Religious School
Learning Center
To open the door of Jewish / Hebrew Education to all students with different learning styles and learning needs Temple Beth Shalom Religious School has developed a Learning Center, Merkaz Limud, to provide the most effective learning experience which best suits the individual needs of our students. At the center, instructional services are provided based on the particular needs of each child in the area of Hebrew language studies. These ways may include: Flash Cards, Games, Pictures, Listening Centers, Recordings and Computers.
Children are selected for the Learning Center Program through teacher recommendation, achievement tests and parent requests. Children’s progress is closely monitored.
The goals of the Learning Center are:
- To provide a learning environment that will make every “exceptional” child proud of him / herself, his/her accomplishments and his/her place as a Jewish member of society.
- To incorporates the child who has learning, behavioral or emotional disabilities into the Religious School; while mainstreaming him/her as a student who attends regularly scheduled classes, is involved in weekly worship services and partakes in school projects.
- To create a positive, Jewish, learning experience for children with special needs.
- To teach Hebrew letter recognition and words as well as instruction in the prayer book, correlated with customs and ceremonies.
- To stimulate a sense of community and responsibility toward fellow Jews in all parts of the world, with a deep concern for the State of Israel and its people.
It was a great pleasure to integrate a Gifted Talented Enrichment Program into our Learning Center curriculum in 2001. The goal of the program is to reinforce the themes in the Torah portions of the week. Each student is encouraged to participate in this learning experience to broaden his/her bible knowledge.
The students will be given summaries of the portions of the week. “Brainstorming sessions” will occur in class to motivate the students. Planning with peers will enable them to decide on the following projects that will depict the theme of the chosen portion and will be shared with the school:
- Arts & Crafts Projects
- Dramatizations
- Creative writing journal – stories and poems
- Original project ideas
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