Limudei Kodesh, is your child enjoying them?

[Yehudis]

I am very concerned that dd1, age 7, complains that she doesn't like her Hebrew class, especially chumash. I asked her what they do. She said they read the chumash, together, and it's too much talking. I asked her is she understands what she is reading. She said no. I asked if the teacher explains it. She said sort of, afterwards. I asked in what language. She said mostly in Hebrew, sometimes she says a little bit in English. I asked if she understands what the Morah says in Hebrew. She said sort of. (They are teaching ivrit b'ivrit. She doesn't get any Hebrew from home -- I am assuming she's learning it in school.)

How do other schools or teachers teach chumash? Do other kids enjoy it? Shouldn't there be a way to make it fun?

I never learned chumash at this age, so I have no experience with this. I did enjoy it when I started learning it, but I was a lot older -- 14.

[Yehudis]

Just spoke to a friend who told me her daughter loves chumash. So I am not totally off here -- it can be enjoyable. Now I have to figure out what's not working for my dd.

[MeemaNKids]

From what I've heard, the ivrit b'ivrit can be hard. The child ends up not learning much, because they can't understand the ivrit.

My DD is also 7, in second grade, and really likes chumash. Her teacher (who has been teaching for almost 20 years) developed a system with flashcards, worksheets, etc, each unit is a different theme. He says that they do not start learning the pesukim until they've learned the shorashim and vocab. His biggest goal is to give them confidence in their skills. They will learn some perakim in-depth, and some not. last year (different teacher), they did a lot of art projects - e.g. a collage for the seven days of creation. And songs.

you might want to check out chinuch.org. If you are willing to do supplemental activities with your DD, they would probably have some good stuff.

[gilima]

This may have more to do with the way it is being taught and also the way your dd learns best.

I also agree that the ivrit bivrit can be very hard for a lot of kids, if she is not understanding most of it it can be very frustrating for her. Imagine if your were in a class where you didn't understand most of what is being said/taught.......well at least I know that I wouldn't be very motivated to learn.

Another thing to consider is that she may be more of a visual learner and need more stories with pictures, projects etc;
My ds 8 had a difficult time last year with judaics due to the teacher doing most of the teaching via reading , repeating, memorizing, some song etc; and ds is a very visual learner.
my other ds 7 has that same teacher this year and while he has only been at school for a week he is already catching on and foolowing her teaching style. He loves memorizing etc;
different kids , different learning styles....
The thing is to let the teacher know that dd is not really getting it and therefore not enjoying judaics....ther must be other kids like her that are not happy and probably need more hands on stuff. I hope you can find a way to help her.