HOLIDAYS AND THEIR CELEBRATIONS:  we introduce holidays from different cultures to the children to help them understand their meanings and how they are celebrated. At school we have many opportunities to provide meaningful holiday experiences by incorporating them in the daily classroom work of music, literature, history, language and art. This is the perfect way to increase the children’s appreciation of other cultures as well as their own. 

Cinco de Mayo - May 5^th  commemorates the victory of the Mexicans over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some recognition in other parts of the Mexico, and especially in U.S. cities with a significant Mexican population. It is not, as many people think, Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually September 16.

Mother's Day - May 8^th:  The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter*), "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England.  During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.  While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as the United States, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

Buddha's Birthday- May 24^th In the 6th century B.C. Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. As a prince in northeastern India, he was born into a life of luxury. The year of Buddha's birth is debatable: 563-483 B.C. Those who visit a shrine on his birthday take an offering of fresh spring flowers (cherry blossoms). Children dress up in kimonos, march through the streets to the shrine and sing Buddhist chants. The streets are decorated with white lanterns that have black and red writing on them, and streamers made to look like cherry-blossoms. There is a parade in the streets which has floats that are sometimes carried by several men, other floats are on large, wooden, golden wheels that are pulled instead of carried. One of them is always a huge white elephant bearing a small image of Buddha.  The large elephant is often made out of paper-Mache and painted red and white. On the elephants back is a small house covered with pink flowers. The small statue of Buddha is found inside. The children come up to the statue and bow and pour sweet tea (hydrangea leaf tea) on the head of the infant. Some believe that it rained tea on the day that Buddha was born.

Memorial Day (USA) - May 30^th: originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died while serving in the military, which originated after the U.S. Civil War. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

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