Congregation Beth Israel Judea’s
Youth and Family Education Program Curriculum
We look forward to sharing the life-long Jewish journey of learning with you and your children. Congregation Beth Israel Judea’s Youth and Family Education Program introduces children and their families to our rich culture; Jewish history, holidays and symbols; prayer; Torah; and the values of our Jewish people.
It is our hope that students will gain the tools necessary to enable them to continue to study, grow, question and participate actively in Jewish life in the coming years.
We are thrilled to utilize two solid curriculum resources in our school. The CHAI Curriculum: Learning for Jewish Life, provides content and guidance for our teachers in the Jewish values of Torah, Avodah (sacred work), and G’milut Chasadim (acts of kindness). Teachers also bring Israel, holidays and their passion to make classes exciting. Each year, students will build on their previous knowledge, which will establish the foundation of a lifetime of Jewish learning.
The CHAI Curriculum also offers strand on the topic of Israel, designed to be integrated into the year. Each level offers 2-3 lessons that correspond to the theme of that level and are age-appropriate for grades 1-7.
The Mitkadem Hebrew Curriculum is the source for our Hebrew program; it is a self-paced environment where students guide their own learning. The program is rich in material for not only reading (decoding) Hebrew words, but also for meaning and context of our prayers, application to our lives today, and making connections to material previously learned.
Both the CHAI and Mitkadem curricula were developed by the Union for Reform Judaism. Each offers a wealth of supporting material including family education programs, online learning and reinforcement, connections to other schools and teachers working on the same material, the list goes on! More information about how BIJ is utilizing these resources is outlined below.
Our new Post B’nai Mitzvah Program provides teens with the opportunity to help shape the topics they explore. Teens spend time with their friends learning Jewish topics in a whole new way. They meet every Sunday morning from 9:30 am -12:00 pm. Sometimes they begin the morning with the whole BIJ Youth and Family Education Program community for music or tefillah. Other days, they are off-site exploring Judaism outside the classroom. With a little guidance, teens will decide what topics they want to discuss with their friends and how those topics relate to being Jewish.
Confirmation at BIJ takes place at the conclusion of the 10th grade year. These students are an integral part of our YAFE program and attend Sunday mornings throughout the year. In addition, they have a special confirmation class that meets on a weekday evening, 6:00-8:00 pm, with Rabbi Gottlieb. The confirmation service (part of which is led by our confirmation students) will be scheduled for May of 2013. For more information, please contact Rebecca Goofdman, BIJ Director of Education: firstname.lastname@example.org.