We've run the gamut to get our students excited about Hebrew—surveyed parents about what their children want, tried different Hebrew series, switched Hebrew instructional days, brought in outside consultants, held incentive programs with prizes. It's an exhausting list.

Then, when the Behrman House Hebrew-language CDs came out, I thought, maybe this is the ticket—after all, what kid doesn’t like playing on the computer? And I was right on target. Students want in Hebrew school what they’re accustomed to in their home lives — interaction, often in the form of video games.

To introduce students to the CDs, we brought them into our media center and did a demo on an LCD projector. Professor Gimmelstein and the other characters were a big hit. Students realized that if they complete the material, the payoff is not only in the learning, but in a video game at the end of each chapter. Even the sixthgraders find this is a fun way to learn. Not every child works on the CD consistently at home, but the majority do, and they respond very well.

From time to time, we bring the kids back together to work on the CDs as a group. It’s always a bit boisterous and loud but that’s because there is active learning taking place and they’re having fun; there’s engagement and calling out answers and reciting the prayers together. There’s nothing in the world like a little competition in a classroom where children are working together.

Once per semester, on Portfolio Day, we invite parents in to school to sample their child’s accomplishments and see examples of their work. Parents often react to the CDs with surprise as they remember their own experience at Hebrew school. “Wow, this is how they learn Hebrew today!” they say.

Yes, indeed.

Wendi Ochs is Religious School Committee Chair at Temple Beth El, Pensacola, FL. She can be reached at wjochs@aol.com