We love how engaged Makom Community parents are, and we know you want to talk with your students about everything they are learning and experiencing at Makom Community!
In the coming weeks, we will be studying the 10 Commandments. During the week of September 18, we are delving into the first four commandments:
- I am God.
- No idols.
- No empty promises.
- Remember Shabbat and make it holy.
Looking for some conversation starters around these? Interested in a way to talk with your child(ren) about their learning while you’re walking around the city? These questions would be a natural continuation of what we’re talking about during afterschool enrichment:
1 & 2: I am God. Don’t pray to idols.
- Is “I am God,” a commandment? Is it telling us to do or not do something? If not, why is it here?
- Where were Bnei Yisrael coming from where they saw everyone pray to lots of different God? (They had just left Egyptian slavery, where praying to idols and people as many gods was the culture.)
- When are times that we, as a family, work to do things in our way way?
3: No empty promises
- When do we make promises to each other?
- What promises are easy to keep? Hard to keep?
- How can we help each other keep our promises?
- How do we tell each other when something is an especially important promise?
4: Remember Shabbat and make it holy
- What does our family already do to make Shabbat special?
- What can our family add to make Shabbat even more special?
- How can we include friends, neighbors, or strangers into our Shabbat practice?
- What do you do at Makom Community to get ready for Shabbat? What your favorite parts of that? Would any of them transfer well to our house?
We’d love to hear how these conversations go with your child(ren) walking home, over dinner, or at bed time. It would also be great to know if you found this helpful. We’re exploring different materials for parents to bridge the experiences our students have here with their home lives. Please let us know if this supportive of that process.