Celebrating Families in Early Childhood Thanksgiving Festivities

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.

Thanksgiving here in the U.S. is swiftly approaching. This week, we have had professional development and the rest of the week my class will be with my assistant and a sub while I'm am ever so busy in teacher heaven, I mean, at the 2012 NAEYC Annual Conference!!!!! Woot, woot, holla! (Sorry, got just a little excited there!) 

When I return, we only have one week before we are out for Thanksgiving break. There won't be time to do many of the fun things we usually do in Pre-K, but there are some things that are a big part of my Thanksgiving teaching traditions and I can't skip them! In Georgia Pre-K, one of our standards is that  students become aware of family and community celebrations and events, so that is the main thing we will be learning about and discussing in class. 

Family Homework Project-Save A Turkey!

I don't usually send home homework in Pre-K, but when I do, it is usually an activity that the family can do together, then share the results. The Turkey In Disguise family project is a favorite every year and I've heard a few families with older siblings may already be planning Tom's disguise for this year! I send home a turkey blackline master on cardstock and ask each family to help disguise the turkey so that he will be spared from Thanksgiving dinner. This would be fun as a family, too! Just print out your favorite turkey coloring page (there are thousands on the internet) and have each member disguise him any way they like!

Turkey Cooking Tips

Every year, I like to ask the kids to sit down with me one on one and tell me how their family prepares the turkey or thanksgiving dinner. If a family usually eats something else, I ask them to tell me about that. It's a great time for them to practice their language skills. I compile the answers and share them with the families at the school Thanksgiving Feast. While the are not accurate enough to use as an exact recipe, they make for EXCELLENT reading!

Talkin' Turkey

We are famous for our colloquialisms in the South. I can't tell you how many times one of the kids has come to school and repeated something they've heard a family member say, usually with a little of their own spin on it.  I like to give them part of the phrase and have THEM complete is for me. The answers are hilarious! Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to have the kids share their answers. I think it also gives a little insight into how a 4 year old brain thinks!

Making Butter 

We make butter using heavy whipping cream and our muscles. We pour it in a bowl pop in a marble and take turns shaking with all of our might! Usually the butter is ready by the time all 22 friends have had a turn to shake. We share the butter with our families at our school wide Family Feast.

Family Feast at School

Every year, our school administration cooks a large Thanksgiving feast and invites all the families to come in and eat with their children. It's a great time of food, fellowship and fun! (I usually don't get to take many pictures since my hands are usually full. The picture below is of the children waiting for their parents to join them so we can start serving.)

Expectations Are Everything!

Thanksgiving is a very big social occasion here in the south. Such occasions can be overwhelming for small children. One of the things we will be discussing is how the children's families celebrate and what to expect. It is so much less scary for kids when we give them a chance to talk about their fears or apprehensions! 

Coming Soon!

Be sure to visit me at little illuminations soon! I'll be sharing my experiences at NAEYC and details about my meet up with some FANTASTIC Early Childhood Bloggers (you'll know most of them from here ;)!!!! 

If you are lucky enough to make it to NAEYC, too, look for me, I'll be the one with the goofy ear to ear grin, looking like I've died and landed in teacher heaven!

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook!

American Culture, Tradition, and Patriotism

Greetings from an American traveler! This summer my family and I have embarked on a journey across the states to celebrate our son’s graduation from high school. As I have contemplated what to put together for this blog coming out just after our country’s birthday celebration, I began thinking about patriotism, why we celebrate days like the Fourth of July, how we celebrate days like this and the traditions we follow, etc., etc. This lead me down a path of considering culture and what it means to be American. Which lead me back to thinking about why I decided to make it possible for the family to get in the car the night of June 14 and set out across the western states to experience our country.

Charles Miller, High School Grad (at last) 

Disclaimer……this blog is very much about my personal (although professionally influenced) thoughts about being an American and the American culture and traditions that people share that make us Americans. It is not meant in any way to diminish any or be insensitive to other cultural heritage. I firmly believe there is a time and place to celebrate and promote other cultures, but during a time of year where we parade around the American flag, I’d like to take a few minutes to encourage you to think about what makes you an American and how that might be incorporated into your early care and education programs.

What is culture and how is it transmitted from one generation to the next?

According to lingualinks.com, “Cultural transmission is the process of passing on culturally relevant knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values from person to person or from culture to culture” (1996). “For anthropologists and other behavioral scientists, culture is the full range of learned human behavior patterns” (http://anthro.palomar.edu/culture/culture_1.htm). There is a vast amount of scholarly literature in the social development and anthropological fields of study that can be referenced about culture, cultural transmission, and social learning theory. In deference to making this blog the most reader-friendly as possible, I will not go into any more detail than to say that the basic premise is that children learn what they are taught…..if you provide opportunities for children in your program to learn about culture, they will learn it.

The Grand Tetons....a natural American icon.

Here are some things to think about when you contemplate program planning in the future and how you might renew or implement teaching the American culture and continuing traditions in your corner of our amazing United States:

1. So, just what does make a person American? Not just citizenship, but what is the American way? I believe there are certain ideals that Americans hold that make us unique in the world. Ideas like freedom of speech, rights to assemble, working hard for prosperity and success come to mind. How do you define being an American? Do you create learning/play opportunities that promote those ideals and beliefs?

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park

2. How do you define your American culture and your traditions?

Back to our trip…..Doing this blog topic made me think about why I decided to take the family in a car to camp across 17 states and 2 provinces in 30 days this summer. When I was growing up, my parents had summers off as educators often do, and we would pack up a car or van every 3 years or so and head out to explore our country. It’s amazing how vast and diverse yet similar our country is. We started off in Georgia and have been through Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta (Canada), British Columbia (Canada), Washington, Oregon, California, and are now in Nevada. This afternoon (July 5) we are setting out for Utah again and then Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and back home. We are camping, and in a car (no DVD players…but ipods and cell phones are allowed). To me, this is an excellent way to experience our country and learn about being American……the vast expanses of lands, the ability to cross close boarders (between states) without military involvement, the ability to use the same currency and speak the same language and expect and receive similar goods and services over 5,000 miles. During this time we have had a chance not only to bond, but to tell our children about each state, ourselves, and our history. It has been a way to experience and further define our American culture within ourselves through the family tradition of travel.

Camping in Yellowstone...Great American Bison 20 yds from our tents!

            Note: There is a difference between culture and tradition. Culture is a more broad, historically influenced way of being and considering ourselves. Traditions are more individualized and help display culture. You might think of culture as a set of beliefs with history behind them that define a group of people in a large context, and traditions are behaviors that allow you to see and demonstrate those beliefs.

3. What traditions are you passing down in your program that help children identify and demonstrate their American culture?

Trout fishing...3 keepers from Yellowstone Lake.

4. Patriotism….what is it? How do you convey it to children?

I leave you with those questions to ponder as you either continue in or plan for your new year with young minds who are just now learning what it means to be a person. How are you helping pass on the culture of Americanism?

~Dr. Ellaine B. Miller

Miller family experiencing the Redwood Forrest!

Blog entry by Dr. Ellaine B. Miller, PhD. Family Child Care Partnerships at Auburn University.www.humsci.auburn.edu/fccp