When
I was growing up in the '60s, our afternoon Hebrew School, in an effort to
mimic the public schools, invited parents to parent-teacher conferences. We
kids didn't take these afternoon events very seriously -- most of us felt that
Hebrew school wasn't "real" school. Judging by the turnout at these
conferences, most of the parents felt the same way (although my parents, to my
chagrin, were always the first to arrive).
Over
the years, complementary afternoon schools have experimented with a variety of
techniques which are aimed at encouraging parents to become more involved with
their children's Jewish learning. Parents are invited in to join school lessons
and other experiential educational activities including Shabbat and holiday
services, school performances and evening get-togethers. Synagogue and Temple
educators place a great deal of emphasis on the importance of involving the
families of their students in the curriculum and atmosphere of the school.
Based
on the comments of many Jewish educators, these efforts are producing mixed
results. Parents are often overwhelmed by their other home and work
responsibilities, and find it difficult to participate in their children's
complementary school activities. As a result, the parents aren't able to
follow-up on their children's Hebrew school curriculum which creates an
unfortunate disconnect that Jewish educators would like to address.
Temple
Emanuel in Pascack Valley, NJ is working with JETS Israel on a unique project
of online education. Among the goals of the program, JETS and Temple Emanuel
educational staff want to encourage a higher degree of parental involvement in
their children's Hebrew school experience and an increased understanding of
what their children are learning.
The
project, entitled The Holocaust: Remembering and Rebuilding, provides an
overview of the Holocaust and the Rebirth of the State of Israel for the
Temple's Bar and Bat Mitzva class. Students meet online over the course of
three months to gain a deeper understanding of the Shoah and the establishment
of the State of Israel, and how they impacted -- and continues to impact -- the
Jewish World.
All
of the lessons are conducted online to enable students to sign in from their
home and participate virtually. The dynamic lessons move from audio and video
clips to selected readings to textual study -- with multiple interactive
assignments and activities interspersed among the various presentations.
Students create shared documents, online bulletin boards, social posters and
collaborative presentations that summarize each week's lesson.
The
elearning aspect of the lesson also addresses parental involvement. Parents are
invited to participate with their children or, if they prefer, watch a video
cast of the session after the lesson to access the material and monitor their
own child's participation and progress.
A
recent mid-semester questionnaire was presented to both parents and students.
The reflections indicated that, not only were the students engaged in the
class, but the parents were also knowledgeable about their children's Hebrew
school activities and involved in the curriculum. While the parents suggested that a more
community atmosphere is created when the class takes place at the Temple
itself, they were enthusiastic about the program and indicated that they would
like to see it continue -- perhaps partially at home and partially at the
Hebrew School. These comments can now be taken into account when planning
future elearning projects.
The
following are some of the feedback from students and parents:
A. Kids Speak
Parents Speak:
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