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!