Curriculum

• An understanding of WHY we are learning about Judaism
• An understanding of WHY all this study is important and relevant to them as people, as Jews, as part of Klal Yisrael (the greater Jewish community) and of the human race.

Our goals are to strengthen Jewish identity, perpetuate our traditions through teaching ritual practice and instill a sense of social responsibility based on the ethical values of Judaism.

Our purpose is to teach the various aspects of Judaism through the study of Hebrew, Torah and Navi (Prophets), prayers, holidays, rituals, Jewish law and ethics, mitzvot, Jewish history, art, music, and Israel.

We strive for academic excellence in a safe, stimulating and nurturing environment.

on project every other month. We will inform you of these projects.

Depending on the school enrollment, we may choose to combine two grade levels in a single classroom. We consider only developmentally appropriate grade combinations. The decisions on which grades to combine are made anew each year. We strive to keep grades separate whenever the enrollment allows it.

Our curriculum takes into account potential grade combinations and is structured so that it can be presented in 2-year cycles or independently each year.

The curriculum is structured to avoid repetitiveness. Topics that naturally occur every year such as holidays are presented at greater depth and with a different focus reflecting the core ethical values of the grade’s curriculum.

In 2018/2019 we are offering the following classes:

• Gesher Club (Ages 3 and 4)
• Kindergarten
• Grade 1/2
• Grade 3
• Grade 4/5
• Grade 6/7

T’fillah (Prayer)

Teaching our students the value and meaning of prayer is a vital component of the curriculum. Each grade level learns specific prayers with their teachers and will be engaged in T’fillah each Sunday for 20 minutes.

Music

Each grade level will learn Jewish music for 20 minutes every Sunday.

Shabbat Club

During Hebrew School our students will be taught how to read and recite various prayers. We think the best way for our students to master these prayers and to improve their reading is through attending Shabbat morning and Friday night services.

• Our objective is to teach our students the skills to be able to decode Hebrew texts with ease by the time they graduate from our school.
• To accomplish this objective we have created an eight year spiral curriculum in which the students will build on thier skills they have attained in their previous years of study.
• We begin in Gesher Club and Kindergarten with teaching the Hebrew letters and by Grade 7 our students will be reading from the Siddur with ease.

Tanakh (Bible)

• Our students will learn about the main characters and stories from the Tanakh.
• Each grade will learn age appropriate texts and study the texts at an appropriate level.
• By the time our students have graduated, they will have analyzed texts, challenged texts, derived personal meaning from the texts, emphasized with Biblical characters, dramatized stories, etc.

Holidays

• Students will learn about the Jewish holidays in each grade. We have created an eight year curriculum that will ensure students are learning new aspects of each holiday.
• Our students will learn about observances, themes, origins and customs of each holiday.
• Our teachers will use biblical texts, arts and crafts, music and the siddur as tools to teach about the holidays.
• Students will be encouraged to share their personal experiences.

Israel

• Through studying about Israel, we hope that our students will fall in love with Israel.
• Between Gesher Club and Grade 7 our students will focus their Israel studies on Israeli culture, geography, history, inventions, and people.

We are commanded to be partners with God in repairing our world. We want to provide our students with as many opportunities to help them fulfill this mitzvah. Our students will sing at the Louis Brier Home, collect food for the hungry and collect toys for children who do not have any. It is our goal to have our students participate in one social action project every other month. We will inform you of these projects.