In the lead up to Christmas, students in Rechelle St. John’s Grade 2 class at Savory elementary school have been learning about holiday traditions and discussing the meaning of Christmas.
When asked what Christmas means to them, most of the students talked about spending time with family and making others happy.
“A good part of Christmas is to be with your family, have a roof over your head,” Rayne Taylor said.
“Making family happy by being good to them,” Kaden Banner said.
“Christmas is a time that you give to your family,” Zachary Ralph said. “It makes me really happy because then I always see the smile on their faces.”
One student said every year her family gets together to go caroling.
“I like to see the smiles on their faces,” Selena Zheng said.
The young students also expressed belief that it’s important to help those less fortunate than them during the holidays.
Some students talked about the importance of celebrating the birth of Jesus, as believed in Christian faiths.
The topic that brought out the most excitement was Christmas food. Students say their favourites are turkey, Christmas cake, stuffing, candy canes, shortbread cookies and, breaking tradition, macaroni.
Students said they are heading to a variety of places over the holidays to visit family. Many were heading up Island, while others were going to the Mainland. Two students are heading to Edmonton and a pair of siblings are Mexico bound. One student is going to China to visit family, and another said he is possibly going to Australia, where he has extended family.
The students have also been learning about other holidays, such as Hanukkah, and how people celebrate Christmas around the world. They learned that in Holland, Santa is called Sinterklaas and has a sidekick named Zwarte Piet that spanks naughty children with willow branches.
While in Germany, Santa rides a white horse instead of a sleigh and that children leave out their shoes for Santa to fill.