Culture Snapshot: Merry Christmas and Happy Epiphany!

Stockton is the most diverse city in America, and one of our goals is to celebrate and educate ourselves about that diversity. This post is part of an ongoing series about integrating an awareness and appreciation of other cultures into our students' lives.

What is Christmas?

Christmas is a holiday that commemorates the birth of Jesus and the hope humanity has of a better life. Although the holiday has been largely secularized and commercialized (Hi, Mariah Carey!) the traditional vibe of Christmas is about peace, sharing good things with others, and making the world a better place. Although Oh Holy Night is often a show-off song, it perhaps has one of the best summaries of the purpose of Christmas:

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His Gospel is Peace

Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother

And in His name, all oppression shall cease

Different cultures celebrate Christmas in different ways, but many cultures see Christmas Day (or December 25th) as the first day of Christmas, with the last day being January 5th, followed by Epiphany on January 6th.

What is Epiphany?

Epiphany is the celebration of the wise men coming and visiting the baby Jesus. While the wise men brought gifts for the baby Jesus, the story may have inspired one of the earliest versions of traditional stockings, where shoes were left out with hay for the camels, and children would wake up to find the hay had been replaced with candles. My mother always said this was unsanitary, but it's still fun!

How do we learn about it?

Big Effort Activity: Choose a traditional Christmas carol, read all the lyrics, and research what inspired the story! Visual and kinesthetic learners may enjoy putting together storyboards or creating sock puppet shoes. Christmas has a lot of folklore that has been added to it over time, so more unusual carols like "Good King Wenceslas" and "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" might be extra fun (and provide extra giggles when kids think about the British word for a flashlight being a torch!)

Small Effort Activity: Read a story! There are many stories that are fitting to be read aloud or switch read or to be read by independent readers.

A good book for all ages is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. Filled with giggles and sweet moments that might make you cry, this story is a great book about dealing with siblings, bullies, and cool kids.

For older readers (or for a good read aloud for parents or guardians who are willing to field some questions), I recommend The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry. This story is funny (it's Dave Barry!) but also serious, as it talks about navigating losing a family pet during the Christmas season. There are a couple moments that might need explanation (bras do get mentioned, and bat poop features heavily), but it is a family friendly story (which is a bit surprising because, well, it's Dave Barry). Any adult with childhood trauma about Christmas pageants will find it cathartic, but there are giggles enough for everyone, and you are sure to finish the story with a smile on your face.

Students currently enrolled can borrow both of these stories from the 1kNaCl library!

Culture Snapshots are written by staff, students, or friends of 1kNaCl. Want to write about the history of your favorite holiday or share a holiday tradition? Email us at info@1knacl.com and let us know!

Culture Snapshot: Happy Hanukkah!

Stockton is the most diverse city in America, and one of our goals is to celebrate and educate ourselves about that diversity. This post is part of an ongoing series about integrating an awareness and appreciation of other cultures into our students' lives.

What is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah, or Chanukah, commemorates Jewish survival and the miracle of of light. The BIG story is about the Maccabees retaking Jerusalem from the Greeks, cleaning out the temple, and rekindling the menorah, where the lights burned for eight days instead of one, allowing the Jews enough time to make more of the special oil.

Hanukkah is one of my favorite holidays. Although it isn't a major holiday, it features two of my favorite foods: cheese and homemade doughnuts. As a child, some of my favorite stories were Hanukkah stories, and the variety of ways that people celebrated Hanukkah taught me a lot about how different families have different traditions. It is also one of the few Jewish holidays where folks are encouraged to share their celebration with their community, so it is a great time for those outside of the Jewish community to actively learn about the culture.

How do we learn about it?

Big Effort Activity: Attend a menorah lighting! Many cities will host the lighting of an oversized menorah on at least one night, and there are often snacks for everyone and activities for kids. Menorah lightings are usually outside, so be sure to dress warm, and keep in mind there will be a short prayer when the menorah is lit, so please be respectful!

