Dear Parents,

While observing in 3rd grade recently, my eyes fell on what I thought was a Tchaikovsky album. Upon further examination, I discovered that it was not a disc of Tchaikovsky’s music but of Vivaldi’s. I took the moment, now that I was up and my curiosity piqued, to look through the rest in the little basket: more Vivaldi and several Chopin. Satisfied, I returned to my seat.

At Ambleside, students study two composers per year, and I remembered that it is in 4th grade that they study Tchaikovsky. As I sat there, I was reminded of a scene in A Gentleman in Moscow, a 2016 novel by Amor Towles. It went something like this…

When challenged to name any other contributions by Russia to the west besides vodka, the protagonist, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, names four: two authors (Chekhov and Tolstoy), one food (caviar), and one magical, Christmas Eve scene on the stage (Act 1, Scene 1 of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker).

You can probably hum the tune now and picture the scene…

On Christmas Eve, having celebrated with family and friends in a room dressed with garlands, Clara sleeps soundly on the floor with her magnificent new toy. But at the stroke of midnight, with the one-eyed Drosselmeyer perched on the grandfather clock like an owl, the Christmas tree begins to grow…

Christmas at Ambleside is celebrated simply:

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy plays in the background as students work on the week’s transcription
Carols are sung, scripture is read, and ornaments are added to our Jesse Tree during morning assembly
Students in 7th grade study Longfellow’s poem, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and make origami ornaments during Handwork
8th graders are read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Our kindergarteners prepare and put on a nativity play
4th grade students listen to The Birds’ Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin

These practices are repeated every Christmas so the students look forward to them year after year. The simplicity of these activities takes little effort but yields large rewards: delight, wonder, imagination, thoughtfulness, anticipation. It only takes a small moment to ponder big things. An extravagant event is not always needed; just a heartfelt effort to bring Jesus to the forefront in this season of Advent.

As you make merry this Christmas season, I’ll leave you with a final quote from A Gentleman in Moscow to consider: “If you are ever in doubt, just remember that unlike adults, children want to be happy. So they still have the ability to take the greatest pleasure in the simplest things.”

Parents, let’s take pleasure, alongside our children, in the simple things of this Christmas Season.

A very merry Christmas to you all!

Gratefully,

Krise Nowak, M.Ed.

Head of School

The Greatest Pleasure in the Simplest Things