We're impressed with our curriculum, now it's your turn! We hope to engage your child's sense of identity by capturing his/her imagination and attention. We therefore put a lot of effort into providing our students with substantive lessons and a positive atmosphere.
The lessons are multi-sensory and hands-on, ensuring that the students truly experience what they are being taught. The lessons are structured with discussion-starters to create a lively, interactive classroom experience. The information truly becomes the student's own.
HEBREW READING AND WRITING
Cheder uses the highly motivational Aleph Champ program to teach Hebrew reading. With the Aleph Champ program, reading has never been this fun!! Beginner students begin by being introduced to the letters of the Aleph Bet. They will spend a great deal of time on letter recognition through exercises and games to ensure that their foundation in Hebrew reading is solid. After they master the Aleph Bet, they will begin learning the Nikudot (Vowels), focusing on recognizing the names, appearance and sounds of the Nikudot. They will then begin doing reading exercises with 2 and 3 letter words.
As students continue in our more advanced Hebrew classes, they will strengthen their reading skills, focus on reading fluency, and learn handwriting as well.
JEWISH TRADITION
In order for children to be able to develop a sense of pride for their Jewish heritage, they need to begin learning about their traditions. It is our goal to introduce to them as many traditions and concepts as possible, in a manner that allows them to see the beauty and meaning of Jewish Tradition.
HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE
Students will study the incredible, rich history of our people from the very beginning, by studying the book of Genesis (Bereishit), continuing to the Book of Exodus, and journeying through the Jewish timeline.
Our younger students will be using the excellent and innovative Beraishit and Shemot curriculum, which brings the lessons of the first two books of the Torah down to the students in a fun, hands-on and creative way. The children will experience the Torah stories as if they were there! Students create their very own history scrapbook, allowing them to internalize what they have learned and to express their creativity and imagination.
JEWISH HOLIDAYS
As each holiday of the Jewish calendar approaches, we will spend a great deal of time learning about the history, customs and traditions of the holiday. This will help bring meaning to the many beautiful, yet often strange rituals of our heritage. Expect your children to learn in depth about the following holidays; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Chanuka, Purim, Pesach, Lag B’omer, and Shavuot.
Our holiday curriculum is also spiced up with games, projects, songs, performances and projects. Quite often as we approach the last few days before a major holiday, other subjects such as History are pre-empted to allow ample time to properly teach about the holidays.
We encourage you to ask your children to share with you the many things they are learning about each holiday. This will help reinforce what they are learning in the classroom and may well add meaning to your family holiday celebrations. We also encourage you to join our community holiday celebrations and services; they are all offered at no cost and require no membership.
PRAYER
Our younger students will be taught basic prayers including “Modeh Ani”, “Shema” and more, using a beautifully designed, full color Sing-Along Siddur. The stunning pictures provide the students with a clear understanding of the words they are reciting, as they clap and sing along with the accompanying CD, enabling them to master the prayers through music and song.
Our older students are introduced to more advanced prayers such as the Amidah, using a Siddur that was specially designed for Hebrew Schools. The Siddur includes simple, clear introductions to each prayer, English translations so the students can better understand what they are saying, extra large Hebrew letters for easier reading, and key words highlighted for further study.
ISRAEL
Our students will attain an appreciation, understanding and affection for our homeland Israel.
JEWISH VALUES
Beginning with the origins of the Mitzvot, stressing practical applications in our daily lives, our students will explore a personal Jewishness.
At Cheder, we believe that Judaism is a holistic experience, involving the whole child, at all times. We therefore include in our curriculum special activities and "Mitzvah Missions", which allow our students to bring home the concepts they are learning in Hebrew School and to experience them fully.
