As a Limudei Kodesh curriculum advisor I struggle with these concepts as well. How do we reach the fine balance of enriching our girls with a yiddish educational background without dampening their enthusiasm. Think of the excitement with which preschool age children come home with in regard to learning parshas hashavua. As our students grow older, so do their responsibilities towards this subject specifically and other subjects in general. The activities and hands on learning becomes less and less thereby directly effecting their enthusiasm (think- parsha final...) of course we strive to instill life-long lessons to be learned from the parshios but the workload involved in implementing these values can sometimes be the cause for the lack of chiyus?

As a kindergarten Morah I keep things simple, focus on Hashem being all powerful, and on His love for us, which combines into knowing that He is able to do whatever it takes to protect and take care of Klal Yisroel in the best way possible. Come Rosh Hashana focus on the concept of Hamelech, Shivisi is all about Hashem being able to be everywhere and is always there to protect us. During Breishis emphasize how Hashem created flowers just because He wanted us to enjoy a beautiful world, and in return Klal Yisroel beautifies the mitzvos that we do. Let the children hear you Thank Hashem for the weather when you go out to play, thank Hashem for Mondays when you start learning a new parsha, and chalk up any good thing that happens on Tuesday as happening because Tuesday is a double 'tov' day, and be happy on Wednesday because its getting closer to Shabbos. In short, a sentence here, a phrase there all contribute in making a child feel that they're glicklach to be a yid. One of my most satisfying moments was when spotting a thriving ant hill, heaven to a little boy, Chaim spontaneously exclaimed "look at all these ants, Hashem loves us so much!" Thats true, undiluted, passionate emunah! During the summer I shift to working with teanage girls. It's sad how they're jaded, how they metamorphosed from feeling privileged to feeling burdened. I've noted how many guest speakers share nisyonos they went through and how they used Emuna to survive. While the speakers are definitely inspiring and special role models, I wonder if the message we are giving our girls is that life is hard but you can overcome it. How about speakers start sharing all the wonderful things that happen to them? Share positive hashgacha pratis stories, stories that highlight how Hashem has your back. I'm not a professional speaker, nor am I a High School macheneches, yet the pindrop silence in the dining room when I shared simple hashgacha stories that helped the camp run smoothly throughout the week showed me how starved our girls are to hear how we're supported by His hand. We are in galus, but life isn't a vale of tears. How about all of us collectively, parents and mechanchos, put an effort in focusing on the positive happenings? Es is gut tzu zehn a Yid!

Children need to be taught to be responsible and earn items and privileges. If children are brought up with the attitude it comes to me then they will never be satisfied and always want more.

Thank you for addressing this important issue! May Hashem give all our children the varemkeit and passion to Avdus Hashem! It's such a challenge today!

I look for ways for my children and students to feel that we are contributing in a meaningful way to the mesorah. Living in a small community helps. We can see that we are helping to raise up Torah for our kehilla.

I think this topic is even more important than the Teachers' Salaries! Do we realize that our children are basically putting no thought into their Yidishkeit? They daven- because they have to. They dress right (hopefully)- because they have to. All of that is fine and good when everything is going well. But the minute their lives hit a snag and it's not so easy...how long will their Yiddishkeit last? We need to give them a CONNECTION- a deep down feeling of 'THIS IS MINE. THIS MATTERS.' I was recently had the opportunity to witness a large group of high school girls dancing and singing, 'Geshmak to be a Yid' - can we as a Klal do something to try and instill those words in our children- 'IT's GESHMAK TO BE A YID!'

As a teacher of teenagers, it's so painful to see the void of passion to yiddishkeit in my students. Why do their eyes light up when they talk about their Tiffany bracelets? Why do they shrug and grump about tefillah? I know we always struggled with this, but the world today is a lot more dazzling than it used to be. I work so hard to instill sincere passion in them, but mommies, I need your help! They come home and lose it all, when they see what you are passionate about! I wish their eyes would sparkle more!!

I'm a young mother with my oldest child in preschool, so I can't speak for the future. But right now, I feel like there is so much passion coming through from his Morah. My son came home on the first day of kindergarten so excited. Each day, one boy is the chazzan. He puts on a tallis and takes out the Torah from the Aron Kodesh. Then he takes it around the room and each boy gives it a kiss. When my son told me this, I started to cry. Can we give them this type of experience throughout their lives??