The past few weeks have been busy while the students learned about several Festivals of Light celebrations and holidays celebrated at this time of year around the world.  This is some things they remembered from this unit of study.

• We watched and learned about Loy Krathong in Thailand.  Getting rid of bad luck and keeping good luck.   The lanterns floating into the sky and the candles in the shells were spectacular.  Awesome boats too.  Some looked like dragons, some had trees and many, many lights.
• Then went on to India to see Diwali celebrations.  They like to have prosperity.  They shop for gold and things to use in cooking the meal.  The women dress up in silk.   They go shopping at lot.  The fireworks were bright and big.   There were 5 days of festivities.
• After that it was Sweden for St. Lucia celebrations.  The students thought the girls with the candles on their head looked dangerous if it fell over.  The snow was high in Sweden and it looked cold.
• We then learned about Las Posadas in Mexico.  This is about the trip Mary and Joseph made to find an inn to stay in.  The children travel from one house to another asking for shelter.  Finally they are allowed into someone’s house.
• After that we learned about Hanukkah and Kawanza celebrations.  Hanukkah is celebrated by the Jewish people because in Israel they couldn’t celebrate like they wanted then they could.   They light the menorah and play a dreidel game.  With Kawanza they celebrated with family and friends the day after Christmas until the first of January.   They give each other a gift and they like dancing.  They light the kinara .  It has red, green and black candles.  They have 7 habits one for each day with the first one unity.
• We finished up our study of Holidays with Christmas in Europe, Australia and the United States.  Although some celebrations and traditions were similar others were different.  It’s summer in Australia so their celebrations include beaches, water, surf boards and Santa in a swimsuit with white kangaroos’s driving his ute (truck).  We found this to be different from our Santa and Jingle Bells song with Reindeer and a man in a red suit with black boots.  Some people go to church and celebrate the birth of Jesus.  They sang carols.  Others do special meals and baking and cooking with family and friends.  They have Santa which is sometimes called St. Nick, Santa Claus, Noel in different places.  They decorate trees and put lights outside.  It is a time of giving.