A Russian Language Education

Two of our teachers with Head of School Moshe Vaknin and some of our students.

At HAMC, we've launched a pilot program for first-generation Russian-American children who have a basic understanding of the Russian language. Classes are being taught by a native speaker, and the students will learn through songs, poems, storytelling, and arts and crafts. 

Our school sees the value in multilingualism, as Head of School Moshe Vaknin wrote in Bekesher and on the blog earlier this month, "multilingual people maintain longer cognitive life than monolinguals." He also cited Ellen Bialystok of York University in Toronto, Ontario, who said, "As the human body begins its natural decline in old age, bilinguals seem to maintain better cognitive function." 

But don't take our word for it, hear what some of our parents and grandparents have to say about our After-School Russian Language Immersion Program!

My daughter Marcia attends the Russian class at HAMC and greatly enjoys it. Even though Russian is spoken in our house (my parents and I emigrated from the former Soviet Union in 1992), Marcia's native language is English, the same as her daddy's who is an American (but whose grandparents came here from Eastern Europe over 100 years ago). 

Since starting her Russian class, Marcia has made great strides and is talking in phrases now, telling us about the kids in her class. The language is taught informally, through games and live interaction, with no pressure or grades. I am very happy that Marcia's world is now enriched through her access to yet another culture. We are grateful to her teachers, especially Julia Benz who volunteered to create this program from scratch, and to the HAMC management who helped turn her - and our- dream into reality.

Helen Grau, whose daughter attends the program

The Russian Emersion Class in Hebrew Academy is a wonderful program for the young children who were born in this country, but have Russian speaking parents and grandparents. After only one semester, I see a noticeable difference in my son’s ability and willingness to speak Russian at home, and also to his grandmother, who he calls daily on the phone. 

Exposing and teaching young children to speak Russian, their native language, helps to bridge generational gap, and keep the cultural heritage alive.  

Yana Faynstein, whose son is in the program

(Translated from Russian) I am just delighted that HAMC offered this program. It is excellent and helped my grandson not only to continue mastering Russian, but also find new friends and learn in the nurturing, warm and caring environment. It helped bridge the language barrier and now we can communicate much better. Big kudos to the school for pioneering the Russian programs! I highly recommend it. Being fluent in different languages will help children tremendously in the future. 

Valentina Alekseevna, whose grandchild attends the program 

Students wrote a note on International Women's Day, March 8, for their moms.
It reads, "Mommy I love you," in Russian

My four year old daughter goes to the Russian enrichment class at Hebrew Academy (HAMC). She enjoys it very much. When I used to speak to her in Russian, she would answer me in English. Since she started attending the class though, her Russian vocabulary expanded and she is trying to insert some Russian words and even phrases in to her speech. It is obvious that she feels more comfortable, knowing that there are other children that speak Russian. Children in the group have fun learning language that most of their parents speak, as well as create a bond with each other.  

Cantor Inna Serebro-Litvak, Temple Beth Am of Parsippany, NJ

An Alumnus Awarded

Baruch Spinoza

From the Foundation for Jewish Culture ...

Congratulations to Daniel Schwartz of George Washington University, winner of the 2010 Sidney and Hadassah Musher Subvention Grant to support the publication of his forthcoming book, From Heretic to Hero: Spinoza in the Modern Jewish Imagination (Princeton University Press).

Dr. Schwartz also was a recipient of a Doctoral Dissertation fellowship in Jewish studies (2003-2004). And, we would like to add, Daniel is a Hebrew Academy of Morris County alumnus!

In making its recommendation, the FJC scholarship cited the importance and originality of Dr. Schwartz’s book, noting that it is likely to become one of the most important books published in Jewish studies in the past decade.

Furthermore, the committee writes:

Daniel Schwartz’s book is a path-breaking study of the multiple and important ways in which a great Jewish hero (or anti-hero) has been understood in modern Jewish culture. The figure at the heart of the study is Baruch Spinoza, the Dutch Jewish philosopher who was excommunicated from the Amsterdam Jewish community in 1656.

Schwartz presents an illuminating history of Spinoza’s remarkable afterlife in modern Jewish thought, literature, and culture. He traces Spinoza’s surprising and powerful presence in German-Jewish fiction, Zionist ideology, and Yiddish letters, among other sites. The result is a tour of many of the major centers of modern Jewish culture, seen through the prism of the appropriation and constant re-branding of a major, iconoclastic cultural creator.

Go Geography: Brazil!

This is the newest installment in our After-School Enrichment Class Go Geography! This trip has taken our students to Brazil and Peru! Did you see our posts on Russia and Canada?

