Shavuot anyone?

I personally am looking forward to Shavuot this year. This year is special for a few reasons which I want to share:

(1) This year, the holiday comes in May and not in June so it is on the "school year" calendar. Whew! It just made it. :-) As someone who grew up Jewishly in Louisiana, I can tell you that school ended in May and Shavuot most often came afterwards, yet before the Jewish summer camp I attended for many summers in Utica, Mississippi opened, so this important holiday was often overlooked. But this year, that is not the case. So, quick before school ends, let's enjoy Shavuot.

(2) I have spent the past year alongside the Cole family "home schooling" our families in Jewish education. Since we get to pick the topics we study, we have spent our time since Passover discussing Counting the Omer and have built the anticipation for Shavuot. Each week, we have marked our calendars together and talked about what was coming and chosen a commandment to follow until the next time we met so that the time would pass quickly but also purposefully. We all frankly can't wait for the 10 Commandments to get here! (or for school to end, the kids to get to celebrate their summer birthdays, celebrating graduation for 3 members of the Cole family, summer camps, vacations, etc. but all a valuable lesson about waiting and preparing for big things to come)

(3) Our synagogue, Shearith Israel, is offering a very topical, relevant evening of programming at a good time and dinner is free! (Thank you to Amy, Scott, and Joshua Jacobson for sponsoring dinner.) It is customary for Shavuot to have an all-night Torah study session but this year, the program is not all night. After all, it is a school night. The program starts at 5:30, includes dinner, and ends around 8:00ish so everyone can be tucked in at a reasonable time to get to school or work the next day.

Teresa Cole and I are pleased to be joining Rabbi Norry to present on the topic of Learning about Learning. Specifically, Teresa and I are sharing how our "Home School 4 Hebrew School" model has influenced Jewish learning with our families.

So mark your calendar to celebrate Shavuot on the 6th of Sivan (that would be May 18th). Take a Lactaid pill. Can't wait! Chag Sameach!!

Location Location Location

Purim is coming this weekend and we have had several lesson plans preparing for this joyous holiday. Yesterday's event involved making hamantaschen that were then packed in little boxes to be given away as shalach manos. Lucky for me, my mommy partner in teaching offered to make the dough and host us at her house to cook.

Each week at least one of the kids seem to act out and spend some time out of the room. Typically, my own kids are the ones who are removed. Well, this week while outside of their own home, my kids were generally pretty good. We had a moment when my younger one did some things that didn't make Momma proud but my 9-year old seemed to be on his best Hebrew time behavior. Much to my surprise, the one child who had to be removed from the activity was the other older child (8-year old) whose home we were visiting.

This situation made me realize that the issue may not be that the material is boring or too challenging. It is not always a function of having Mom or Dad be the teacher. It is location, location, location. My kids act out in their home and perhaps this other child felt more comfortable in his own home to do what he wanted.

We are requiring a shift in behavior among the boys in their home from "let it all out" to "this is an educational institution." So, how do we create an educational institution in our own homes? Should we find another meeting place that is neutral? This weekend, we plan to meet at synagogue for Hebrew prior to attending our synagogue's Purim carnival. I look forward to the next part of the unintended location experiment.

Long Time No Blog

I am bad at blogging. We have come a long way with our Home Hebrew School model. Too bad I have not shared more information regularly. I am just not that person who posts on Facebook or twitters. I love to read what is going on with everyone else but just don't seem to be able to post stuff myself. Admittedly, I don't like to create a scenario that places me in a vulnerable position to be critiqued. I want to know what critiques might be coming my way and regular bloggers have to let that go. I am going to try to be a bit more open about myself, what we are doing, how the kids are responding, etc. So here it goes!

I love that we have taken this leap and continue to work toward educating our children Jewishly in a creative way. The kids have their moments. They certainly are not seeking to go back to the traditional Hebrew School model but they don't generally love what we do either. They have good moments and enjoy the camaraderie of the 4 boys. Most of the challenges are typical behaviors of boys being taught by their moms.

Despite the challenges, the kids really are learning so much. This week we are preparing for Tu B'Shvat. We created a table cloth with trees, center pieces to look like trees, and crates to fill with fruit that could come from Israel. The kids love the crafts.

Last week we went to a basketball game to see Israeli player, Omri Casspi, play. He is the first Israeli to be drafted by the NBA. Prior to the game, we learned about sports in Israel and learned the Hebrew words associated with the game of basketball.

The kids are getting better and better with Hebrew conversation, colors, numbers, blessings, etc. The younger kids are doing better at identifying the Hebrew letters and their sounds. The older kids are now reading Hebrew and focusing more on learning to translate what they are reading.

We have learned some prayers and continue to add on there. I am happy to say that the kids know what the prayers are about and not just how to recite them. We are planning to have the kids start to lead the prayers in the Junior Congregation service soon. As they lead each prayer, we are going to reward them with a badge of sorts on a piece of cloth that one day could be made into a tallis.

History these days is focusing on Israel, geography, historical Israeli "super heroes," and big events. History is always a highlight of our time on Sundays.

I love spending time each week reviewing the parsha. The kids don't enjoy the parsha time as much as I do. Sedra Scenes (author: Beiner) is generally a fun way to tell the story. The kids act out the story. Some stories are better than others.

More on tips and tricks we have discovered coming soon.