A question I get asked and see all the time is what to do about Christmas and Jehovah’s Witnesses in the classroom. The thing that I have always loved about being in education and schools, is how much more inclusive everyone gets each year. And also makes an effort to ensure that they are providing the best possible education, while respecting everyone around them.
This year, I have been inundated with messages and emails from teachers worrying about Christmas, and how to celebrate it in their classroom when they have a Jehovah’s Witness student(s).
I decided that the tips and information that I was sharing, would probably be best put into a Christmas and Jehovah’s Witnesses blog post to give other teachers ideas for how they can involve and celebrate everyone.
Please bear in mind that there is no blanket for everyone. Some families will allow things that others don’t. And this is where I’m going to share the most important piece of advice that I can offer you..
Speak with the child’s family.
That’s the biggest secret and most important piece of advice. Why? Because they are full of knowledge that will help make your life easier and less stressful. They are part of this religion and will already have found ways – and spoken to other families as well – to still ensure that their child is involved, and also about alternative ways to celebrate.
Please read below the best tips/advice that I have found so far. And if you have something that has worked really well for you, please share it in the comments down below.
1. Talk
Don’t be afraid to speak to your students families. Whether you invite them in for a chat, email them or talk to them over the phone. Ask them what they are and aren’t ok with.
For example. They may not want their child to take part in Christmas activities. But, they may be happy for you to teach about different holidays around the world – like Hanukkah, Christmas etc. and to learn facts about those. You can talk about how some people celebrate lots of holidays and some people don’t celebrate any.
2. Invite People In
This ties in nicely with point 1. If you’re going to be talking about different holidays and religions – invite people in to talk to your students and share their lifestyle. Talk about what holidays they do and don’t celebrate, how and why.
3. Give Notice
There’s going to be a huge amount of things that you can adapt to help ensure the student(s) is included as much as possible – as well as the rest of your class. But, there’s also going to be some things that just are Christmassy and can’t be changed.
When this happens, just give advance notice to the family. They may decide to keep the student home. Or if there are a few students in the school who are going to be exempt, they can go somewhere else together and have fun activities, play games and have a non-Christmassy afternoon.
4. Crafts
A lot of us, naturally, will make Christmas cards with our students to send home. You do not need to exclude your students from this! Just change the name of them. It’s not a Christmas card – maybe it can be a simple ‘Thank you’ card to their parents, or an “I love you” card. Something to spread kindness.
Instead of providing pictures of Santa – provide other craft items like hearts, pom poms, paint, crayons. Our students can get so creative on their own – there’s no need to overthink this.
When making Christmas crafts or decorations – just add a winter theme. Can they make a snowman, snowflake, polar bear etc.
5. Christmas Party
This is a very common question that I get. “But, what about my class Christmas party? I don’t want to cancel that!” That’s ok. You don’t need to. Just adapt it a little bit.
Can it be a ‘Friendship Party’ or a ‘Winter Break Party’ or even just a simple ‘End of Term Party’ – it can still have the same aspect of treats for students to eat. You can play fun party music instead of Christmas music. And you can still have fun games like playing musical statues and head, shoulders, knees and toes.
6. Decorations
A lot of us love to decorate our classrooms to get into the Christmas spirit. And there’s no reason for us not to do this. It’s just going to be a little different than what you thought, and I’m here to share some ideas..
- For your classroom display – make it winter theme. Everyone can design their own snowman and talk about why they’re different. Or make winter trees. These can still give your classroom that fun seasonal theme, without being Christmassy.
- I know a lot of us love to have a Christmas tree in the classroom because that makes it feel Christmassy, but instead of this, why not make a hanging curtain of snowflakes. I guarantee, your students will love it. We just cut out and design our own snowflakes, attach them to a piece of string and hang from the ceiling. It’s perfect for that winter feel and to decorate.
7. Gifts
I know that a lot of us love to give gifts to our students, especially at Christmas time. Speak to the students family first, but a lot of the time they are happy for their child to have a ‘thank you’ gift or a ‘well done’ gift – just don’t call it a Christmas gift. And often, those gifts are things like crayons, pencils etc. from us, so not Christmas related.
8. The Gift of Giving
For Christmas, we love to focus on being kind. And it doesn’t have to be Christmas themed in order to be kind or to give to others. Our families have loved some of the ideas that we have come up with over the years like..
- Decorating plant pots, planting seeds and taking them to elderly homes. We didn’t call them gifts, presents or anything. We just said that we wanted to put a smile on others faces! And it ties in great with your science skills.
- We baked snowman cupcakes and then took them to a local soup kitchen for them to give out to their attendees. We said it was part of our ‘Being Kind’ month.
9. Winter
It’s winter! And winter is so much fun without even incorporating Christmas. You can learn about penguins, snow, ice.. and so much more! And this can still feel ‘Christmassy’ without it actually being Christmas themed!
10. Some Things Can’t Change
Some things can’t be changed. Don’t overthink it or get stressed, just speak to the student’s family. Ask their thoughts. Get tips from them for things to do. They may be happy to keep their child home when there’s things like a Christmas concert, and you may be able to take the student somewhere else when there’s things like carol singing on.
Your students parents may be happy for you to do Christmas activities in the classroom as well, so long as you offer their child an alternative. I.e instead of making a Christmas tree painting, they could paint a winter tree that’s going to be ‘home’ for all the animals in the cold weather like squirrels etc.
I think, above all, the main thing to do is sit down and talk to your students family. There’s nothing better than getting information direct from them.
What are some tips or ideas that you can share about other ways to accommodate our students who don’t celebrate Christmas? Let us know in the comments down below.
I hope you’ve found this blog post about Christmas and Jehovah’s Witnesses helpful. If you’re looking for more information, tips, advice and resources about Christmas in the classroom check them all out here.
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