Family Reading Program 2012
Speak Volumes: A Jewish Values Based Family Reading Program
Introduction
Not long ago, Day School Principals, Religious School Educators, Jewish and secular librarians and their constituents, the parents and children who attended their schools and frequented their libraries, had only to participate in a CAJE conference, ask a colleague or call a reliable Jewish bookstore to find out about the latest “parent-child reading program” being offered by the Jewish community. The Boston Bureau of Jewish Education’s Parent Connection: A Jewish Reading Program for Parents and Children had a national following, and users of this program eagerly awaited any updates or additions. With the success of the Parent Connection, Tamar Raff, Educator at Valley Beth Shalom Day School in Encino, CA developed Sitting Together and Reading (S.T.A.R.) – A Family Bedtime Reading Program. Seeing an unfilled niche for older readers, Marci Wiseman at the Pearlstone Coalition for Jewish Family Education in Baltimore, MD, developed Sulam Salon: Family Book Talk for Teens. Each of these programs not only recommended excellent books read and “vetted” by outstanding educators, but also included valuable information with the books for the parent/guardian to use with their child after reading together. Sadly, these three programs are no longer available. Currently, the only existing parent-child reading program, the PJ Library, targets mostly preschool children and their families.
All of these programs from the Parent Connection to the PJ Library put their emphasis on books with predominantly Jewish themes: Jewish holidays, Jewish folktales, Israel, the Jewish immigrant experience, the Holocaust, etc. Books are chosen for their Jewish content and their ability to present the theme of the month, usually a holiday, in as Jewish a way as possible. This typically means everyone in the pictured family gathered happily around a table, men wearing kippot, women dressed appropriately while the proper traditions are performed. Often the settings depict families in shtetls, using Yiddish terms to tell stories or celebrate holidays. Truthfully, these books do not reflect the reality of many of today’s families. Nor do they connect readers with Jewish values in a way that will cement them to stories or characters that will live in their imaginations, thereby insuring access to an internal moral encyclopedia from which to retrieve information to deal with life situations in Jewishly ethical ways. Finally, readers in second grade and beyond are completely left out of the one national reading program still available.
Speak Volumes addresses these oversights by putting together lists of outstanding Jewish books and secular books with Jewish values content for ages Kindergarten through High School into a reading program that is not only engaging and educational, but meets today’s families where they are. Each month a selection of books is provided that addresses a particular Jewish value. The books for that month, whether Jewish or secular will have content that strongly reflects that month’s Jewish value. Along with the booklist, a companion curriculum is also available with questions and activities for parents/guardians and their children to engage in together after reading the book. The list and the curriculum are currently available monthly at forwordsbooks.com.
Speak Volumes: A Jewish Values Based Family Reading Program
Current available book lists and curricula 2011-12
for copies of any of the curriculum sheets with discussion questions and activities,
please contact kathyb(at)forwordsbooks(dot)com
Remember the Days…Zachor/Remembrance — May/Iyar Curriculum
