About ME

It is a blessing for me to have you come and visit my website. I made this for you!

I came about homeschooling to escape chaos.  Keeping my children home all day actually calmed my life down.  It eased up majority of the battles. I realised I had been lying to myself whenever I said, “I can’t possibly be home with my children all day.”  

With homeschooling came a lot of freedom.  So much freedom that I kept being attracted to the all of the shiny and new things, but they always were centered on the non-Jewish way of being.  

I found a huge lacking in Jewish Homeschooling resources and wished someone would do something about it…then I realised that I had to do something about it. 

So it’s now my mission to “Judefy” the secular. Meaning elevate the sparks, find the things that work and make them kosher – ‘attach your hescher here.’

So with the class of Charlotte Mason, a wash of Waldorf, some measure of Montessori, the use of Unit Studies, you will be able to be guided in covering the needs of a Jewish Homeschool. 

It does not matter if you traditional school. un-school. world school, or de-school, or like me – eclectic school.  The children all need to know what it means to be a Jew.  The way they obtain the information is up for your interpretation. 

That is why this website is all Leadership Education.  What is Leadership Education??? They’ll be a page and series explaining all of that. 

For now this website is growing.  Growing and growing.  

So how do you use this website???  

That is for you to decide. 

Where do you start?? 

Also for you to decide. 

What do I recommend – buy Eliyahu Kitov’s book set “Our Heritage” and “Round and Round the Jewish Year” and use them as your “spine” – follow the topics page by page. 

You can’t acquire them? 

I have sourced a variety of webpages full of information from different places to supplement, or replace, the books. But books are always best.  Get the kids off the screen as much as possible.  Books are tangible and should always be on hand for children to read! I have over 2000 books in my home and we still need more. Borrow from the library, and ask friends if you can borrow their books.  You don’t have to use the books I listed either.  These are just the ones I know are amazing and are classics.

How To Teach? 

I know that I can not cover every single subject in depth every year. Also, you wouldn’t teach a 5 year old the same way you would a 15 year old. 

Every year we touch on every topic a little bit so that they get a sense of what is occurring in the month.
Then I find out what interests my child the most and lead off from there. 

For older children we may cover delve into a topic intensely. Learn the meaning of the tefillot, listing to the different nusachs, studying the text inside the book.
For younger children we could focus on zoology and biology, with a major in arts and crafts.
But I find even my older children need to connect with tactile learning. 
We do timelines, geography, history, language arts, and even math just through Torah.

By learning in different styles – visual, auditory, tactile, you can gain a deeper connection to the material. 

I have my child copy out some of the interesting facts they have learnt. 
I play the songs surrounding the time of year in the car, and when we’re cleaning the home.  I will then find my more musical child singing even when the songs aren’t playing. 
My artists I will focus on drawing what they have learnt. We will attempt to recreate the art listed below. 
My readers – read and read, and read, and read. 

There is no ‘right way’ to learn.  Every child learns in their own way.  The point is to instill a Love of Learning.  To instill a love of their connection to Hashem, Torah, and Mitzvot.  

I have combined resources that will help a child bond through art, songs, and reading books. You will be able to cover the themes of the month of the year, minhagim of various Jews, the month in the Torah and events in History, and then a variety of crafts for you all to do.  There are resources for young children, youth, and for parents.  

I hope this eclectic amalgamation of resources will help you this year. How you use the information below is up to you.  Every child learns in their own ways, and every child should have the opportunity to show what they have learnt in their own way as well.  

I hope in the future to grow this list and create even more resources for you all.

Only Brochot for a beautiful year ahead,

Esther Malkah Barak