Kindergarten – Sixth (Seventh) Grade

Goals of Rimon Hebrew:

• Develop an appreciation for Hebrew as a sacred language that connects Jews across time and space.
• Enable our learners understand and use Hebrew vocabulary that is part of our community and contemporary Jewish life.
• Guide our learners to become prayer proficient enabling them to participate in holiday and prayer experiences wherever they may be.
• Enable our learners to reach their individual potential for Bar/Bat Mitzvah and beyond.

 

How Our Learners Reach Their Goals:

Background

Over the past ten years there has been much research regarding how children learn.  This research has led to changing the foundational Hebrew learning assumptions that have shaped Hebrew education for decades.  Early decoding focused on print-to-sound learning of the Hebrew characters, then putting these characters together to form words that were foreign to the learner.  Lack of understanding and lack of retention made it difficult for our students to achieve little more than memorize a Hebrew text.

 

When we look at how our children learned to read and understand the English language, we find that:

• Children spend the first year (or more) listening to the language and responding through movement.
• Once the sounds of the language are firmly embedded children begin to speak the language.
• Decoding and understanding the alphabet comes last! For instance, C – A – T…that spells “cat”!

Key Components of Rimon Hebrew

The five components of Rimon’s Hebrew curriculum include:

1. Hebrew Through Movement
2. Tefillah (prayer experiences)
3. Jewish Life Vocabulary
4. Decoding and Prayer proficiency – jPrayer
5. Music

To learn more about Hebrew Through Movement visit:
http://www.hebrewthroughmovement.org

To learn more about decoding visit:
“Let’s Learn Hebrew Side-By-Side”

To learn more about jPrayer visit:
https://jecc-jprayer.weebly.com/

 

Rimon Hebrew by Grade:

Kindergarten, 1^st gr, 2^nd gr, 3^rd gr.
Children in Kindergarten through 3^rd grade will engage with Hebrew during the Sunday morning Rimon program.  This includes:

• Hebrew Through Movement (lessons will build on previous learning)
• Jewish Life Vocabulary
• Age appropriate prayer experiences
• Music

Bet – 4^th grade

Fourth graders will begin attending the mid-week Rimon Hebrew program focusing on early decoding and meaning-making through the interactive Hebrew Side-by-Side program.

Fourth graders will continue to grow their language skills during the Sunday Rimon program through:

• Jewish Life Vocabulary
• Age appropriate prayer experiences
• Music

Gimel – 5^th grade

Fifth graders attending the mid-week Rimon Hebrew program focusing on prayer proficiency of Shema and her blessings as well as holiday blessings through jPrayer.

Fifth graders will continue to grow their language skills during the Sunday Rimon program through:

• Jewish Life Vocabulary
• Age appropriate prayer experiences
• Music

Gesherim – 6^th grade

Hebrew learners in 6^th gr. attend the mid-week Rimon Hebrew program  focusing on prayer proficiency of the Amidah and Torah service including the Torah and Haftarah blessings.

 B’nai Mitzvah Preparation – 7^th gr.

Students becoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah during 7^th gr. and beyond will be under the tutelage of our cantor and the B’nai Mitzvah staff.  Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparations begin approximately six-seven months before the date of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah.

Students who have not yet begun with their Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparations are invited to join our Monday evening Boot Camp.  Boot Camp enables students to continue to work on their prayer proficiency and keep their Hebrew skills “fresh”. Boot Camp takes place on Monday evenings 6:00 pm-7:30 pm.