Torah Studies
Chumash: The Five Books of Moses
The Chumash is the foundation of the Torah Day School curriculum. Chumash is taught daily throughout the elementary years. Chumash Breishit is completed by the end of fourth grade. Subsequently, Chumash Shemot, parts of Vayikra, Bamidbar and parts of Devarim are completed by the eighth grade.
Navi: The Prophets
It is generally accepted that children should complete the Neviim Rishonim, early prophets, by the end of elementary school.
Navi is studying in the following sequence:
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4th grade-Yehoshua-Joshua
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5th grade- Shoftim-Judges
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6th -8th grade- Shmuel I, Shmuel II, Malachim I
The Mishna: The codified oral tradition
The study of Mishna is both a prelude to the Talmud as well as an independent pursuit. The cognitive process required is on a higher and more complex level than that required for Chumash study, yet for more than a millennium and a half, Jewish children successfully assimilated the learning process from a very early age. It is obviously necessary to begin with the simple lest concepts, many of which any child from an observant home is familiar with (the Shabbat and festivals, etc) and progress from there to more complex issues. Mishna is begun at the fifth or sixth grade.
The Talmud or Gemara
The vast volume of Talmudic literature has become known metaphorically as “the sea of Talmud” because its pursuit is an endless process. The study of the Talmud starts at a tender age; its mastery is a lifetime quest. Yet even when a day school education may not include even high school, children should be exposed to the delicate intricacies of Talmudic logic, even if on a most basic level. This has traditionally been limited to boys. Talmudic studies start at seventh grade.