Curriculum

Elementary jLAB learners spend their time exploring curricular topics through experiential learning. Jewish symbols, holidays, blessings, and Torah stories are embedded in larger curricular themes. Our curriculum is spiral, allowing learners to revisit topics every two years and to explore them with renewed engagement and understanding. During grade-level Shabbat experiences throughout the year, learners showcase their learning within the context of a Friday evening service and dinner.

We learn songs and prayers for holidays and curriculum content. Learners are introduced to the core prayers of Temple Beth Sholom’s Shabbat services, such as Barchu, Shema, and Oseh Shalom. Learners also begin engaging with Hebrew using Hebrew Through Movement, which helps them develop familiarity with Hebrew words and associate them with body movements. Beginning in 5th grade, learners gain the basics of decoding.

Our curricular themes for 2024-2025 are:

• Building a Community
• B’reishit and Relationships
• I am a Link in the Chain of Tradition
• Giving and Getting
• Connections to Nature
• I am Proud to be Me
• Personal Freedom and Slavery
• Israel: Our Family, Our Home
• Tikkun Olam (Fixing the World)

Middle school learners engage in project-based learning, with two major topics per year. Each unit of study culminates in a learning showcase, where peers teach each other and interact with their final projects.

Learners are divided into small Hebrew groups based on their level. There is a group for learners who are beginning Hebrew studies for the first time. Our curriculum also consists of a Prayer Class with Cantor Porat, which learners participate in for approximately eight weeks based on the date of their B-Mitzvah service.

The topics we are exploring in 2024-2025:

Fall: History and Culture of the Jewish People

January “Mini-mester”: Jewish Time

Spring: Holocaust

8^th grade is an exciting year with The Mussar Institute’s Challenges & Choices program, a curriculum for Jewish teens that helps them develop practical life skills and a deeper connection to Judaism. The program is based on the Jewish spiritual tradition of Mussar, which is a 1,000-year-old guidance system that focuses on living with integrity and developing personality traits like patience, courage, and compassion.

9^th grade teens continue their Jewish education through the Kulam curriculum from Moving Traditions. Kulam (meaning “everyone”) promotes shleimut (individual wellbeing), hesed (loving kindness), kesher (connection), and Tzedek (justice). Each session features dialogue prompts, games, Jewish texts, and other activities that focus on a specific area of social-emotional learning that resonates with teens and helps them learn to relate to and communicate with one another. Kulam equips Jewish teens to engage in dynamic and authentic relationships to think reflectively, act courageously, and develop healthy and caring communities.

The 10th grade year at Temple Beth Sholom is shaped by the theme, “Asking Big Questions.” You will learn about Judaism through the weekly Confirmation program taught by Rabbi Joanne Loiben and Rabbi Jessica Jacobs with guest visits from other TBS clergy and educators. Teens will explore Jewish texts and traditions, current events, Jewish history, and their own individual and communal identities. The Confirmation class participates in the L’Taken Seminar with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C. The year will culminate with our teens leading their Confirmation Service, affirming their Jewish identity before the entire congregation.

We want every child who attends jLAB regularly to be able to decode and pronounce Hebrew words fluently. Our Hebrew curriculum is based on the siddur, so learners can decode and chant prayers, and understand their general meaning and origin. Research shows that the more exposure children have to a language, the easier it is for them to learn it. We encourage families to enroll their children in jLAB at an early age to help them become more familiar with Hebrew. Information on the jLAB Hebrew curriculum is available in the curriculum section above.

Our educators guide our learners on deep dives into topics through hands-on, experiential activities that immerse our learners in finding relevance in Judaism. This approach deepens learning, fosters community, connects Judaism to life, and empowers learners to transform the world.