For many families, summer offers a welcome break from routines. For young children, however, nearly three months away from structured learning can also mean losing some of the knowledge and skills they worked hard to build throughout the school year.

That’s the challenge the Ottawa Modern Jewish School (OMJS) hopes to address with Shemesh, a new summer learning program designed for children entering senior kindergarten through Grade 1. Rather than recreating the classroom experience, the program blends Jewish learning with the fun and flexibility of summer camp.

“Thanks to the support from the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the Shemesh program is a pilot we started this year to support kids’ Jewish education during the summer,” explained OMJS Principal Michael Reznick. “The Jewish days schools are closed, the supplementary schools are closed, and so many kids have very few opportunities to maintain everything they learned during those two-and-a-half months.”

OMJS has long emphasized making Jewish education accessible to families from all backgrounds, regardless of affiliation or stage of life. Reznick said Shemesh is a natural extension of that philosophy, providing an opportunity for children to continue developing their Jewish identity and Hebrew skills during the summer months.

Unlike a traditional classroom, the three-hour Sunday program is intentionally designed to feel like summer camp.
“We’re putting the emphasis on experiences and activities through which children can learn Hebrew,” said Reznick. “It’s much less of the indoor classroom experience they’re used to during the school year.”

Activities will include outdoor games, water play, and hands-on learning experiences that naturally incorporate Hebrew vocabulary. 

“It will be learning through experience,” Reznick said. “Children won’t feel like they’re sitting in school, even though they’ll still be building their Hebrew.”

Reznick says the focus on younger children is intentional. OMJS identified that children in the senior kindergarten to Grade 1 age group are at a particularly critical stage for reinforcing key concepts.

“Those are the ages that we found are the most sensitive in terms of both learning and forgetting,” Reznick explained.

While many parents understandably want their children to enjoy a break from school over the summer, Reznick believes there’s a middle ground between academic instruction and unstructured vacation.

“We know kids don’t want to be in school,” he said. “My own child doesn’t want to be in school.”

Instead, Shemesh aims to “sugarcoat” the educational component by weaving learning into engaging, age-appropriate activities.

Without that reinforcement, Reznick noted, children often spend the first months of the new school year simply relearning material they had already mastered before summer break.

By keeping Hebrew and Jewish learning active in a relaxed, playful environment, OMJS hopes Shemesh will help children return in the fall feeling confident, connected, and ready to continue building on what they already know.

To learn more about the Shemesh program, you can visit OMJS’s website by clicking here or by emailing Michael Reznick at [email protected].