Religious School Culture Covenant
To appropriately serve our students and families these are the principles we operate by.
1) The children come first.
2) We honor, respect, and trust our colleagues, staff, students and volunteers.
- We start with: "yes, and..."
- We listen to the children and each other
3) We celebrate successes and learn from errors.
- We take time to evaluate and reflect.
4) We value creativity and enthusiasm.
5) We model our love of the Jewish people and Judaism.
6) We maintain healthy boundaries for self-care and family and promote a positive work environment.
Judaica Curriculum 5786
Our theme this year will be L'Dor V'dor - from generation to generation. Our curricular focuses shift yearly to ensure that each student receives a well-rounded Jewish education in combined classes to accommodate our community. We mark Jewish time together as a community and celebrate each holiday with projects that allow students to deepen their knowledge of Jewish traditions each year. This year we will focus on our family histories in each class and learn from the experiences of our ancestors.
Pre-K -Students will explore Jewish holidays and Shabbat.
Kindergarten/Grade 1– Students will study Torah stories and Jewish holidays.
Grades 2 – Students will study the Tanakh, focusing on Genesis/Exodus, and the holidays.
Grades 3/4 – Students will study the Tanakh, focusing on Exodus, the prophets, and the holidays
Grades 5/6 - Students will study American Jewish History, do a review of the Torah stories, and begin to research Israel this year.
7 - Students will study Jewish identity and values this year, through mitzvot (commandments), tefillah (prayers), middot (values), and tikkun olam (repair the world).
Grades 8/9/11/12 - Students will decide on their studies among the following options: Jewish Service Learning - Tikkun Olam, In-Depth Israel, American Jewish Heroes, Great Jewish Debates.
Grades 10/11/12 - Students will be in the Confirmation Class this year. They will investigate how Jewish teachings are important and relevant in today's world -- applying Jewish values to real life with Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. Students who have already taken Confirmation are encouraged to register for one of the classes listed above.
Hebrew Curriculum
The goals of our Hebrew Curriculum are for our students to be able to pray, read Torah, and love the language of the Jewish of the people. We want our students to be able to go into any Jewish congregation in the world and feel comfortable praying at Shabbat or holiday services. Additionally, our students will be prepared to lead their service, and read from the Torah when they become Brit Mitzvah.
To get our students to this place, we provide Hebrew learning opportunities throughout their experiences at Temple Emanuel. Our more formal Hebrew classes begin in second grade. Our students study the Z'man Likro book series to learn the Alef Bet, how to decode and beginners' vocabulary. Our students use the Sefatai Teiftach series to learn prayers. We do our best to group our students according to level, and allow them to progress at the speed appropriate to them.
In our Hebrew program, we firmly believe in incentivizing and making Hebrew study fun through games that we have Hebrew-fied. We have our own versions of Jenga, cornhole, football, basketball, Connect Four, Twister, hopscotch, Tic Tac Toe, hangman, charades and much more. Students work together, build community and build their Hebrew skills all at the same time.