Twelve Days of Christmas Soon Upon Us

Children love to sing the Twelve Days of Christmas, it seems to go on and on! Some believe it was created as a way to teach catechism some five centuries ago and goes something like this:

1 True Love refers to God; 2 Turtle Doves refer to the Old and New Testaments; 3 French Hens refer to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues; 4 Calling Birds refer to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists; 5 Golden Rings refer to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of humankind's fall from grace; 6 Geese A-laying refer to the six days of creation; 7 Swans A-swimming refer to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments; 8 Maids A-milking refer to the eight beatitudes; 9 Ladies Dancing refer to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit; 10 Lords A-leaping refer to the ten commandments; 11 Pipers Piping refer to the eleven faithful apostles; 12 Drummers Drumming refer to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed.

Whether or not the religious connections are the origins of the song, it is a fun song to sing, helps with counting, classifying, sorting, number sense, sequencing, and more! Traditionally, the first night of Christmas is Christmas, December 25, with the first day of Christmas being the day after Christmas, December 26. Twelfth Night is January 5 and on January 6, the Epiphany or the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem, marks the Twelfth Day and the close of the Christmas season or Christmastide.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! The next blog will post January 1, 2009 and then every Wednesday for the rest of the school year.

Partridge in a Pear Tree graphic from www.amishshop.com

Oh Christmas Tree!

Reading a good book by the glow of the twinkling Christmas tree lights is a thrill that lasts a lifetime for a young person. What to read is the challenge. As a second grader my teacher told her students we could pick any book to read from the classroom shelf, but must finish it before we could pick another. I was not a great fan of reading at the time so figured to choose the smallest, skinniest book so that I could read more from the shelf (or get up from my seat more often). I was too clever for my own good and chose Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I struggled through that story for months and was turned off to reading for many years. I have since enjoyed the retelling of the tale at ACT in San Francisco, and through video/DVD rentals, and on occasion even read it aloud to my first graders here at SSPP.

As a teacher, I try to guide my students to choose a book they will find interesting--look at the cover, do a picture walk through the pages, read a few lines of the story, and ask friends their opinion of the story. One trick that may help you choose a book is the five finger test--reading from one page raise a finger for each word you can't read. If you raise all five fingers, the book is probably too difficult. Try it later in the year. You want to pick a just right book, like Goldilocks in The Three Bears.

The Children's Book Council and the American Library Association have both created recommended holiday themed books for children of all ages. One of my all time favorites is L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

The stars are brightly shining!

Looking at the sky and knowing what we see takes study, diligence, and a good telescope! Planet viewing changes as Earth orbits the Sun. See highlights of the December 2008 night sky courtesy of NASA for students. Our third graders have enjoyed field trips in recent years to Chabot Space and Science Center, maybe you too would like to study to become an astronaut.

Fascinating in the night sky recently according to the McDonald Observatory's Stardate Online was Venus and Jupiter lined up side by side, low in the southwest with the crescent moon.

AP Science Writer in the San Francisco Chronicle Seth Borenstein tells us, "Starting Thanksgiving evening, Jupiter and Venus will begin moving closer so that by Sunday and Monday, they will appear 2 degrees apart, which is about a finger width held out at arm's length, said Alan MacRobert, senior editor at Sky and Telescope magazine. Then on Monday night, they will be joined by a crescent moon right next to them, he said. Look in the southwestern sky around twilight — no telescope or binoculars needed. The show will even be visible in cities if it's a clear night."

Some books you might find interesting include: Our Solar System by Seymour Simon; Voyage Through Space by Ian Graham; Planets, Stars, and Galaxies: A Visual Encyclopedia of Our Universe written and illustrated by Da; How Big Is It? A Big Book All About Bigness by Ben Hillman; Space by Alan Dyer; When Is A Planet Not A Planet? The Story of Pluto by Elaine Scott; Space Exploration from Eyewitness Books

Then again, you might like to do some online exploring about astronomy, or the study of stars. Or perhaps, take a peek at the weather.

Graphic courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/strandloper/3074697421/sizes/m/