Kindergarten through Second Grade focuses on Jewish values looking at basic mitzvoth and ways of treating people within the community. Students are beginning to develop their understanding of God as a concept. They do this by being introduced to the Synagogue and the people and items that are connected to it. Students begin to learn the stories of the Bible from the book of Beresheet and how all these stories are lessons for our own lives. In Hebrew the students are learning the basic Hebrew letters of the Aleph-Bet by recognizing the names and sounds of each letter. Prayer is a way to develop our relationship with God. Students are learning the basic prayers said during a service as well as blessings said before eating food and on Shabbat. Students will learn about Israel by comparing children in Israel to themselves and seeing how their lives compare to the lives of children in Israel.
The Third and Fourth Grade curriculum is based upon our five themes for the school: Jewish Values, Relationship with God, Torah, Hebrew, Prayer, and Israel. In this grade level the children learn through Jewish values how to be individually responsible for their own actions and performing Gimilut Chasadim (acts of kindness). Student’s relationship with God is still developing but they have a firmer understanding of how they feel about it. Through prayer they learn the difference of praying with your heart and soul and praying using the fixed words from the Siddur. Students begin looking at different Torah portions that pertain to the laws of holiness and how we as Jews are expected to act. They begin reading Hebrew and increasing their Hebrew vocabulary so much that they can make connections with the Hebrew words to the ones they see in the Siddur as well as being taught some modern day Hebrew vocabulary. Through prayer the students learn in more detail the significance behind the Shema and V’ahavta. In learning about Israel the students are taught about the geography of the land and the landscape.
The Fifth and Sixth Grade curriculum is based upon our five themes for the school: Jewish Values, Relationship with God, Torah, Hebrew, Prayer, and Israel. Jewish values are presented to the students through social action within the Synagogue and community. Students strengthen their relationship and connection towards God by learning about life cycle events and basic halachic rules. In learning Torah students are given the opportunity to look at the entire Tanach. Including the prophets and how they formed their unique relationships with God. Students begin to associate Hebrew root words with the language from the siddur. In Tefillah students learn more complex prayers and how to create a prayer of their own. Students explore their knowledge of Israel by looking at the different groups of people that live in the land.
