Source: ShalomLearning
ShalomLearning combines the best of traditional Jewish religious education with innovative online learning activities to make Hebrew school more engaging for students, more accessible for families, and more effective for synagogues.
ShalomLearning offers synagogue schools a flexible values based online curriculum for grades three to six.
As an outcome-oriented form of education, ShalomLearning is focused more on results than on a rigid number of classroom hours. The total time commitment will vary from student to student, but the school year is generally divided into 4-week units focused on specific concepts and values in Jewish education. Each month, students attend classroom sessions, participate in instructor-led online group discussions, engage in family chavurah activities, and log into ShalomLearning.com to complete independent online assignments. Instructors monitor their performance using their online tracking tools, and send email reminders and updates to students and parents to ensure that students keep pace with the program.
The ShalomLearning curriculum focuses on seven core Jewish values that infuse our traditions (both ancient and modern) with wisdom and meaning. Students think about the ways that these values inform their own lives, and how the stories and traditions can enrich their everyday lives.
The core ideals are:
- Teshuvah. Taking responsibility for your actions.
- B'Tzelem Elohim. Honoring the image of God in ourselves and others.
- Gevurah. Using one’s inner strength to do what's right.
- Achrayut. Doing what you can to make the world a better place.
- HaKarat HaTov. Seeking joy and being grateful.
- Koach HaDibbur. Understanding the power of words.
- Shalom. Helping to create a calmer, more peaceful world.
The values-based curriculum is “laddered” across grades 3-6, so students revisit the same values each year from a new, age-appropriate perspective. This incrementally deepens students’ knowledge and understanding of Jewish values, history, language and customs, laying the foundation for a strong Jewish identity.
The academic year is divided into seven 4-week units, each focused on a key value. Teachers serve as “guides on the side” empowering students through discovery and project-based learning.
Week 1: Enriching Group Activities, such as field trips and service projects
Week 2: Instructor-led Online Video Classroom with fellow students
Week 3: Self-directed Learning Projects
Week 4: Classroom Session
Synagogues can customize ShalomLearning to fit their educational goals, make Hebrew school more responsive to today's families, and extend the reach of their education programs to attract new members.