The Henry Lindenbaum Lower School
— Grades 1-5

Dina Bray, Lower School Head
Phone: 212-595-7087, ext. 12219

Rabbi Dov Lerea, Dean of Judaic Studies
Phone: 212-595-7087, ext. 12230
 
Heschel’s innovative dual curriculum creatively integrates Jewish and general studies. Two full-time teachers in each class allow for small and large group instruction. A rigorous, experiential academic approach challenges each student’s innate curiosity and desire to learn. The Lower School program encompasses English and Hebrew Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science, T’fillah (prayer), Toda’ah Yehudit (Jewish Consciousness), Torah Sheb ‘al Peh (Rabbinic Tradition/Oral Torah) and Tanakh (Bible). Weaving together the worlds of Jewish and general studies, opportunities abound for interdisciplinary learning, allowing children and teachers to experience a holistic view of the world in which we live.

Academics
English Language Arts- The English Language Arts program emphasizes literature and writing. The writing process encourages students to think clearly and reflect critically. This approach, which begins in the earliest grades and becomes more sophisticated in the higher grades, emphasizes student authorship and participation in a continual process of revision and editing.

Formal reading instruction is introduced in the first grade through the "Reading Across the Grade" program in which all students are assigned to appropriate-level reading/writing groups, not necessarily in their home classroom, based on individual assessments (revised several times each year). Groups, which meet daily, are fluid and children move to higher levels as they are ready.

The "Writer’s Workshop" encourages children to perceive themselves as authors. Written work goes through drafts, revisions and editing, and ultimately, publication. Formal grammar instruction helps students learn writing conventions. Every phase of the writing process challenges the writer to think.
 
Mathematics- The Mathematics program in the Lower School is one that encompasses both traditional and investigative based math programs. The use of both programs optimizes the mathematical learning experience in approach and content. It is designed to develop sound arithmetic skills, strong problems solving ability and an interest and respect for the subject. The primary goal of the math program is to have math make sense from every perspective. The students are taught to see math as a meaningful tool in their lives. The program focuses on number sense though conceptual development of number, operations, and computation including estimation and mental math. Our math program builds understanding through connections to prior knowledge, math strands and the real world. It provides practice and offers assessment in a variety of ways.

In the early years, mathematics instruction is where children explore and develop concepts concretely, so that their understandings may develop flexibly. As the children progress through the grades, problem solving skills are essential and our program is designed to produce confident, mathematical thinkers who can fully utilize the basic skills of the earlier grades. Concepts covered in the Lower School include patterning, critical thinking, addition and subtraction concepts, multiplication and division, geometry, number and place value, money, time, measurement, fractions and computation. In grades 2-5 the above concepts are explored in greater depth and in grades 4 and 5 focus is placed on efficient problem solving methods and an emphasis on conventional algorithms. Through working with hands on materials, math journals, and collaborative learning, we hope to ensure that students will become mathematically literate.
 
Social Studies-The Social Studies program in the Lower School enhances children’s awareness of the world around them and helps them understand the geography, history, culture, structure and functioning of human societies around the world.

In the first grade, teachers integrate the social studies, science, tzedakah (charitable deeds) and holiday programs to help first graders meet the demands of an increasingly formal curriculum and to provide coherence to the experience. Faculty teach concepts designed to help children understand and expand their experience of the world and the Jewish community.

The second grade social studies theme, Communities: Leaders and Heroes, draws on the social studies, Judaic and language arts programs. Second graders study the characteristics of their own communities and, in so doing, understand the basic organization of and services provided by a community. They are encouraged to explore the characteristics that make people heroes and leaders. Children come to see themselves as potential leaders with the power to change their communities for the better.

The third grade concentrates on the study of cities, focusing on Jerusalem and New York. This interdisciplinary unit includes trips, text study, research and special projects. The year’s study provides familiarity with our own city and with Jerusalem as the real and ideal place in the history and heart of the Jewish people.

The major unit in fourth grade takes the children on journeys with the Explorers of the New World. In order for the children to understand the clash between the Indigenous People of America and the Explorers, we study their respective worlds before they met. The children investigate people’s needs to explore and expand their habitats. Through a variety of readings, activities, and projects, children have the opportunity to study in depth individual Explorers, their mandates, their journey and their results.

The fifth grade program is a chronological continuation of the learning done in fourth grade. The year begins with a unit on the first settlers, focusing on the English settlements and continues through the development on a new nation and the writing of the Constitution. In their study the children are exposed to the historical figures, policies and responses, historical documents, and the process of forming a new national government.

Science-Throughout the Lower School Science Program children experiment, attempt to solve problems and become scientists through direct experience and hands-on activities. They conduct extended investigations in which they practice using techniques of observation, making predictions and inferences, formulating hypotheses and recording their findings in journals. We integrate science into the classroom in the lower grades; laboratory work begins in second grade.

