The goals of the religious school are oriented to both the family and the student.
We want our students to…
Think Jewishly: to possess a Jewish imagination filled with Jewish stories, songs, expressions, customs and cultural idiosyncrasies
See how we strive to reach this goal:
Children in preschool through first or second grade hear stories every Sunday. Our library
has recently been updated to include fabulous new books that are captivating, informative,
and entertaining. We encourage families to check books out of the library, occasionally
with incentives, such as the 2007 summer reading challenge. This year, the K/1 class will
participate in “Sefer Safari,” a program where the families will explore a different library
book each week.
When children study prayers, they also read and discuss stories that illustrate the theme or
history of the prayer.
Bible stories and stories about later sages and rabbis are a central part of the curriculum.
Traditional Jewish songs, old favorites, and modern Jewish music are included in the
curriculum.
Teachers incorporate appropriate songs into their teaching of holidays, and other subjects
like Bible stories and mitzvot.
Our students participate and benefit from visits with congregants and guests with special
skills. Our students have enjoyed Israeli dancing and composed an original prayer with a
visiting cantor.
Our families are encouraged to take advantage of local performances by Jewish music
groups and dramatic performances.
Students learn that we express our Jewish values in the way we live our lives. Topics such
as mitzvot demonstrate how we express our Jewish values through our actions to help others
and our world.
Jewish customs and cultural idiosyncrasies are taught both actively and passively. Customs
relating to tefillah (prayer), Torah study, and holiday customs and rituals are taught both
on an intellectual level and through hands-on experiential learning.
We want our students to…
Be Jewishly Literate: to know how to pick up a siddur (prayerbook) and daven (pray), or pick up a Chumash (Torah text) and learn
See how we strive to reach this goal:
At KIRS, students participate in tefillot (prayer services) each Sunday. Sometimes this
period is used to model an abbreviated service, involving some discussion but focusing on
the flow of a service. Other times, this period is used to focus on a particular prayer and to
delve deep into its meaning (kavanah) and allow students to compose their own prayers (in
English) that might express their own thoughts on the same theme.
Students learn the Reconstructionist versions of the prayers and when appropriate, discuss
why changes were made from traditional versions. Discussions involve the traditional
concept of chosenness and the Reconstructionist value of inclusiveness and service to God
and others. Examples of these prayers include the Friday evening Kiddush, the Amidah,
and the Torah and Haftarah blessings.
In class, students learn to chant many of the prayers and blessings that are a part of the
Friday night home Shabbat rituals and the Friday night and Saturday morning services.
They also learn to translate key Hebrew words from the prayers. And students focus on the
intent (kavanah) of each prayer that they study.
Approximately once per month, religious school meets on Shabbat so that students can
participate in services in an authentic yet child-friendly service.
At times, our students compose original prayers in keeping with the kavanah of a traditional
prayer they are studying. They have also composed a traditional prayer with a visiting
cantor.
Students are introduced to Bible stories at a young age. As they get older, they are guided
to derive Jewish values from the stories. Eventually, they learn to wrestle with the text, to
personalize it and interpret it.
In the upper grades, students are introduced to post-biblical Jewish texts and interpreters.
This provides familiarity so that when the read biblical commentaries by people like Hillel,
Akiva, Rashi or Rambam, they will know who those people were and what they contributed
to Judaism.
We want our students to…
Be Jewishly Active: to know how to perform synagogue, home and community rituals, and to participate in synagogue and Jewish communal life
See how we strive to reach this goal:
Jewish rituals are taught both actively and passively. Rituals relating to tefillah (prayer),
and holidays are taught both on an intellectual level and through hands-on experiential
learning.
Students learn to chant the prayers both by participating in tefillot (prayer services) each
Sunday, attending Shabbat school programming, and by studying prayers during class time.
Students learn the Reconstructionist versions of the prayers and when appropriate, discuss
why changes were made from traditional versions. Discussions involve the traditional
concept of chosenness and the Reconstructionist value of inclusiveness and service to God
and others. Examples of these prayers include the Friday evening Kiddush, the Amidah,
and the Torah and Haftarah blessings.
The school sponsors family programs that focus on a variety of topics including synagogue,
home, and community rituals. For example, we’ve had programs focusing on Rosh
Hashanah, Sukkot, Tu B’Shevat, Jewish lifecycle events, and more.
