Jewish Homeschooling
Here you will find resources for Jewish parents who have chosen to educate their children at home, including support, information, and ideas for combining your faith and your children's education.
Homeschooling in the Jewish Home
Beit HaChatulim
This website is offered by a Jewish vegetarian homeschooling family. You'll enjoy reading about their experiences and how they combine their faith and homeschooling.
Fundamentals of Education
It must be clear at the outset that there are no sure-fire rules of education that apply to all children at all times. Reishis Chachmah quotes a Midrash that it is easier to raise a legion of olive trees in the Galilee, where the soil and climate are not conducive to growing olive trees, than to raise one child in the Land of Israel, even though Israel is conducive to proper education, since the atmosphere itself helps to imbue one with wisdom and holiness. Children are not objects to be fashioned at will, but rather human beings who have their own free will and can reject, if they so choose, even the best education. The most a parent can hope to achieve, as Chiddushei HaRim points out regarding all learning, is to put the words of Torah on the heart of the child so that when the heart opens up, the Torah found on it will sink into the receptive heart.
Learning Torah Through Music
This article is written to address some of the questions that have arisen regarding homeschooling the younger Jewish children around pre-K and K. There are so many good quality reading materials that are colorful and inviting read-alouds for parents to their young children.
Home Schooling: Instilling Jewish Family values
Looking for an alternative to overcrowded classrooms, dwindling per-student funding, metal detectors and mediocre curricula--not to mention social pressures, conflicting values and prohibitive private school costs--a growing number of parents are opting out of the American education system. They're taking the biblical imperative more literally than ever and educating their children at home. Once the bastion of fundamentalist Christians, home schooling is attracting a growing number of Jews.
Benefits of Homeschooling
This article addresses some of the reasons why homeschooling is good for a Jewish family in the 21st century.
The Difference Between Jewish Education (Chinuch) and Education That is Jewish
This article written by a Torah psychologist reflects how much Jewish parents need to know in order to differentiate between a Jewish education and an education that is Jewish.
How to Educate Your Young
The striking contrast in the grandchildren of Abraham may not have been due to a difference in their temperaments, but to mistakes that were made in their upbringing.
Jewish Home-Schooling
This articles details many of the reasons Jewish families choose to educated their children at home, including being able to teach the Torah in the context of daily life, for religious reasons, and concerns over the academic and social quality of schools.
Home Is Where The Lesson Plan Is
With liberalized state laws across the country, a growing number of Jewish families, including many in urban centers like New York City, have turned in the last decade to homeschooling, a movement usually associated with rural, fundamentalist Christians. No official statistics on the number of Jewish homeschoolers are available, but the figure is surely in the “thousands,” including a many religiously observant families--young Lubavitch couples serving as emissaries in isolated areas were homeschool pioneers--and a rising percentage of non-Orthodox households.
Kosher Homeschool
Kosherhomeschool.org is devoted to providing information and networking to Jewish homeschooling families worldwide. At kosherhomeschool.org, they hope to address the special needs of Jewish homeschoolers as they strive to provide a superior education in Judaic Studies (l'mudei kodesh) as well as Secular studies (l'mudei chol).
Support for Jewish Homeschoolers
Kosher Homeschool
Kosherhomeschool.org is devoted to providing information and networking to Jewish homeschooling families worldwide. At kosherhomeschool.org, they hope to address the special needs of Jewish homeschoolers as they strive to provide a superior education in Judaic Studies (l'mudei kodesh) as well as Secular studies (l'mudei chol).
Chevra
Chevra was formed in September 1998 as an online support community for Jewish homeschoolers of all varieties. It tends to be a very chatty place where they discuss Jewish observance, homeschooling, family life, outside interests, and (the favorite topic) why the laundry never seems to get done. If you are looking for a group that discusses only homeschooling and Judaic resources, you may very well be disappointed in Chevra's free-wheeling discussions of everything under the sun, but there is lots of great information here.
Jewish & Torah Observers Sonlight
This is an international forum for Jewish and Torah-observing homeschoolers/home educators using Sonlight curriculum, or other literature-based curricula or methods. For support, encouragement and discussion about Sonlight curriculum, literature selections and with specific reference to Jewish education, calendar and life-cycle, etc.
Sonlight Users' Messianic Forum
This group is for Sonlight curriculum-users who are actively homeschooling/ home-educating from a Jewish or Messianic perspective, and those who are interested in learning more about Messianic Judaism, and how it relates to parenting and specifically to home-educating their children.
Jewish Waldorf
This group offers a discussion of issues facing Jews who choose Waldorf education, the potentials and difficulties of combining Waldorf with Judaism, ideas for celebrating holidays and festivals, information on traditional crafts, etc. All levels of Jewish observance are welcome, as are all levels of experience with Waldorf education, Anthroposophy, Steiner, etc. Homeschoolers, Waldorf schoolers, Jewish Day schoolers, public schoolers, and all others are invited to join the discussion.
