Celebrating vs. Learning

In their book, Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Edwards comment on the difference between celebrating holidays and learning about holidays...

"Celebrating a holiday engages children in holiday activities as full-fledged participants, as if they accepted the holiday's underlying purpose and meaning the way that those who regularly celebrate it do.  Celebrating a religiously based holiday is only appropriate in faith-based programs in which the holiday is part of a belief system shared by every family....  Celebrating a secular holiday is only appropriate when all families' perspectives on that holiday are considered and addressed.

In contrast, learning about a holiday means teaching children about what the holiday means to the cultural and religious groups who honor it and the various ways these groups choose to celebrate it.  With preschool-age children, the focus is on how the different families (or the community) choose to celebrate specific holidays."

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