A Magical Way to Learn Hebrew
As an educator for more than 20 years, Riki Jocelewitz is well versed in numerous curriculums teaching Hebrew to children. But several years ago, she noticed that most of them were not geared towards very young children and thought it was a missed opportunity. The idea for Hebrew in Wonderland was sparked while she was taking time off after her twins were born.
She reached out to Amir Eden, a friend she had met at a professional development course, and the two formed a partnership based on their mutual trust from years of friendship. Amir’s experience as a Hebrew teacher and administrator, and his love for children and for their native Israel, confirmed for Riki that he would be equally as dedicated to the program as she was.
The two spent considerable time fine-tuning Hebrew in Wonderland, using their combined experience in teaching and their understanding of children’s needs to create magical videos that introduce children with any level of Hebrew to the fundamentals of the language. “As a parent and educator, I felt that I was carrying a heavy responsibility and wanted it to be right and do some justice [to teaching Hebrew], said Riki.
Hebrew Letters in Wonderland is the business’s flagship program, providing a basis of the Hebrew alphabet in order to lead children to the next steps of learning colors, numbers, and other foundation vocabulary.
Hebrew is written with letters as well as with vowels that influence how a letter is pronounced (written as symbols under each letter), but most introductory Hebrew curriculums don’t address vowels. In their planning conversations, Riki and Amir decided it was a concept they wanted to include. “Exposing young children to the different auditory and visual aspects of vowels will help them be comfortable with reading and writing Hebrew later,” said Riki. “We felt that it was important they developed an ease with a part of the language that can be complicated.”
Though Hebrew in Wonderland is constructive for children and adults of all ages, the program aims to reach preschool-aged children. Its videos move at a leisurely pace, introducing Hebrew through a journey to find lost letters from a book while guided by a fairy and magician (played by Riki and Amir respectively).
The two spent considerable time fine-tuning Hebrew in Wonderland, using their combined experience in teaching and their understanding of children’s needs to create magical videos that introduce children with any level of Hebrew to the fundamentals of the language.
The videos are deliberately short, taking into account the importance of keeping children’s focus and advisories for limiting children’s screen time. According to research, children who learn a second language improve their problem solving, critical thinking, and listening skills, as well as additional cognitive skills. Riki and Amir are hopeful that their curriculum will do just that, and will help children bond with Hebrew at the same time.
Three-and-a-half years after they started developing Hebrew in Wonderland, Riki and Amir are thrilled that they raised enough money on Kickstarter to help them produce the final videos. “We are looking forward to watching [Hebrew in Wonderland] grow, said Amir. “We are both visionaries and would like to see children from all around the world learning Hebrew with us.” They’re proud of their program, and they have big plans for its future: Their next dream is to film videos in Israel to “bring” children with them to the country they consider their own wonderland.
To learn more about Hebrew in Wonderland, check out its website.
