3rd - 7th Grade
3rd Grade
This is the year that students become proficient in decoding and writing in Hebrew. Using the Shalom Uvracha Hebrew Primer, students will learn to decode the Hebrew letters and vowels so that they will be able to begin learning basic prayers and Hebrew vocabulary. In Judaics, the students will learn all about Jewish time - how the Jewish calendar works differently, and how and when we celebrate the Holidays.
5th Grade
Fifth graders continue their prayer learning by beginning to focus on Shabbat morning prayers. On Sunday mornings, they study midrash to start to learn to think creatively about the Torah stories they have come to know so well. This will help them to more easily begin to form a d’var torah for their B Mitzvah as that time rapidly approaches.
4th Grade
Fourth graders spend the first months of the year reviewing and practicing their decoding skills with a special review book, and then after winter break, begin learning the prayers and Hebrew vocabulary relevant to Shabbat evening services. As their Judaic curriculum, fourth grade students learn all about Israel. They learn to make connections between biblical and modern Israel, and about the people, geography, customs, and history of the region.
6th Grade
In the final year before B Mitzvah, students learn the prayers and vocabulary relevant to the Torah Service as a final step in understanding what becoming a Jewish adult truly means. Along the same vein, our sixth graders study Torah trope with the Cantor, and learn all about Jewish Lifecycle rituals from birth to death, and where their upcoming simcha falls in the span of Jewish life.
7th Grade
In addition to B Mitzvah training, seventh graders spend the year learning about the Holocaust in a holistic way for the first time. Because we understand that this topic can be heavy, they also spend time talking about local, often uplifting current events through a Jewish lens.