Religious School Curriculum

Junior Kindergarten
Being Jewish: An Overview
We welcome four-year-olds to our Religious School!  The curriculum is holiday-based and children are exposed to ceremonial objects and rituals associated with each holiday.  Our connection to Klal Israel (peoplehood) through the state of Israel begins.  Some brachot (blessings) dealing with food and Shabbat candles and Shema and the Shehechiyanu prayers are taught.  Students also begin an oral Hebrew language program emphasizing phrases associated with self-identity, family, home, and holidays.  Positive Jewish identity and the Jewish values of Derech Eretz (way of the land), Talmud Torah (study of Torah), and tzedakah are central to this grade.  Music and library are an integral part of the JK program.

Senior Kindergarten
Introduction to Jewish Learning: God, Mitzvot and Shabbat
We explore that it means to lead a Jewish life through focusing on mitzvot and Jewish holiday observance, with Shabbat and its rituals as a focus.  We explore the basic concepts about God, including how we talk to God, acting in God’s image, covenant, mitzvot, and what it means that “God is one.”  An oral Hebrew language program is provided.  Children are introduced to a number of important brachot (blessings) and tefillot (prayers).  The senior kindergartners participate in a Consecration ceremony on Simchat Torah to recognize the beginning of their Jewish learning in the Religious School. 

First Grade
The Synagogue and Synagogue-Based Holidays
In first grade, students learn about the qualities and traditions which are unique to the Jewish community.  A unit on the synagogue explores the “geography” of synagogues and the people who make them work.  An age-appropriate interpretation of the weekly Torah portion is discussed and a mitzvah-module is family “home-work”.  We explore the synagogue-based holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Simchat Torah, Purim, Shavuot, and Tisha B’av.  Tefillot (prayers) used in congregational services are taught, and Hebrew vocabulary building continues with our oral Hebrew language program.

Second Grade
Genesis, Exodus, Home-Based Holidays
Second grade is an exciting year during which children begin to feel more comfortable with their abilities to read and to participate meaningfully in discussions.  Oral Hebrew language acquisition continues.  Students examine the book of Beresheet (Genesis), beginning with Creation, and continue into Shemot (Exodus) to the ten plagues in Egypt.  The home-based holidays – Hanukah, Tu B’Shevat, and Pesach – are studied with emphasis on understanding why we celebrate and observe.  Students study Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and its relation to us.

Third Grade/Aleph
Exodus, Hebrew Reading and Writing
Beginning in third grade, students attend classes on Thursday afternoons in addition to Sunday mornings.  Formal Hebrew reading instruction begins.  They learn to recognize and write Hebrew script, read phonetically, and follow along with tefillot (prayers) in the siddur (prayer book).  They begin to identify recurring words in the text and siddur, the Shabbat table brachot (blessings), including the long form of the erev Shabbat Kiddush, are learned.  The weekly Torah portion is discussed at the Thursday “Shabbat Party”.

Fourth Grade/Bet
Searching for Meaning
With their Torah study, as well as with their study of tefillot (prayers), students search for the lessons, morals, and repeated themes found in the words we read.  The students’ relationship with God is another focus of study.  Students will explore the Jewish life cycle rituals, including naming ceremonies, brit milah, consecration, bar/bat mitzvah, marriage, the Jewish home, death, and mourning.  Hebrew instruction focuses on the siddur (prayer book), building their shoreshim (root word) vocabulary, and working to achieve fluency.  Families learn the Havdallah ceremony.

Fifth Grade/Gimel
Comparisons: Building on our Foundations, Prophets
Having learned the basic rituals of the various holidays over the past few years, students analyze what rituals mean.  Students examine newspapers each week and learn to “see the news as Jews”.  Hebrew study centers on tefillot (prayers), with emphasis on the Shabbat morning service and the daily afternoon service.  Students will learn the Ashrei and the Shmoneh Esrei (Amidah).  Discussions include examining what it means to be living as partners with God and why Jews pray, as well as translations and meaning of brachot (blessings).  Students and their families will cover the Birkat Hamazon.  Units on kashrut, tzedakah, the prophets and their messages, and Israel will be studied.  The fifth grade spearheads our connection to a Conservative movement school in Kiev in the Ukraine.

Sixth Grade/Dalet
Tefillah, The Torah Service
As our students begin to look toward their B’nai Mitzvah, their studies turn to familiarity with and understanding of the tefillot (prayers) of Shabbat morning, including the Torah service, music, and trope (cantillations).  Students discuss the parsha (portion) of the week and current events that affect Jews throughout the world.  They learn to solve modern moral dilemmas using classical texts.  Jewish historical figures are the focus of a special module.  Hebrew focuses on comprehension of the siddur (prayer book).  In the Felicia Levy Bar/Bat Mitzvah Institute (BBMI), families study prayer, Jewish texts, social justice, and the significance of becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah.

Seventh Grade/Heih
Israel, Jewish Identity, Jewish Literacy, Holocaust, Mishna
In seventh grade, students will study American Jewish history.  Other topics will include Holocaust studies focused on Jewish Identity through the framework of “Facing History and Ourselves,” the world of Mishnah (rabbinic commentary on the Torah), and mastery of the Kaddish prayer.  Weekly sessions with Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove on Jewish theology will be continued this year.  In the Felicia Levy Bar/Bat Mitzvah Institute (BBMI), students will study the importance of Klal Israel (peoplehood) and Medinat Yisrael (the state of Israel).

Hebrew High School
The most engaging part of a child’s Jewish education begins after the Bar/Bat Mitzvah year.  Israel and conversational Hebrew curriculum is celebrated with our 8th grade Ta’am Israel CFJE trip in the winter.

Anshe Emet is delighted to be a pilot site for the Melton Communiteen High School.  For more details, contact Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove at (773) 868-5141.