Golden Aleph Hebrew

4-6th Grades (3rd Grade Optional)

1 mid-week day

Fee included in Grade Level tuition (Grades 4-6)

80% attendance is required, for children planning to have a bar/bat mitzvah, so be sure to pick a day that suits your schedule for optimal attendance and success. Less than 80% attendance will require additional remedial tutoring at your own expense if you plan to participate in the b’nai mitzvah program.

What’s it all about?

The Golden Aleph Program is our mid-week Hebrew program, (modelled after a successful program at Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades)!  The kids love it!

Golden Aleph will help students progress at their own pace, let them work within small groups at similar levels and provide incentives (dog tags) to work towards new goals each week.   And, the program is great for parents, too, helping you choose the time that is most convenient for your busy schedules and offering online support and study materials for helping your students if desired!

Step ONE:  All students must master the aleph bet and be able to label the names of each letter and the sound that it makes, including the sounds of the vowels, in just 5 minutes. Assessments will be given every 2 weeks and teachers will help students work towards improving each time until they are, at last, a master of the aleph bet.  When they become a master, they will receive a “golden aleph” dog tag necklace and be placed in the next group.  Students are expected to master their aleph bet in their 4^th grade year.

Step TWO: Students will be moved to new levels whenever they complete a set of prayers.  After the Golden Aleph level, students will work in small groups on sets of prayers (4-5 prayers per set). Their goal is to master the prayers. Mastery means being able to read the prayers with some fluency, understand and explain the meaning of the prayer overall and identify some key vocabulary words within the prayers.  Each time they master a set of prayers, another dog tag will be awarded.  4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grade students who are working in prayer groups, are expected to complete a minimum of 1-2 prayer groups per year, with expected overall completion at the end of the 6^th grade.

Step THREE: Continue through the groups and program, mastering all prayer groups AND trope (Torah cantillation) with Cantor Mark. (Trope is reserved for 6^th grade students.)  If all prayer groups are completed before the completion of 6^th grade, there will be a conversational Hebrew offering for those accelerated students.