Jewish Home Educator's Network (JHEN) Newsletter
JHEN connects you to Jewish homeschoolers throughout the country and world-wide. It is a quarterly newsletter filled with thought-provoking articles, letters from readers that provide open dialogue on a wide range of interesting topics, mouth-watering recipes, creative holiday and craft ideas, stimulating book reviews, a Jewish calendar chock-full of information and original ideas, help columns with practical how-to advice on homeschooling. It is the only place you'll find the columns "Homeschool Hannah" and "Aunt Rachel's Bookshelf".
Jewish Homeschoolers
The focus of this list will be to provide homeschooling support and resources to Jewish homeschoolers of all levels of observance. Topics include curriculum choices, teaching tips, and holiday observances.
Jewish Sonlight Users
For Jews (or those becoming Jewish) who are using Sonlight (or any other literature based method) and adding in Jewish resources. This group welcomes all Jewish people of faith, (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, etc.) This group is open for discussion of anything relating to Jewish homeschooling, raising nice Jewish children, adapting Sonlight to a Jewish perspective, etc.
San Diego Jewish Homeschoolers
The San Diego Jewish Homeschoolers Group in sunny California provides a strong growing network of homeschooling support and resources for Jewish homeschoolers in or around the San Diego area. They welcome all levels of Jewish observance and all levels of teaching philosophy (structured, relaxed, classical, etc.).
Jewish Homeschool Curriculum and Resources
Zig Zag World
Zig Zag World features Hebrew games and activities.
Worksheets For Jewish Learning
This is a collection of printable worksheets designed for teaching young Jewish children.
KTAV Publishing House
For over 75 years KTAV Publishing House has been a trusted name in quality Judaica, offering a large variety of Jewish educational and scholarly books, gifts, and resources.
TES Educational Jewish Software
TES is the world's largest developer and distributor of Judaic, Hebrew and Bible educational software. To date TES has developed over 120 educational titles.
Jewish Source
The purpose of this list is to sell or trade used Jewish books, games and music, cookbooks, holiday guides, textbooks and Yiddish or Hebrew books for homeschoolers interested in learning or sharing books which are explicitly Jewish in nature.
Torah Aura Productions
Torah Aura Productions offers educational materials for Jewish schools and families. Started in 1981, Torah Aura Productions is one of the world's most innovative creators of educational Judaica.
Akhlah: The Jewish Children's Learning Network
Akhlah, the Jewish children's learning network, is an important resource created to provide Jewish children and their families access to the prayers, stories and rituals that have bound Jews together around the world and through the ages. Akhlah is specifically designed for the youngest and least knowledgeable among us, while maintaining scrupulous attention to the details of the subject matter.
L'Shon Hatorah Learning Program
The L'shon Hatorah series is designed to aid in the teaching of the fundamentals of Hebrew Grammar and basic vocabulary. The goal of these workbooks is for the student to develop the requisite skills necessary to be able to translate with accuracy and fluency.
Torah Tots
Torah Tots products combine the zaniness of their Mitzvah characters with educational fun. You'll find cassettes, audio CDs, videos, and interactive CDs.
Chinuch.org
Chinuch.org is designed to enable Torah educators to share quality educational ideas and materials. Access to the best resources and inspiration from hundreds of mechanchim and mechanchos worldwide enhances the quality of chinuch everywhere.
Featured Resources
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Homeschooling Essentials: A Practical Guide to Getting Started
If you're ready to begin homeschooling, then the experiences of others can offer valuable help and encouragement as you jump into this new adventure. This practical guide answers common questions, helps you navigate the legalities of homeschooling, talks about the practical side of homeschooling and different methods, offers resources and gives advice about high school.
Choosing & Using Curriculum: For Your Special Child
Homeschooling a child with special needs can be challenging. This book lays out a discussion of different reading and math programs, how to adapt materials for special situations, resources for blind, deaf and speech/language, and curriculum types and styles. It will help you find the resource you need to make your homeschooling successful.
Pass Your California DMV Test Guaranteed! 50 Real Test Questions! California DMV Handbook
This book contains the 50 most common questions and answers to the California DMV Written Test. Written by a former DMV classroom instructor and test creator, this straight forward book tells you the most likely questions and answers that will appear on you exam. Typically, at least 70-80% of the questions you encounter will come from these high frequency questions. Pass your test today!
Basic Montessori: Learning Activities for Under-Fives
For the first time, Basic Montessori opens the celebrated philosophy and method to a more general public. David Gettman has devised a clear and modern explanation of Montessori's revolutionary ideas about early intellectual development, and provides a step-by-step guide to the Montessori learning activities most commonly used with under-fives. These include activities for introducing reading and writing, counting and decimal concepts, science, and geography, as well as activities that help dev...
Considering God's Creation
Life science truly comes alive with this 270-page lap-book style notebook for 2nd-7th graders. A Charlotte Mason type discovery approach is easily implemented with creative activities, music and topical Bible studies, making this program a perfect choice for a homeschool family or a classroom. It may be used as a stand-alone science course or as an invaluable supplemental resource for any other program.