When I was growing up, I remember my elementary school teachers teaching us about various holidays celebrated in the United States. One of the things I remember is that most of the holiday traditions were not started in the U.S. Although many different holidays are celebrated in our country, if you ask children about holidays in December most of them will say they know about Christmas and some will know about Kwanzaa. I learned this from my students during the last days before winter break. In learning this, I have planned for the morning CREW meetings at our school, Latin College Prep, to teach students about the various holidays in December.
Many of these holidays are celebrated by various cultures here in the United States. This is a great learning opportunity that can also engage families and communities in the learning process. The following holidays are celebrated in December. Take some time over the holiday season to learn about them:
- Saint Nicholas Day (Christian)
- Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican)
- St. Lucia Day (Swedish)
- Hanukkah (Jewish)
- Christmas Day (Christian)
- Three Kings Day/Epiphany (Christian)
- Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish)
- Kwanzaa (African American)
- Omisoka (Japanese)
- Yule (Pagan)
- Saturnalia (Pagan)
Jason has worked in education for over 15 years as a teacher, blogger and community advocate. He speaks and writes primarily about the need to improve education for Black boys, particularly increasing the number of Black male educators in schools. In addition to blogging here at EdLanta, Jason is also a featured writer at Education Post.