The Christmas Season
The Christmas season in the secular world seems to begin earlier every year.
We first start hearing about how many shopping days are left until Christmas before children have come to our doors, dressed up for Trick-or-Treat. The carols start playing on the radio well before we buy a turkey to roast for Thanksgiving.
Commercial Christmas starts early and we may be ready to take down the tree and 'be done' with Christmas by January 2nd. In fact, today, I took down the two trees I carefully erected for the season. Even as I was doing so, I was regretting the decision.
The trees and stockings were all I 'undecorated' today. I did not take down the garland in our doorway, outdoor lights, the reindeer center piece in our dining-room, and most importantly, I did not take down the Manger that stands on a small table in our entry way.
You see, in my church, Advent is celebrated for the four weeks leading up to Christmas The Christmas Season began on Christmas eve and is celebrated until after we have Epiphany Sunday, a full week after New Years.
So, I left enough decorations up in and around my home to remind me that the Christmas Season is still with us. We can tire of the season if all we are thinking about is the tree and what is underneath. But when we take the time to consider the 'reason for the season' it is hard to see it come to an end.
Christmas is about hope, forgiveness, new life and the birth of Christianity. I will not be done celebrating the season for a while. I am glad to keep up the lights and crib so that I can enjoy the season of hope and light a little longer.
MONTESSORI
We need to give ourselves time to 'complete' the Christmas season just as we need to give the children in our classrooms the time to 'complete' their work. Sometimes it is tempting to rush them through on activity so that we can clear the shelf and move on to another unit of study.
The Christmas season can not be rushed; children should not be rushed either. If we interrupt the Christmas season we may miss some of the hope and forgiveness the season has to offer us. Likewise, if we interrupt a child's exploration of the Pink Tower or Brown Stair, to move on to other materials, me may cause the child to 'miss' something that material has to offer.
Let us make sure we give children time to fully benefit from all the Montessori materials have to offer.