Young Judaea Sprout Brooklyn Day is Camp Seeking a Hebrew/Israel Specialist
Young Judaea Sprout Brooklyn Day Camp, located in Red Hook, is a Hebrew dual-language camp for children entering Pre-K through 5th grade. No previous Hebrew experience is necessary to be part of the Sprout Brooklyn community. Sprout Brooklyn is a place where children from a wide spectrum of backgrounds join together to create a joyful, diverse community built on Jewish values, a connection to Israel and the Hebrew language.
Our Hebrew/Israel Specialist will build their own informal Jewish education curricula based on Jewish values and creating a connection to Israel. They will teach daily 30-minute lessons to campers entering Pre-K through entering 5th grade on the weekly vocabulary set and theme. Hebrew can be taught through games, songs, stories, and more!
Sprout Brooklyn values staff that are positive and flexible team players who are excited to spend the summer with young campers and staff. The ideal candidate is excited about camp life and feels comfortable wearing multiple hats and will never say that a task “isn’t their job”.
Responsibilities
- Work with the Program Director to create weekly lesson plans
- Create and execute fun, age-appropriate activities
- Engage campers and help them develop new skills
- Run 30-minute activities daily with groups of 12-14 campers
- Incorporate Jewish values, Hebrew and/or Israel education into activities whenever possible
- Expose campers to the Hebrew language through hands on play, stories, games, and music
Requirements
- Experience working with children ages 3-10
- At least 2 years’ experience teaching children Hebrew
- Experience attending or working at a summer camp (preferred, not required)
- Enthusiasm and the willingness to be silly
- Hebrew fluency is preferred
Camp runs Monday - Friday from June 22nd – August 14th with a week of required staff training on June 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. The camp day is 8:30am – 4:15pm. Approximately 15 hours of pre-camp curriculum development.
Learn more at www.sproutbrooklyn.org and contact Sam Gelberg at [email protected]
What you should know about the Hebrew Specialist Role
The Hebrew (Ivrit)/Israel (Tarbut) specialist should be able to plan exciting activities for campers based on the themes and values of the week. Our goal for the Ivrit/Tarbut sessions is for campers to experience immersive, fun, and playful exposure to the Hebrew language and Israeli culture through an activity they will enjoy. Each week will have a different vocabulary theme (Hebrew Spotlight) as well as a different Israel related theme (Israel Spotlight) we want to be incorporated into the programming. This is usually a popular city or landmark in Israel. The Israel/Hebrew specialist should plan activities that correspond to the Israel/Hebrew Spotlight. Campers can learn and experience Hebrew and Israeli Culture through playing games, singing songs, doing art projects, reading books, preforming skits, and other playful or immersive activities. We want them to learn about Israeli cities, Israeli food music and culture, and diverse Israeli and Jewish identity through fun activities NOT through formal lessons. Tzofim (Israeli scouts) style games and activities are a great model to use.
Activities should be altered on a sliding scale to fit the needs of different ages. We know that the same activities that will be entertaining, challenging, and educational for a child going into pre-k will not have the same impact on a child going into 4th or 5th grade. Therefore, our specialists should have experience with different ages and developmental levels. They should be able to think on their feet and exhibit flexibility while maintaining professionalism.
The Hebrew activity at camp is NOT:
- A comprehensive Hebrew class that covers grammar or reading
- worksheet or coloring sheet based
- split by level (therefore you should be prepared incorporate both dayschool educated campers and those who aren’t yet familiar with Hebrew within the same activity)
- Ivrit should NOT feel like school!
We aren’t expecting our kids to leave camp perfect Hebrew speakers, rather we just want them to be exposed to and immersed in the language while maintaining a fun summer camp experience.
All of our specialists should plan two activities per age group per week plus a set of backup emergency activities that can be used at any time. . Note that the same activity can be used for similar age groups such as pre-k and kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade, or 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade You should expect to see the same group of campers at least twice a week, but programming should consist of a project; it should be one that can be completed from start to finish within one 40-minute period.
Below are the Hebrew Language/Israel Spotlights from 2025 to give you a better idea
Week 1- Shapes, Caesaria
Week 2- Colors, Tzfat
Week 3- Question Language (Who, What, Where....), Ir David
Week 4- Weather, Har Hermon
Week 5- Relationships and Family, Tel Aviv
Week 6- Feelings, Jerusalem
Week 7- Hobbies, Herzliya
Week 8- Modes of Transportation , Haifa (Port)