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Curriculum

Kindergarten

In our hands on, music filled, drama enriched, and art focused kindergarten class, our youngest learners are sure to find Jewish life exciting and engaging.  In class, students are invited not only to learn about, but also to experience Jewish holidays, Bible stories, and Shabbat.

First Grade

Our students continue to delight in the joys of Jewish holidays, rituals, and Bible stories.  The year is also filled with a number of legacy projects.  Students and parents will make keepsake Shabbat candlesticks, participate in a canned food drive for Second Harvest, and create gift baskets for the Ronald McDonald House. Families also participate in a Jewish book exchange program.

Second Grade

Our students are invited to explore all aspects of their synagogue.  Highlights of the year include a visit and “Chat with the Rabbi” in Rabbi Cohen’s office, a tour of the sanctuary, a temple-wide scavenger hunt, and chances to get to know TBS community leaders.  Second graders participate in fun-filled holiday celebrations, continue their study of Bible stories, and serve as buddies to our kindergarteners and first graders.

Third Grade

Our students begin the year by exploring Genesis.  We make our foundational text come alive through drama, art, and kinesthetic activities.  In small learning communities, students are encouraged to ask questions and uncover new answers.  Their conversations will continue into the second semester as the students engage in “God Talk.”  Each session is based on a different fundamental question, beginning with “Why don’t we see or hear God today like they did in the Bible?”

Fourth Grade

Our students jump back into their Torah exploration in “Exodus and Homeland.”  In this wildly creative curriculum, students feel themselves a part of the Exodus story and experience the joys and disappointments of life in the Land of Milk and Honey.  In the second semester, students will fast forward in history to modern life in Israel.  Together, they will explore Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel, through our deeply experiential Israel curriculum.

Fifth Grade

Our students will come to know the Biblical Prophets Isaiah, Amos, and Jeremiah as good friends by the end of the first semester.  Together, they will explore not only what these prophets thought about God, justice, community, and the future, they will also consider what they think about all these ideas as well.  Our Prophets curriculum is filled with innovative skits (including costumes!), advanced art projects, debates, trials, and even a “For Prophet Justice Fair.”  In the second semester, students will jump into “MTV: Mitzvah Torah Values,” as they explore the values and rituals we hold dear to our lives. 

Sixth Grade

In “Writings and Beyond,” our students will get to know the biblical characters Ruth, Esther, Jonah, Daniel, and more.  Highlights of the year include a bibliodrama and large-scale scavenger hunt.  Together, students will rediscover many of our Jewish holidays through text.  In the second semester, students will be invited into our “TBS Time Machine,” as they travel through Jewish space and time, visiting Jewish communities from antiquity to the present, in diverse places around the globe. 

Seventh Grade

Students meet with Rabbi Cohen for B’nei Mitzvah Class either on Shabbat (Saturday) or Sunday mornings throughout the first semester of their seventh grade year (see Schedule and Calendar for details).  Together, they explore what it means to be a Jewish adult, tackling issues from keeping kosher to observing Shabbat. The B’nei Mitzvah class is enhanced by a series of family programs and a special TBS seventh grade retreat.  Additionally, students take part in our TBS Teen Night, Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., in a program called ATID (Future). Students participate in a B'nei Mitzvah Hebrew Class, taught by our Cantorial Soloist Mark Thompson, and select from a variety of elective classes, including Conversational Hebrew, Guitar & Jewish Song Leading, Current Events, Cooking, Drama & Video, Art, and more.

Eighth Grade

In eighth grade, students continue their participation in our TBS Teen Night, Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., in a program called ATID (Future).  Students choose from a variety of core and elective classes, including Leadership Training, Sacred Choices, Conversational Hebrew, Current Events, Cooking, Holocaust Studies, Drama & Video, Guitar & Jewish Song Leading, Art, and more.

Ninth Grade

TBS students join ninth graders from all over Orange County and Long Beach in the TALIT Ninth Grade Program, a community-wide program sponsored by the Bureau of Jewish Education. TALIT Ninth Grade includes twelve Sunday afternoon programs and five weekend retreats throughout the year.  Together, students grapple with pressing issues of Jewish identity and choice, engaging in topics from relationships to beliefs.  For more information, visit the Bureau of Jewish Education website.

Tenth Grade

In Confirmation, students return to our TBS Teen Night, Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.  Confirmation students have an opportunity to reflect on their own Jewish identities and confirm their commitment to Jewish life.  Along with the Confirmation class, which is taught by Rabbis Heidi Cohen and Jocee Hudson, students participate in a TBS Confirmation camping trip and lead the congregation in a Confirmation ceremony.  Throughout the year, students will wrestle with foundational questions, such as: What is Reform Judaism?  Who or what is God?  What is the Hebrew Bible supposed to teach me?  How can I live an ethical life? Why and how do we pray? How can I affect change in the world?

Eleventh and Twelfth Grades

Post-Confirmation students gather together during the first hour of TBS Teen Night, Tuesdays 7:30 – 8:30 p.m., with members of our senior staff.  Together, they explore current issues through a Jewish lens.  In this informal setting, students are encouraged to raise questions and bring up issues for discussion.  Each year, students are invited to participate either in a class trip to Washington D.C., during which they engage in advocacy work at the Religious Action Center, or on a class trip to New York City, during which they explore the city, learn about New York’s history, and experience contemporary Jewish life.