We are a completely secular homeschooling family. However, we are also trying to walk that tightrope of raising our children with a Jewish cultural identity. This was much easier for my husband’s parents to do, given that they were raising him in Brooklyn and New Jersey. But out here in California, our kids are affected more on a daily basis by surfer dude culture than they are Jewish culture!
Years ago when my daughter was in preschool, we found out about a wonderful program through the Harold Grinspoon Foundation called PJ Library. This is a free program for Jewish children in which they receive a picture book (or sometimes a CD) on Jewish themes every month.
This has been a wonderful program for my daughter, who treasures her library and reads and rereads the books. They are really great stories, mostly not explicitly religious, about Jewish culture, families, stories, and themes. We’ve actually found a few new favorites in these books which I’d recommend to anyone, Jewish or not.
To learn more, visit PJ Library at http://www.pjlibrary.org/. To sign up for the program, e-mail [email protected].
