Rachel,
Michelle gave some good and helpful links. I first printed out our Aleph-Bet flashcards on cardstock years ago from Aklah.
A little about us: We’ve attended a Messianic Jewish Synagogue for 10 yrs., just outside of Atlanta, Ga; Congregation Beth Hallel. My husband is a Jewish Believer, I am a gentile believer, raising up Jewish children who believe in and follow Y’shua (Jesus) as their Messiah, who love Israel and to be fully authentic Biblically Jewish adults in the Community with both Jews and Christians. At home and corporately, we observe the L-rd’s Appointed Times, recognize and educate about, but only sometimes participate in, the minor fast days; no Christian holidays (that’s a personal decision, not dictated by the Rabbi) and no Halloween. The Resurrection is celebrated within the context of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We don’t have a special observation about the birth, though it is read in the Scripture at Sukkot (when we believe He was born according to the Hebrew calendar using the Book of Luke), but other than reading the prophecies of His birth and the accounts in the Gospels, there isn’t a special observance other than what is done for Sukkot. We also observe privately and corporately the new Jewish special days related to the Holocaust and the State of Israel.
I didn’t send them to religious school, but have done it myself w/ a wide variety of materials for educating myself in order to educate them and through regular attendance at shul. I’ve tried to be very intentional about creating a Jewish home that also reflects G-d’s Spirit and the fullness of His Son. I’m putting together a list of materials I’ve used through the years (and others I haven’t gotten to yet and those I wish I’d had!) that I plan on posting when finished that may be helpful. I will pull out the materials for your child’s age, though and post it. Our synagogue has been there about 30 yrs., one of the oldest and most active Messianic ones in the country, so it has a fully functioning, 2 year, Bar/Bat Mitzvah training course; we are all very excited and thankful!
I’m going to break this up to keep it simpler. This post is about teaching the parsha that you were interested in teaching. You’ll have to piece it together yourself. Hebrew for Christians has a lot of good material, though I can’t say that it would be a thorough source for Hebrew instruction over the long term, but excellent for printing out the Blessings and learning them (I put them on index cards and add them to our SCM memory box) and background info. on the parshiot, Holidays and other articles for free. Most of these I’ve used; others I wish I had and thought they may work for you.
T=traditional; M=Messianic; Ch=Christian
(T) My First Parsha Reader- ages 3-8- http://www.judaism.com/display.asp?usn=128; introduction to parsha topics, characters, in story form. If you have a children’s New Covenant, you could read from the corresponding parsha reading according to the schedule from a Messianic calendar or from here: http://www.bethhallel.org/CMS/services-and-events/parashot/ (or from Hebrew for Christians)
(T, M) First Fruits of Zion Children’s Torah Club – ages 6-10 – http://ffoz.org/torahclub/children/index.html I can’t recommend the adult version as they have changed a couple of them and some of their views that I can’t support; however, we used the children’s Torah club one year when mine were around 7/8 and it was worth the monthly amount.
(T, M) Hey, Torah Kids! Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 – Dr. Thomas Lancaster/ FFOZ – audio story cds from Torah , New Covenant and the Sages – www.ffoz.com/index.php?target=categories&category_id=47
(M) Righteous Rhymes – Jamie Lash: It’s not about the parshah, but it is especially loved by my children in it’s wonderful songs and coloring pages about G-d’s Love and Message from a Jewish roots perspective, using familiar nursery rhymes:http://www.jewishjewels.org/media/righteous-rhymes/
(T, Orthodox) Torahtots printout coloring pages for the Appointed Times and Holidays w/readings out loud from:
Walk with Y’shua Through the Jewish Year combined with suggestions on the list I’m going to post for her age group from which you choose. Alfred Kolatch’s children’s books and the Behrman House materials have been enjoyed here.
When she’s a little older, maybe closer to six or seven, again combined w/coloring pages if your dc likes:
(T, M) TorahResource free children’s lesson printouts- http://torahresource.com/OtherMaterials.html
You can use Hegg’s materials for lessons being taught from the Tanakh and from the New Covenant, and you’ll be presenting your faith in Y’shua/Jesus from within His Hebraic context, within the context of the entire Bible being a Hebrew book and G-d’s Message of Atonement coming from the Tanakh, not like being one as being Jewish and the other is Christian.
For you, beginning studying the Parsha from the perspective of the wholeness of the Word of G-d , and the continuity of His Message through the Jewish people from the Torah to Revelation, it further enriches you and makes you prepared to better teach your dc about their Jewish identity and who Y’shua/Jesus was/is by what G-d says. That way they won’t feel torn that if they end up accepting the Messiah, they won’t think they have to give up their G-d Given identity, because they don’t according to His Word; they can be fully Jewish and fully a disciple of Y’sua at the same time.
Dr. Feinberg’s “Walk…!” Messianic Devotional series that follows the weekly parsha. There are five, one for each of the Books of Moses for a year’s worth of study :http://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Messianic-Jewish-Devotional-Commentary/dp/1880226758
A free source of rich parsha study is at Tim Hegg’s site. He uses the 3-yr. Cycle, but if you scroll to the bottom, he will match it up for you. For example, for this week, on the 1 yr. It’s #51-Nitzavim which corresponds to the 3 yr. #146. So you just scroll up and click on the #146 and there are the notes on the parsha.:http://torahresource.com/Parashot.html
As my children got older (ages 7 till now), we liked watching the puppets on The Itche kadoozy show’s The Parshah Report, parsha video at Chabad.org: http://www.chabad.org/kids/article_cdo/aid/1361596/jewish/Parshah-Report.htm
Also, we enjoy listening to Jonathan Settel read the Jewish New Testament on audio. It’s worth the price. http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Online_Store/Audio/JNT/jnt.html
This is a great time to get started on using the parsha with the arrival of Simchat Torah! We read from the Parsha, the Haftarah and the corresponding Brit Hadashah (New Covenant) weekly. They are older, so they read the Psalms and Proverbs on their own currently.
If I think of anything else I’ll add to it. I’ve got to go and plant seeds, but I’ll post on Hebrew next. I’ve heard of Sarah and David, but we’ve used Behrman House, since the children were 6. My son (11) and I can read from the Hebrew side of the siddur now, though he’s faster and can translate better than I! Those young brains!!
HTH and feel free to ask any questions,
Rachel
