Hebrew Curriculum

Shalom,

Ahhhh so I finally decide to purchase a Hebrew curriculum. I tried to pool together resources but it just wasn't working. I'm going to share with you what we are using and how we are using it. I also have an using manipulatives as well which will be discussed in an upcoming post.

We chose Hebrew because it was what we knew to be our original language. We absolutely love Hebrew and my children have an enthusiasm for reading Hebrew that they didn't have for English. I had the grand idea of being able to learn, plan, and teach using resources from here and there I found on the web. Two reasons what that didn't work #1 I didn't know Hebrew and I can't teach what I don't know. It's an extreme hassle trying to learn something and teach it at the same time.  #2 I just don't have the time to pull together, weed out, and try to learn before I actually teach them. Thankfully I have the good sense to at least buy a workbook.

We are using a nice curriculum from Berhman House called Shalom Uvrachah: The New Hebrew Primer (pictured above). I really really love this curriculum because it builds upon letter and vowel combinations (I am a strong supporter of phonetical learning). It also give lots of reading practice. It does not present with five practice lines and then move on. Also we have a Hebrew alphabet coloring book from Chaya Burstein which is neat and simple.  
*A quick note is that if you are not familiar with the Hebrew alefbet and sounds then you should start with Shalom alef bet: A Pre primer for Shalom Uvrachah.

The curriculum is set up into twenty six lessons.  Each lesson introduces about 1-3 letters and a vowel. The lesson starts with a brief introduction and 3 one syllable practice lines.

There are reading practice pages and activity pages throughout the lesson. the lesson last about 6-8 pages.  Some of the words are not actual Hebrew words but letter/vowel combinations to help with learning blending. We use the coloring book pages to reinforce letter learning.

One thing it falters with is adequate handwriting practice which for us is needed. For now I make extra copies of the handwriting pages for practice.  We are starting with block letters which is the easiest to learn, then we will move on to script. Most Hebrew writing that is typed is similar to block font. I realized that we had learned quite a bit from my mix & match days so we move pretty quickly through the lessons. Right now we are doing two per week but that may change soon. For independent work they complete about 2 pages.

So yeah that's what we are doing for Hebrew. Lookout for my post on homemade Hebrew flashcards and Hebrew Bananagrams!

Shalom everybody, have a productive day!

T. Henderson