Pre-K: The Three-Year-Old
Learning to share … verbal ability increasing …wants to “do it myself” … uses objects symbolically in play … loves to listen to stories … physically confident … developing social skills … self-focused … feels a sense of awe and wonder about the world … feels God’s presence in rituals
Pre-K: The Four-Year-Old
Learns in the context of his/her community and friends
… remains curious, wants to sustain an investigation and learn more … learns languages easily … thinks concretely … cares deeply for friends and significant adults … enjoys and initiates fantasy play … can negotiate a disagreement with peers … feels pride in accomplishments … has questions about God … learns about God from Torah, prayers and blessings, and Jewish stories
Kindergarten: The Five-Year-Old
Active and purposeful . . . consciousness of right and wrong is developing, but cannot always distinguish between them or accept responsibility . . . family is the context for understanding relationships . . . great disparities among children’s learning skills and physical abilities . . . has sense of God’s love and care through attention of loving and caring adults . . . short attention span . . . can learn from mistakes . . . appreciates help of others and wants to help . . . emerging wonder about life and death
Grade 1: The Six-Year-Old
Widening sense of world beyond home . . . eager to learn . . . asks many questions . . . great imagination . . . little concept of time and space . . . personal desires may conflict with sense of standards . . . sense of responsibility to the group . . . has questions about God . . . wants honest and immediate answers
Grade 2: The Seven-Year-Old
More introspective . . . sensitive to adult approval . . . self-critical . . . richly imaginative, but interested in here and now . . . looks for fair play and honesty . . . emerging feel for prayer . . . interest in Bible heroes
. . . growing sense of community beyond home and school . . . assimilates new information when presented in familiar examples
Grade 3: The Eight-Year-Old
Aware of real physical and intellectual growth . . . impatient to get started on new projects but eager to finish . . . desire to do things “my way” but still craves adult approval and support . . . communication skills improving but sometimes talks for the sake of talking . . . enjoys collecting and swapping . . . interested in dramatics . . . time and space take on meaning . . . likes groups but upholds rules . . . can understand personal relationship to God as connected to God’s care for others
Grade 4: The Nine-Year-Old
Longer attention span offers more independence . . . wants to be accepted as responsible, yet recognizes need for help . . . likely to attach to role models . . . may not have sense of personal limits . . . fair play and individual rights are crucial . . . clearer thinking about right and wrong . . . curious about the unknown, but finds the past exciting . . . can build on previous knowledge . . . individual reading skills vary widely
. . . teacher important as leader and opinion maker . . . moral development can be guided by Bible’s lessons . . . favors facts and people over fantasy and abstract ideas
Grade 5: The Ten-Year-Old
Period of pre-adolescent adjustment . . . interests beginning to widen . . . may still have difficulty conceptualizing or generalizing, but memorization skills are developing . . . sense of time has evolved enough for firmly rooted study of history . . . boys and girls separating in interests and activities . . . need reinforcement of “dos and don’ts” of living in society . . . can have deep religious feelings and a close relationship to God . . . questions may begin to trouble faith . . . knows and can use many facts of Jewish history and observance
Grade 6: The Eleven-Year-Old 
Preadolescence gradually gives way to adolescence . . . eager to discover secrets . . . wants to figure things out for self in ethical and religious matters . . . girls usually more physically and emotionally developed than boys . . . more sensitive to criticism . . . capable of great anger, fear, dejection, and elation . . . growing ability for abstract thinking . . . relationships with peers can be both exciting and painful . . . critical of adults . . . open to ideas that will realize more mature values but must reach them by oneself . . . sees connection between religious teaching and personal problems
Grade 7: The Twelve-Year-Old
Onset of adolescence . . . traits developing that will lead into maturity . . . girls are about a year ahead of boys in intellectual and physical development . . . with guidance, can see relationship between different events . . . resentful of repetitive, childish activity . . . beginning of search for philosophy of life . . . can be encouraged to express abstract values . . . receptive to social action projects . . . enjoys responsibility that gives a sense of achievement
Grade 8: The Thirteen-Year-Old
Can be a difficult year of emotional imbalance . . . physical changes become more pronounced . . . leadership potential is emerging . . . receptive to learning from stories of courageous deeds . . . especially proud of new skills . . . can relate God and prayer to personal problems and harsh realities . . . insecurities manifest in complaining, withdrawal, sarcasm . . . some linguistic skills appear particularly strong . . . word games can be effective learning tools . . . judges religion by the examples of its representatives . . . greater interest and power in reasoning and discussion . . . language can be useful tool for expressing values
Grade 9: The Fourteen-Year-Old
Feels many adult emotions and drives but struggling to integrate them into self . . . girls still developmentally ahead of boys, but growth among boys is marked . . . beginning to assert independence from parents but still wants them within rescue distance . . . often does accepted thing but insists on making own decision to do so . . . world of ideas beginning to make sense, as abstractions take on reality
. . . give-and-take with adults is valuable and enjoyable . . . senses need for authority beyond humanity, and open to ideas of God . . . moving toward independent ideas
Grade 10: The Fifteen-Year-Old 
Struggle for independence hits its peak . . . desperate to make own decisions . . . strongly influenced by home but brings own unique slant to things . . . shared attire and behavior of group can disguise independent thought of individuals . . . can respond to adult guidance when directed gently and without pressure to conform to standards . . . group loyalty is especially strong . . . interested in differences between and within religions . . . more followers than leaders
Grade 11: The Sixteen-Year-Old
Struggles of adolescence approach resolution . . . often secure enough to welcome criticism . . . largely preoccupied with immediate problems rather than with the future . . . seems mentally mature but sense of judgment still developing . . . religion can become part of a philosophy of life . . . personal choice is at forefront of decision-making . . . open to discussion and contemplation of ethics . . . can see God’s relationship to personal life . . . academic subjects must be made explicitly relevant to learner’s life
Grade 12: The Seventeen-Year-Old
Seen by parents as still a child . . . seen by self, and by world, as an increasingly responsible adult . . . concerned about work, career, college, relationships, getting driver’s license . . . can think through complex problems, and generalize from concrete examples . . . sharing with friends crucial . . . awed by major life milestones that lie ahead . . . big questions take on immediate importance: Is there an absolute standard of right and wrong? . . . What is God like? . . . anxiety and anticipation for the new world that college or career will open
