[Edited to add: This is sort of two posts in one. The first half being something I liked, the 2nd half my soapbox on the school holiday program, which is just a particular beef of mine, so if you've heard it from me all before, feel free to skip my minor rant after the happy 1st half. ]

Scholastic publishes monthly, short (2-page front and back), educational flyers for teachers to use in the classroom and/or send home. They’re called “Let’s Find Out” and focus on whatever the theme is for the month to complement the teacher’s curriculum. For instance, Fire Safety month focused on fire safety tips, and in November, the flyer focused on the history of Thanksgiving and compared how the pilgrims did Thanksgiving to our modern Thanksgiving. The parents can go over the flyers at home to reinforce the lessons.

Last week DD brought home one that I loved: Let’s Find Out: Holiday Homes. On the outside, it’s an apartment building with all the shades drawn partially. If you hold it up to the light, you can see what each family is doing inside their apartment. When you open it up, it shows and tells about what each family is doing to celebrate their respective December holiday:

Christmas: This family decorates a tree.

Diwali: This family lights the dipas.

Las Posadas: This family breaks a pinata. (I was unfamiliar with this holiday.)

Kwanzaa: This family sings holiday songs.

Hanukkah: This family plays a holiday game.

Id al-Fitr: This family eats a yummy meal. (Also called Eid, which was the name I was familiar with.)

At the bottom of the page, pictures of a menorah, drum, lantern, dipa, star, and pinata are shown and the child is supposed to find the pictures in the apartments above.

The flyer reminded me of when I was a Girl Scout as a little girl. Each year we would have an International festival in the grade school gym. Each scout troop would be assigned a country from around the world and they would have an area for you to visit with traditional food, clothing, maps, musical instruments, etc. It was so much fun.

My daughter goes to our church preschool. One of our reasons for sending her there was not only the Christian education factor, but also that holidays were explained and celebrated – and not just Christian ones. In our public school, no holidays are allowed. The schools have fall, winter, and spring parties instead, which are basically just a day to have a cupcake. I don’t like this policy.

When DD came home with this flyer, I was curious whether or not the public preschool also gave out the flyer (Scholastic supplies them there as well) given their extreme aversion to any kind of holiday. I don’t know though.

My neighbor is a recently retired school principal. I was talking to her about how I didn’t like the “no holiday” rule in our district. She was principal in a neighboring district that does still allow holidays, but said they were also considering banning them. Apparently, some parents make such a stink about it that it’s not worth the trouble to the administrators. She said it doesn’t matter what the event is, someone doesn’t want their kid exposed. Even on Veteran’s Day, she had parents who did not want their kids to attend the assembly where different veterans talked about their experience or the history of Veteran’s Day. The complaint was something along the lines of, “I don’t want my precious angel heart around those killers to hear their military rhetoric!”

Then the administrators have to find something to do with the children who are not to be exposed to the ever-so-offensive Valentine’s Day party, or whatever the parent’s find issue with that week. And apparently the parents complain about that as well, intimating that their children are being “punished” or singled out since they can’t attend whatever the event is. Nothing appeases them. And if you have kids in school, you know exactly the kind of parent I’m talking about.

Though I was a little more understanding of why the no holiday policy was enforced, I was saddened by the level to which so many parents want to insulate their child against learning about anything different than what they see at home.

DD starts Kindergarten next year in the public school, so this is our last year of holiday school celebrations. I’m keeping this flyer for us to use at home next year. She will likely join the Girl Scouts (Daisies), so maybe we can use it there or institute our own International Day again.