two legs and says l-l-l-love you?"

      "I can't guess, tell me the answer."

       He pointed to himself and with a great smile said, "M-m-m-m-meeeeeee!"

So Debbie and Friends, You can guess what the blessings of the season and all seasons, this holiday and all holidays and all the every-days are......... yes, love!  Theodore Roethke wrote,"Teaching is the one profession that permits love."

In our so high technology driven era, with communication systems beyond the imagination and gaps-in-communication larger than ever (I still use smoke signals), with media dominated by mean spirited programs, speeches, video games, harsh campaigns, instant signals of alarm and violence, it is so easy to get lost in the tangle.

But, we, who are called to this "work", this sacred calling, have so much to remember and to keep at the top of our New Year's resolutions list. Our children NEED us more than ever. For so many of our most precious young children, we are the only safe, welcoming, loving  place they know. Not all of them are as fortunate as our flower child described above.

We have minimum effect on situations often beyond our control: home environments, family relationships, unemployment, dangerous neighborhoods- but we have GREAT control over the space we share with the children. And when that space is warm, welcoming, loving, encouraging, exciting and safe-at-any-speed for every child,  we are sharing the greatest gifts possible with each other and our youngest students.

It's always the season to keep our promises to strengthen ourselves, stay loyal to our beliefs and 

values, articulate to families, to administrators, to community, our way of "teaching in the key of life" so our children learn to be lifelong learners through every joyful path-- through fun, song, play, story, projects, books, trips, poetry, tricks- every way possible to help children succeed and love learning--to teach us to love with all the flowers and to remind us that the best way they learn is when we share our time and space with love.  

Happy holidays, dearest Debbie and Friends.    

Love and Peace,  Mimi

Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld

P.S. Friends, Teaching in the "Key of Life" is totally consistent and in harmony with Developmentally Appropriate Practices!

Here's another glorious image from Pinterest on a possible way to create artfully lit candles.

Source: thecraftycrow.net via Debbie on Pinterest