During the Go Geography! program, our students take imaginary trips where -- during two classes on each country -- they learn from native speakers, participate in class discussions, art projects, and songs. We'll be spending time on weather, the landscape, interesting or unusual native animals, history, customs, music, and food.

Guest speaker Lorena Sperber, who grew up in South America, gave a great presentation covering the rain forest, animals, weather, ocean life, birds, and a little bit of history. Then, students were separated into two teams: Brazilian Turtles and Rain Forest Frogs, and each team was given a series of questions about Brazilian animals that they had to answer. In the end, there were two winners -- Turtles and Frogs tied, and everyone celebrated with animal cookies!

Our student travelers received fish stickers and a small homework assignment: We asked them to be prepared for the ice hockey discussion -- and possibly a game of hockey -- for the next class as they travel to Canada.

The Go Geography! experience will end with the students decorating a large stuffed toy with flags of the countries we visited in the class, and the toys will be presented as a gift to the Children's Hospital.

One Hundred Days of Learning!

The 100th day of school is always special for our students, and we celebrated in proper fashion! On Friday, our younger students decorated hats with 100 of something, including pennies, buttons, M&Ms, stickers, and other creative bobbles.

We hope the rest of the school year is just as celebration-worthy!

Celebrating with Cat in the Hat

In honor of Read Across America Day yesterday, HAMC students celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday by making striped hats and reading Dr. Seuss books.

Be sure to check out Seussville's Read Across America Day for fun Seuss activities!

HAMC and the Bilingual Benefit

This is a piece called "It's All About the Lingo" by Head of School Moshe Vaknin from our most recent "Bekesher." You can view the entire "Bekesher" online. 

I grew up in Tzfat, Israel, in a neighborhood full of immigrants, where speaking at least two languages was natural for everybody. In my building alone, there were families from at least eight different countries: Spain, Romania, South America, and more. There were also families from different Arab countries, each speaking a different dialect. On the streets, however, we all spoke Hebrew. But, as children we learned a variety of different words and phrases from our friends and their families in their native tongues. These words were made very real to us, as they often dealt with the family’s home country’s food, music, and more. We learned to respect and enjoy different cultures and traditions; it was a truly a melting pot of Jews from all over the world. It was a great experience growing up in a multi-lingual and multi-cultural environment.

Again and again, research shows that being exposed to and learning more than one language tremendously benefits the development of a child’s brain-age. In their annual meeting in Washington, D.C., the American Association for the Advancement of Science presented research supporting this notion. Judith Kroll, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, stated, “Bilinguals are also better than monolinguals at multitasking. Juggling their languages helps bilinguals ignore irrelevant information and prioritize tasks better than those who only can only speak one tongue.”

As children grow older, the number and complexity of tasks they are asked to perform increase, and the time to perform them decreases. Knowing at least two different languages will help them cope with and thrive in this environment. I can tell you that this is true among the many bilinguals I know. Many HAMC graduates tell me that they had an easier time learning Spanish or French in high school and college because they learned Hebrew for so many years before. Personally, as a speaker of three languages, my mind translates all the time. Even dreams come to me in different languages. I believe that this constant activity has helped me focus better when I need to juggle many diverse tasks at one time.

Historically, Jews were always bilingual, and, as a result, our rate of literacy was always high.
Therefore, I believe that teaching a second language as early as preschool should become part of the curriculum all across the country. It is important to start as soon as possible, since research shows that the older you start, the harder it becomes to learn.

The reason has nothing to do with the brain but rather with the environment and the social and educational circumstances. Ellen Bialystok of York University in Toronto, Ontario, said “As the human body begins its natural decline in old age, bilinguals seem to maintain better cognitive function.” Multilingual people maintain longer cognitive life than monolinguals.

We start teaching Hebrew as soon as a child enters the Hebrew Academy, even as young as two-years- old. Nothing is more promising than seeing our youngsters talk and sing in Hebrew in their ECC classes.

I must confess that I used to be embarrassed when my parents spoke to me in Arabic in front of my friends. Now I thank them every day for giving me the gift of being a multilingual. I hope that you will continue to give your children this everlasting present. It’s good for them, good for the country and good for the Jews.

The Business of Pizza

Our sixth, seventh, and eighth graders were excited to have Steve Levy, a retired Wall Street executive, HAMC alumni parent, and HAMC treasurer, at the school to teach a four-part Business 101 class where students will learn about capitalism and how to run a business.

We love to have parents, community members, and professionals involved at our school, helping our students acquire important life skills! Thank you, Steve Levy!