The holidays are here. You’ve made it through Halloween (a true accomplishment) and Thanksgiving, and now it’s just smooth sailing until Christmas, right? WRONG.
Even the most seasoned teachers can find navigating holiday chaos in the classroom challenging. As October begins, your students are already asking if Halloween is tomorrow and are ready to put on that costume for trick-or-treating! Tension builds throughout the month, culminating in a sugar coma on November 1st. Then, you spend a month trying to teach your students what it means to be thankful before they are lost to Christmas lists and elf shenanigans.
It may seem that your class has forgotten every routine you drilled and taught during the first months of school, but hope is not lost. Managing holidays in the classroom is possible, and you WILL find your students (and your sanity) again! Here are some tips to facilitate your next few weeks of school.
Reteach expectations again, and again.
Go back to those routines from the beginning of the school year. SHOULD they know how to do these things by now? Maybe, but remember these little ones have squishy brains that are still developing and creating synapses. Going back to reteach is only going to help those connections get stronger which can carry them through the rest of the year.
Remember, you are not in a rush.
You are in charge of the clock in your classroom. I don’t know about you, but I always feel more irritable when I don’t give my class enough time to complete an activity. This time of year, there is always something extra that cuts in on your time. At times it can feel like nothing is going right, and everyone is all over the place (maybe they are). It may be better to STOP and come back to it after lunch or the next day rather than try and rush through just to finish. It may also be better to completely nix something on your schedule for the next month or so, to give yourself some breathing room. You know your kids are going to need extra reminders, so create the space for it. This will allow you to be firm with your boundaries and expectations and will give your students a chance to be more successful.
Keep it simple.
Remember those squishy brains I was talking about? Those little minds are so overstimulated from the extra fun activities their families may be participating in on nights and weekends. They are tired and off-kilter from their best. Make school the place where their routine is predictable, safe and stable. Wherever you can, find times in your day that are mostly safe from changes, allowing your students to rest in that security and routine.
Bring music in.
In my classroom, the months of November and December are filled with holiday songs and carols. Of course, we always include music in our daily routine, but it bumps up a bit when the holidays come around. We start the day with Deedee Wills and Miss Jenny’s monthly poetry songs. Our favorites include Little Ole Ef and Reindeer Snack! The other tradition we have this time of year is preparing for our holiday concert! We invite families to come one morning in December and watch our Annual Holiday Sing-along! We sing carols and other clever holiday songs to celebrate the season. Our class begins preparations soon after Halloween. We practice nearly every day. While this may seem like a break in routine, it actually provides us with an anchor to build a NEW routine for the Holiday season and becomes one of our favorite parts of the day.
Check out Deedee Wills and Miss Jenny’s December Poetry Songs here!
Use a visual calendar.
Sometimes kids just need a countdown that’s concrete and easy to follow. I find that a traditional calendar can be a little abstract for our young learners, so in my classroom, we use a linear calendar. Integrating this idea from Pocket of Preschool has been beautiful change for my students! I use magnetic ten frames to create the grid. When a special event, student birthday or holiday is approaching, little ones can easily view and conceptualize where the date falls within the calendar month.
Reteach key vocabulary.
Sometimes adults tend to overestimate our children’s grasp on basic vocabulary. For the littlest learners, it can be helpful to teach vocabulary words like “wait”, “long” and short” with relation to time. That way when you have to explain to a student that, no, Santa isn’t coming for a long time still! They have some context to go off of. You may be suprised that some of your students also need reteaching on words and days, weeks and months. Try and give them concrete examples of what happens in day or a week, and a month to help them understand when these events and holidays will take place. It will take daily repetition, but they will eventually begin to grasp the concepts for themselves.
Remind families about the importance of sleep and a nutritious breakfast or morning snack.
This is a hugely important point. Unfortunately, it is also the one you probably have the least control over! As educators, we know this can have a distinct impact on a child’s education, but it is a good reminder for parents. The CDC recommends 10-13 hours of sleep per night for preschool-age children. If your students are a little older, the recommendation may fall on the lower end of that or closer to 9 hours. Many children are dropping naps at this age and trying to reorganize their sleep, which means a much earlier bedtime! A child lacking sleep will display an increase in undesirable behaviors and a decrease in academic achievement. Similarly, children ages 4-8 should be consuming 1.5 servings of fruit, 4.5 servings of vegetables, 1.5–2 servings of dairy, 4 servings of grains, and 1.5 servings of protein foods daily. So, the holiday pastries and treats for breakfast and snacks should be limited, especially around this time of year. Although we can be sure that families might not implement favorable changes in their homes as often as we hope, it is always helpful to facilitate those conversations and give parents the tools and resources to be successful.
So, you’ve made it this far. You are a rockstar! Just a few more weeks to go and then you can take a big breath and have a restful holiday break. No matter what happens in your classroom, trust yourself and know that you are giving your students a safe and loving space to learn and grow in. You’ve got this!
Check out our Heidisongs.tv Christmas collection here
