Message from the Principal
October & November 2018
This year's enrollment of Temple Beth Sholom Religious School is blessed to enjoy more students than we have experienced in some recent years. It presents us with challenges in dividing age appropriate classes, developing curriculum for broader ranges of subject material understanding and using our very limited teaching time to engagement, retention and yes ...fun!
We have initiated some new methods for reaching out to our children, by having some break times incorporating memory stimulation, listening skills, art projects and friendly competition.
Two weeks ago for example, on a pre-Sukkot Wednesday class, during the 1 1/2 hour class time, we spent about 30 minutes on something called "grab bag " ruach!! I asked questions regarding what the kids have learned or retained about Jewish topics and traditions and when they answer correctly, each student is rewarded with a special grab bag of goodies - toys and candy.
The next 45 minutes were spent understanding the Arba Minim-4 kinds of fruits & vegetables that should be placed in the Sukkah and doing a craft of drawing and cutting out some of these fruits in Hebrew.. Imagine their surprise when they discovered the Hebrew word for banana is...... banana!!
We then spent the remainder of the day looking inside the arc at the silver Rimonim (pomegranates) on top of the Torah, and the significance of the 613 seeds inside the Pomegranates, being a reminder of the same number of Mitzvot in Torah. And we walked outside the front door, where they were able to see a live pomegranate trees with several small ones setting the fruit onto its branches. They were fascinated!
This Year we will learn about the Torah Parsha Noah, by taking our school to the Brevard Zoo to learn the names of the animals in Hebrew with snacks and fun as well as understanding the lessons of the historical event. Look for the instructions in an upcoming email alert.
I have long believed that the education children receive at Temple Beth Sholom is far superior to that offered by any other educational resource, because we get it. We understand what it takes to achieve an age appropriate level of understanding of Jewish learning, Jewish Tradition and Jewish identity and continuity. Because our county has such a small Jewish population, our efforts are more profound as we educate and expose our Temple's children to our incredibly warm and significant legacy and culture.
To help us accomplish these goals, we have established a PTA under the direction of Wendy Fine, who is beginning to organize and create a special relationship between the religious school parents and our teaching staff to make programs and events that our students will long remember. If you are interested in helping bring this dynamic new energy to our School, please reach out to Wendy or I. We would love to hear your ideas and suggestions, and appreciate your efforts to continue making Temple Beth Sholom Religious School the premiere Jewish educational opportunity in Brevard .
Warmest Regards,
David Pelzman
Principal
This year's enrollment of Temple Beth Sholom Religious School is blessed to enjoy more students than we have experienced in some recent years. It presents us with challenges in dividing age appropriate classes, developing curriculum for broader ranges of subject material understanding and using our very limited teaching time to engagement, retention and yes ...fun!
We have initiated some new methods for reaching out to our children, by having some break times incorporating memory stimulation, listening skills, art projects and friendly competition.
Two weeks ago for example, on a pre-Sukkot Wednesday class, during the 1 1/2 hour class time, we spent about 30 minutes on something called "grab bag " ruach!! I asked questions regarding what the kids have learned or retained about Jewish topics and traditions and when they answer correctly, each student is rewarded with a special grab bag of goodies - toys and candy.
The next 45 minutes were spent understanding the Arba Minim-4 kinds of fruits & vegetables that should be placed in the Sukkah and doing a craft of drawing and cutting out some of these fruits in Hebrew.. Imagine their surprise when they discovered the Hebrew word for banana is...... banana!!
We then spent the remainder of the day looking inside the arc at the silver Rimonim (pomegranates) on top of the Torah, and the significance of the 613 seeds inside the Pomegranates, being a reminder of the same number of Mitzvot in Torah. And we walked outside the front door, where they were able to see a live pomegranate trees with several small ones setting the fruit onto its branches. They were fascinated!
This Year we will learn about the Torah Parsha Noah, by taking our school to the Brevard Zoo to learn the names of the animals in Hebrew with snacks and fun as well as understanding the lessons of the historical event. Look for the instructions in an upcoming email alert.
I have long believed that the education children receive at Temple Beth Sholom is far superior to that offered by any other educational resource, because we get it. We understand what it takes to achieve an age appropriate level of understanding of Jewish learning, Jewish Tradition and Jewish identity and continuity. Because our county has such a small Jewish population, our efforts are more profound as we educate and expose our Temple's children to our incredibly warm and significant legacy and culture.
To help us accomplish these goals, we have established a PTA under the direction of Wendy Fine, who is beginning to organize and create a special relationship between the religious school parents and our teaching staff to make programs and events that our students will long remember. If you are interested in helping bring this dynamic new energy to our School, please reach out to Wendy or I. We would love to hear your ideas and suggestions, and appreciate your efforts to continue making Temple Beth Sholom Religious School the premiere Jewish educational opportunity in Brevard .
Warmest Regards,
David Pelzman
Principal