The science curriculum includes the study of fossils and dinosaurs, static and current electricity, water, chromatography and magnetism, space and brine shrimp. In all lab work, we emphasize respect for life and appreciation of the natural word, as well as curiosity, safety and resourcefulness.
 
Jewish Studies
Hebrew Language- The Heschel School uses a whole-language approach to Hebrew language acquisition. The three critical components of this approach are: lessons in grammar and composition, reading literature and creating a visual and auditory Hebrew language environment. Teachers create this whole-language environment in several ways. Children see, hear and speak Hebrew throughout their day to learn its grammatical structure and master its vocabulary. They study texts that capture the living soul of the Jewish people.

Toda’ah Yehudit(Jewish Consciousness)
Sacred texts are the repository of Jewish values. We lay the foundation for the study of sacred literature by text study in second grade. Students are introduced to the texts themselves beginning in third grade through the Toda’ah Yehudit program which involves experiences and text study that help the individual and the group develop a strong Jewish identity. Age-appropriate activities throughout the grades help children to develop their knowledge of Jewish ritual, holidays, culture and history.
 
Torah Sheb’al Peh(Rabbinic Tradition of Oral Torah)
By fifth grade, Torah Sheb’al Peh, the study of halakhahic (legal) texts enhances the Toda’ah Yehudit program. We present rabbinic texts to foster technical textual skill and critical thinking around the classic Jewish concerns of spiritual growth and development. The study of Torah Sheb’al Peh continues and expands in the Middle School.

T’fillah (Prayer)
At Heschel, we believe that prayer nourishes the individual’s spiritual life, fosters community and is a significant aspect of Jewish tradition. Prayer provides a language, context, and opportunity for the community to experience the sacred. Because praying can help an individual cultivate an awareness of the power and wonder hidden in mundane events, we seek to foster in our students a prayerful responsiveness and the ability to recognize and respond to the mystery in our experience.

T’fillah is the first classroom activity of the Lower School day. The service is geared to the level of understanding of the child. In successive grades, students expand their liturgical skills and gain technical mastery of prayer language and melody as new t’fillot are added to the service. By the time they complete fifth grade, children are ready to participate in the Middle School’s student-led services.
 
Tanakh (Bible)
Torah study begins in the first grade through the Parashat haShavua (portion of the week). Our goal is to create and sustain an intellectual curiosity for and love of Talmud Torah, the act of studying Torah text. The formal study of Torah begins in the third grade and expands over the years so that students are grounded in the basic skills and in the modes of thought necessary for the critical study of sacred texts. We encourage students to ask probing spiritual questions and to search for their answers.

The Arts
Art and music are key curricular components at Heschel and integral parts of both the Judaic and general studies programs. Art and music specialists work closely with classroom teachers to inform and enhance classroom activities.
 
Art
Heschel’s art program encourages children to express their ideas and feelings visually. The curriculum supports the stages of children’s artistic development.

Through exploration of materials, young children learn to organize, arrange and build shapes, and to use colors that become symbols of expression. These early art experiences under-lay increasingly complex subject matter.

Throughout the year, children explore a variety of materials and techniques, including paint, clay, collage, drawing and construction. We introduce new materials and techniques as skills develop. Our goal is to create an atmosphere where they feel free to express themselves and take risks. Museum trips and studies of artists’ work enhance the program.

Music
The Heschel School music program gives students the benefit of musical instruction at an important and impressionable time in their lives. We emphasize musical skills, achieving musical literacy and familiarity with a variety of musical forms, both secular and Judaic. We incorporate audio/visual technology, acoustic and electronic instruments, textbooks and song sheets, guest performers and class trips into the music program.

The formal music instruction program includes singing English and Hebrew songs, and engaging in tonal and rhythm activities. Students study music history, the music of different cultures, the instruments of the orchestra and the symphonic repertoire. Informal activities such as class or grade "sings" and learning songs connected to classroom themes abound.

Physical Education
The physical education curriculum is centered on a comprehensive program of health related fitness designed to engage students in both the physical and educational components of Physical Education, as well as to provide each individual with the means of recognizing and maximizing their own personal fitness level. The physical aspect of the program aims at imparting basic skills at age appropriate levels of ability, allowing the students to perform a variety of physical activities safely and successfully.

Educationally, the program aspires to both teach and inspire the students to take an active interest in their own health and well being. In so far as sports and game play are an integral part of the Physical Education curriculum, the teaching of and appreciation of sportsmanship and fair play is paramount.

Computers
Heschel students use computers as a learning tool within the overall curriculum. Heschel utilizes iMac computers with networking capabilities that allow classes to share resources. Computer activities introduce students to the fundamentals of the machine and enrich classroom studies.

Technology can add new dimensions to children’s learning and thinking. For example, in language arts, social studies and science, multimedia software programs enhance the writing process. Through databases, spreadsheets and graphics programs, students learn to organize and view information differently.