Starting Hebrew

15 Weeks/$375
10am central time on Thursdays
September 9-December 16
Videos provided for those who miss class time.

Congratulations on choosing to equip your child for a lifetime of fruitful bible reading! One of the primary missing pieces of modern discipleship is biblical literacy–especially concerning the Old Testament! By teaching your children Hebrew, you are equipping then for a lifetime of fruitful Bible reading and skillful exegesis! 

Hebrew is the perfect Latin substitute for homeschool families who value biblical literacy. Studying Hebrew offers many of the same benefits as Latin, teaching kids to think in an orderly manner, due to the intricate accent system and the word order. Hebrew will form your child’s mind for deep learning! 

 A WORD ABOUT MY PHILOSOPHY

All thought is made out of language. Languages are made from Sentences. Sentences are made from phrases. Phrases are made from words. Words are made from syllables. Syllables are made from letters.

The starting point for learning anything is fundamentals. That’s why this course will start at the smallest piece of the linguistic puzzle and work toward the whole. 

All Cross Formed Kids curricula are based on the assumption that two of the best tools for learning are repetition and recitation, which are the best tools for reinforcing memorization. Memorization, in turn, is the ultimate teaching strategy!

If you need evidence of the power of memorization, ask yourself whether you know which months have 31 days. If you say yes, is it because you know a memorization song? In my experience everyone who has ever said “yes” to that question has memorized a song!

Memorization is powerful because by it we are able to remember what we have forgotten.

 WHAT TO EXPECT

You should expect a lot of memorization. We’ll memorize the alphabet, the major accents, words, parts of speech, and more.

You should expect repetition. Daily drills in a given week will not vary much. My goal for Hebrew is for students to really and truly master each segment. We will not move quickly. Why should we? If your child begins in 3rd grade, she will have 10 years of hebrew instruction before she graduates high school. If the same child should choose to go to a Bible college, she may have 14 years of Hebrew before she graduates college. If she chooses to go to seminary, she may have 17 years of Hebrew before she finishes. Time is on our side. That being said, even at our intentional pace, your child will be able to study the Hebrew Bible effectively after only a few years.

With all of that in mind, know that the repitition or redundancy that you notice is a design FEATURE, not a design FLAW. 

Redundancy is essential to thorough learning of fundamentals.

You should expect recitation. Along with repetition, recitation provides the mechanics for memorization. It works best if it’s done daily and with a group. So be sure to set aside a consistent time early in the morning for recitation and be sure that you participate in it along with your child, and if possible, include multiple children. Even if you have children too young to learn Hebrew, there’s no reason they can’t participate to some degree in recitation, and as a bonus, they may wind up learning quite a lot along the way.

The introductory course will consist of 15 classes, each between 1 hour and 1.5 hours. There will be instruction given for 3 days per week of at home practice. By the end of this course, students should obtain mastery of the Hebrew Alphabet, major accents, basic vocabulary (around 100 words), the Hebrew noun system, and (the very basics of) the Hebrew verbal system. Our goal will be to spend the last class period or two reading some select passages from the Hebrew Bible!


Any child taking the course should be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times. The course will take place on Zoom, and recordings of each class will be made available in case you cannot participate live. 


2 students from the same household are welcome to participate for each purchase, but they must participate from the same screen during class. Each household must purchase the course separately.

 

The goal for each lesson is for it to require minimal preparation on the part of parents. As far as possible, it will be a grab-it-and-get-after-it situation. 

 

You are always welcome to reach out with questions, and I will do my best to respond within 24 hours. Those can be directed to [email protected] 

About the instructor: 

I’m Ryan Coatney (“Coat”), the founder and creator of Cross Formed Kids and the founder and pastor of Grace Story Church in Nashville, TN. I’ve had the opportunity to preach the Bible to tens of thousands of kids as a camp and event speaker, to teach at one of the highest performing schools in the US, and to serve in churches in several states and almost every ministry department. I’ve also had the unbelievable opportunity to spend hundreds of hours studying Hebrew under some of the best linguistic minds in the world. I’m married to Emily, with whom I get to parent 4 little ones. It’s my joy to equip you as parents to become the primary disciple-makers in the lives of your kids.