Kindergarten – 2nd Grades

Kindergarten, 1^st and 2^nd grades, the beginning of our children’s Jewish learning, set the stage for a lifetime of learning, both formal and informal.  The primary goals are to introduce the children to the joy of Judaism and learning, introduce the Hebrew aleph-bet, and learn at a level appropriate to the age, about holidays, Jewish values and Israel.

In our combined Kindergarten/1^st Grade class, the children are first introduced to the letters of the aleph-bet, and as they progress, to combining letters and vowels.  They also learn about various Jewish symbols and holidays through various modalities such as stories and hands-on projects.

One of the most powerful ways to support and reinforce a child’s learning is for a parent to be engaged in learning as well.  How much more powerful, then, is it when a parent and child learn together?  In 2^nd Grade at Beth El, we have a unique program that brings parents and children together for the first half hour of school.  During this time, parents and children learn to read Hebrew together.  For some parents, it is a refresher course on a skill learned long ago, for some it is an opportunity to share knowledge and skills they already have, and for some it is truly an opportunity to learn a new skill and share in the excitement of new learning with their child.