The school encourages its families to attend KI events such as our annual Chanukah party,
the Megillah reading and Purim Spiel, as well as Jewish community events outside KI such
as the celebration for Israel’s 60th anniversary.
We want our students to…
Live Ethically: to live according to Jewish values and ethics, committing themselves to tzedakah (justice
and righteousness), tikkun olam (repairing the world), and gemilut hasadim (acts of lovingkindness)
See how we strive to reach this goal:
Students learn that we express our Jewish values in the way we live our lives. Topics such
as mitzvot and gemilut hasidim demonstrate how we express our Jewish
values through our actions. The children learn how to take care of other people, and the
world around us.
Students are guided to derive Jewish values from the Bible stories they encounter. They
learn how to personalize those values and explore ways they can and do exemplify and live
these values.
Students are taught Jewish values by studying the lives and the ideas of Jewish thinkers
throughout the ages, from the ancient rabbis of the Talmud, medieval teachers Rashi and
Maimonides, to modern leaders like Abraham Joshua Heschel and Mordecai Kaplan.
Parent volunteers model commitment to Jewish learning and living Jewish lives by teaching
in the school.
Children create art projects that help raise money for tzedakah, participate in the
beautification of the KI grounds with the Tikun Olam Committee, make get-well cards for
congregants who are ill, and learn about and sometimes visit organizations in the
community that exist to help those in need.
OUR VISION
Our school seeks to nurture and develop our children's Jewish identity through the study
and celebration of Jewish history, holidays, prayer, culture, values, and language.
Over the years in religious school, students develop an ever-deepening connection to these
elements of Jewish identity. Upon reaching the age of b'nei mitzvah, students have
gained the knowledge needed and have had experiences to enable them to claim Jewish
identity as their own.
Our school believes that teaching children to think critically using multiple perspectives
(pluralism of ideas) enables them to appreciate and respect a wide range of points of view
on both Jewish and general issues as they grow into adulthood. Our school is committed to
the teaching of critical thinking skills and the appreciation of multiple perspectives.
Our classes reflect the diverse composition of the membership of KI. Our students
perspectives about God, Torah, Israel and other topics are greatly varied. Students learn to
share their ideas, listen to others, and contemplate the miriad of perspectives within the
Jewish spectrum of belief.
Teachers communicate with parents to share what’s happening in the classroom and to
provide parents the opportunity to share their thoughts about the subjects being explored at
school with their own children.
Our school values the diversity and differences within our school, our congregation, the
Lansing Jewish community, and the broader world. Hence, our school provides a Jewish
education that is integrally connected to the congregation and the broader community,
enhancing the child’s sense of both personal and Jewish identity.
KIRS Family programs, KI and community classes, programs, and special events are
opportunities for all families to learn together, celebrate together,and share perspectives
and ideas. Our students come from traditional and non-traditional families, homes with
born-Jews, Jews by choice, and non-Jews. Our students are enriched by the opportunity to
interact with and learn from the diverse backgrounds each brings to our school.
Our school seeks to foster lifelong learning for students, parents, and families. Parent and
other adult participation in our school as avocational teachers, volunteers, mentors, and
through family programming provides opportunities for adults to share knowledge and
perspective with students and other families and to also engage in adult and family learning.
Through family programming and adult learning opportunities, parents become
empowered to realize their own strengths and skills as educators, while serving as inspiring
role models for our children.
Parents volunteer to be classroom teachers, read library books to children, to teach “Heart
Art” and drama.
Congregants have taught our students Israeli dancing, trope, Torah, and more.
Parents demonstrate commitment to Jewish learning by participating in family programs
and exploring the topics with their children.
Our school seeks to be an integral component of the Jewish community for our families and
congregation, encouraging connection between Jewish learning in the home and the
learning that occurs within our school. Our school believes that a connection between
school, home, and the broader Jewish community is critical to the success in meeting our
school’s goals.
Teachers communicate with parents to share what’s happening in the classroom and to
provide parents the opportunity to share their thoughts about the subjects being explored at
school with their own children.
The school and the synagogue offer many opportunities for families to be involved, to learn,
and to celebrate together.
The school sends home weekly notices, many of which report on school happenings,
announce upcoming events, and make suggestions for things families can do at home.
The school director is always happy to help parents find resources to help explore their own
interests more in-depth or to help reinforce their children’s classroom learning at home.
GOALS