Small Effort Activity: Read a story! You can go for a more serious traditional story like the story of Yehudit (which features both a wheel of cheese and some violence, so consider yourself warned!) or modern fiction stories that feature holiday festivities.

For younger readers, check out Arielle and the Hanukkah Surprise, which was probably my first and favorite Hanukkah story as a child. New copies of this story are hard to come by, so you may have to get it second hand! It is by Devra Speregen and Shirley Newberger.

For older readers (or for a read-aloud chapter book), I recommend Penina Levine is a Potato Pancake by Rebecca O'Connell. Filled with giggles and real-life winter break problems, this story talks about exploring traditions and life changes together and is sure to warm everyone's heart!

Culture Snapshots are written by staff, students, or friends of 1kNaCl. Want to write about the history of your favorite holiday or share a holiday tradition? Email us at info@1knacl.com and let us know!

Resource Spotlight: Neurospicy Resources

Today is the International Day of Persons with Disability! We should celebrate, right?

Kind of--today is a day about awareness. So we do want to celebrate wins for equal rights and equal access, but we also need to talk about the needs that are still present. As an online education company, one of the needs that we deal with daily (both for ourselves and for our students!) is neurodivergence, so today we are focusing on that with three things that have helped us--and we hope will help you!

Tip 1: Change your vocabulary

Many years ago, I heard someone point out that the term "neurodivergent" can be a mean term, especially when people say things like "Oh, she's not neurotypical--she's neurodivergent". It's like the word wants to be a bit of a bully, and we don't like bullying! Many folk in the neurodivergent community have started using the term "neurospicy". Amethyst Schaber is credited with coining the term, and it has been adopted by many people with conditions like autism, ADHD, Tourettes, OCD, and even dyslexia. It is a kind, open-ended term that is helpful for positive self-talk and for explaining conditions to kids. Neurospicy brains are just like neurotypical brains, but with different flavors that sometimes spice things up.

Tip 2: Use resources built for the school experience

Neurospicy brains understand things differently, but they still go through learning stages, and as a parent and educator, it can be difficult to know what to do! Navigating those stages can be hard, especially when the majority of resources focus on behavior and may not have enough concrete steps. One of our favorite resources is Understood.org, which focuses on the learning journey. It has resources for parents and teachers, including sample activities and step-by-step instruction. This resource is great for parents of students with ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, written expression disorder, and other language disorders, but it also has a lot of resources for helping kids of all brain types manage Big Emotions and adjust workspaces to help them do their best.

Tip 3: Learn together

A classic learning strategy is "I do, we do, you do". Sometimes, the real world doesn't leave space for the "I do" to happen first. If you are learning about navigating the neurospicy landscape, spending more time on the "we do" portion might help everyone: not only does it show students what to do when they don't know something, but it helps them understand that adults keep learning things, too. A great way to do that is through YouTube, where you can view and discuss videos together. We love Jessica McCabe's channel HowtoADHD for its family-friendly presentation and use of illustrations, so her channel is a great place to start! While Jessica's main focus is ADHD, she also adresses many issues that impact others in the neurospicy community, too. We recommend starting with videos in this playlist that focuses on motivation. Most of the videos in this list are less than 10 minutes and are great discussion starters for middle and high school students!

You can learn more about HowtoADHD and access other playlists with specific focuses (like school!) on Jessica's website.

Bonus Tip: Reach Out

Navigating disability can be difficult, no matter if it is mental or physical, but it is harder to do it alone. Whether you just need a break or are looking for community, let us help you. As individuals, our team has (and continues) navigating life with ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression, auditory processing disorders, and other learning disabilities, as well as our share of physical hurtles. We don't have any magic cures, but we do

know it is better to face these challenges with a community that understands. Our goal is to help strengthen our community, so we want to get you in touch with those who can provide that support to you. You can always contact us at info@1knacl.com.