Advent – A Season of Preparation
At Sacred Heart Villa we are trying to keep Christ in Christmas. We want to help the children understand that the reason for celebrating Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus – God’s gift for humankind in sending Jesus to be our Savior. So how do we do this with two-to-six-year-old children?
The lead teacher has placed an Advent on the prayer table in the classroom. We also have Advent wreaths in the playroom on the stage, in Atrium and the school chapel. This visual reminder can help the children learn that Advent is a time of waiting patiently as we light one more candle for each week. Many of the teachers have a special prayer ritual involving “lighting” the candles using battery operated or paper flames. Some classes have Advent calendars counting the days down. On Mondays we have an Advent prayer service to start off each week. Sr. Christine has a unique ritual she does in her PreK 2 classroom. She carefully selects and wraps up children’s books about the birth of Jesus. She numbers these packages. Then daily a child unwraps the one for the day so Sister can read the book to the class.
We encourage our families to keep Christ in Christmas as well. The school sends home a simple, age-appropriate Advent calendar which is part of our religious education series used from nursey to kindergarten class. We also sent home a picture of an Advent wreath which needs candles to be lit with crayons of course. It also has prayers to say each week.
Rituals like these help the children to learn the real meaning of Christmas. These rituals help to lay a good foundation for faith formation in these young impressionable children and keeps Christ in Christmas for them.