Our Curriculum

Our curriculum for each grade has been carefully designed to engage children at their age-appropriate level. Teaching methods vary to meet the needs of all children, with the understanding that each child is an individual with a unique set of strengths and interests.

Our K through 3rd grade students are introduced to the holidays, Torah, and Jewish ethics through a hands-on approach to learning. They experience Shabbat and the holidays through experiential learning and explore Torah stories through differentiated instruction.

Our 4th to 7th grade students have the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of experiences, which have included courses on Judaism and social action, Jewish food, current events through a Jewish lens, bibliodrama, music and art. They also learn about middot (values/ethics), holidays, Jewish history, God, Torah and Israel at an age appropriate level.

Through our Jewish studies program, students are able to:

Participate in innovative project-based classrooms
Experience the richness of the Jewish year as a community
Learn in-depth about holidays while not repeating material every year
Celebrate learning at our creative community days
Pray and learn weekly with our rabbi and educators
Explore the richness of the Torah at age-appropriate levels
Learn about the Jewish people and traditions through art, music, drama, and technology
Participate in the Jewish responsibility to care for others through giving tzedakah and doing Tikkun Olam mitzvah projects

Hebrew Language
Each week, grades K-4 will have a 20-minute session with a Hebrew specialist using a very unique modality called Hebrew Through Movement. This modality helps students develop language skills of sound, comprehension, and speech, through fun, interactive lessons that involve moving their bodies and engaging with different physical objects as verbally commanded by the instructor. As students see the instructor moving and each other moving, they learn to recognize Hebrew words and respond as evidence of growing vocabulary and comprehension.

To best support engagement and effectiveness of this model, children in these grades will be given a set of special props that they will use during their Hebrew Through Movement sessions. Learners use their prop kits to identify objects, pick them up, manipulate based on various Hebrew commands, and show each other. The Hebrew Through Movement model is proven to be very effective for developing language skills.

Grades 5-7 will engage one-on-one Hebrew learning with an intergenerational community mentor using a curriculum called Let’s Learn Hebrew Side By Side. All mentors will have ongoing guidance and accountability support from our Education Director and Hebrew Specialist. Each lesson is approximately 30 minutes long. This curriculum focuses on developing the language skills of decoding (reading) Hebrew text. Students who complete this material before the end of the school year will shift to small group Hebrew instruction with our Hebrew specialist.