Sunday School

Our goal is to expose our students to the vast scope of Jewish life over 4000 years on six continents and to engender in them an appreciation for Jewish history, culture and ethics. Learning is participatory and active. Students dance, sing, create art, cook, and hear and tell stories. We hope to encourage a lifelong fascination with and love for our Jewish heritage. Many of our students come from homes of mixed cultural backgrounds. Our attitude towards non-Jews is welcoming and respectful.

The school curriculum can be found by clicking here.

Hours:  Classes take place from 10:00am until 12:00pm.  In order to check your child in each Sunday, please walk your child to his/her classroom.  Please be on time.  Late arrivals may interrupt the teacher and take away from class time. 

Attendance:  You will be notified if your child is absent twice in a row.

Dismissal Policy:  Students will be released from class only after parents have made contact with the teacher, to be “checked out”. 

Teachers and Tzofim:  Each K- 6 classroom teacher will have an additional 1-2 Tzofim, to assist with projects, small group learning, and snacks.  Grades 7 and 8 will have Tzofim as needed.

School Wide Events:  Several school-wide holiday events are to be planned by the parents.  Please note the dates and class assignments for the following holidays:

*No class this day.  Time TBD

Snack:  We are eliminating snack this year.  A bagel and cream cheese breakfast will be available before school from 9:30am – 9:55am (see below).  Challah and juice will be served weekly in grades K-3 as part of Jewish learning.

Tzedakah:  Each class will collect Tzedakah weekly.  Each class will decide who they wish to donate to at the end of the year.

Specials:  Music will take place twice a month and Dance once a month.  Music and Dance will be a part of most Family Holiday Parties.  Additionally, we have several special field trip events planned for the year.

PreSchool

Preschoolers and their parents get together six times a year to learn about the Jewish holidays. They hear stories, sing songs, dance, make things and cook traditional foods of the holidays. Nonmembers are welcome to attend. There is a fee for this class.

Kindergarten

Our kindergartners study "My Home and Family." They learn about the holidays, learn Hebrew words for family members, pets, colors and food, sing and dance, and, of course, cook.

First and second grade

The first and second grade curriculum is "Bible Times." Some historical stories from the Bible are told (and acted out!) and the students learn about life in ancient times. They dress as nomads, taste dates and figs, and discuss the ideas of the prophets. They also sing, dance, and cook.

Third grade

The third graders learn about "Jews Around the World." They learn how Jews in different countries live and learn to do some of the crafts typical of each country. They taste lots of different kinds of food, see films that show how the Jews live elsewhere, and, of course, sing and dance.

Fourth grade

The topic of study for the fourth grade is "The Middle Ages." Fourth graders learn about the development of the Talmud, about Jews under Islam and Christianity, about the Crusades (they like to know that Maimonides and Robin Hood were contemporaries!), the Golden Age in Spain and subsequent Inquisition, and about Jewish self-rule in Poland. Like the other classes, they also have time for singing, dancing and cooking.

Fifth grade

Fifth graders learn about "Jews in America." They learn how the first Jews, who were refugees from the Inquisition, fought for religious liberty in North America. They learn about the westward movement (not forgetting Levi Strauss) and enjoy making bread and candles as the pioneer Jews had to do. They study the Eastern European immigration, the Jewish labor movement and the flowering of Yiddish culture in America. Finally, they learn about the Jewish community in America today.

Sixth grade

The sixth grade curriculum focuses on "Eastern Europe." The students study shtetl life and the flourishing of Yiddish culture. They learn about the Enlightenment and the movements which grew from it: Secularism, Zionism and Reform Judaism. They end their study of the Holocaust and Resistance with a trip to the Holocaust Museum in West Bloomfield. Sixth graders also begin work on their Bar/Bat Mitzvah projects.

Seventh grade

Our seventh graders study "Basic Judaism." They learn about the origins of the Torah, a little about how religious Jews pray, eat and celebrate, and learn about the various movements in Jewish life through interactions with representatives of the Reform, Orthodox, Conservative and Secular Humanistic movements. There is an additional focus on "Ethics," which includes discussion of current events and ethical problems. Seventh graders continue to work on their Bar/Bat Mitzvah projects.Individual and group Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremonies are open to the membership. They include talks by the Bar/Bat Mitzvah student, participation by the parents and community members, and lots of singing. The ceremony marks a meaningful transition from learning directed by others to self-direction in education as well as ethical thinking.

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