Our study of Hanukkah led to an interesting connection...while learning that the story of Hanukkah is about a time long ago when the King of Syria told the Jews that they must worship Greek gods and stop practicing their own religion, several children commented that this story reminded them of King James and the Pilgrims! Nice connection! (There was quite a bit debate of the virtue of Kings!) Hanukkah celebrates the "miracle" of lights, where Jews believe that the oil lamp that was lit to re-dedicate their temple (with only enough oil to burn a few hours) burned for eight days and nights. After learning about this Jewish holiday, each child made a paper menorrah.
We read many, many books about various Christmas traditions celebrated by many people in many places right here in the United States. While each holiday we learned about is celebrated for different reasons by different people, your children noticed several similarities. First of all, every celebration brings families together! Families come from near and far to spend time together. They also noticed that every celebration included lights! Candles or electric lights or stars, but in some way each holiday uses light to celebrate. Finally, gift giving and sharing is also a part of each celebration.
We finished our studies by learning about American Christmas traditions. In many US families, gingerbread houses are a part of the Christmas festivities! The kids made the most amazing gingerbread houses! Check out the very focused expressions...they were VERY serious about this task! They had a tough time keeping the frosting on the knife without getting it on their fingers...some licking took care of that! Check out the frosting around their mouths! I know it's hard to believe, but almost all of the candy made it onto the houses...until the very end! When they'd finally created their gingerbread houses and they looked "just right", they asked if they could eat the leftovers! But until the very end...no candy was consumed! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes! The gingerbread house were adorable! See for yourself!
No comments:
Post a Comment