Yiddish Songs and Chants for Children
Tuition: $240 | YIVO members: $180**
This is a live, online course held twice a week on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 25 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, assignments, etc.) will be posted to Canvas. Students will be granted access to the class on Canvas after registering for the class here on the YIVO website. This class will be conducted primarily in English, along with singing in Yiddish.
Instructor: Perl Teitelbaum
Since this course was offered in 2023, there has been more interest from new parents, grandparents, and educators who want to learn songs and chants related to the experiences of children. The material will include folksongs passed down from generation to generation and songs by beloved poets and composers. It will also feature some songs and chants fashioned by new parents, grandparents, and teachers who have been sharing Yiddish and music with little ones in the last few decades. If you are a parent, grandparent, relative, friend, or educator who wants to bring Yiddish into the world of young children (or to use it to enrich your own inner child!), this course is for you.
Yiddish Level:
Students of all Yiddish levels and students without any Yiddish language background are welcome to register for this course.
Course Materials:
Song texts in Yiddish, transliteration, and English translation as well as audio will be made accessible digitally to students on Canvas.
Questions? Read our 2026 Winter Yiddish Seminars FAQ.
Paula (Perl) Teitelbaum is a Yiddish teacher and singer. She has taught Yiddish songs as part of her Yiddish language classes as well as at themed workshops designed for professional and non-professional singers at various events and privately. Her singing has been featured on the recordings Vaserl, Zumerteg, Fli, Mayn Flishlang, Di Grine Katshke (which she co-produced with Lorin Sklamberg) and on the soundtrack of the documentary Image Before My Eyes. Yiddish songs have always been a part of her life as a child, a parent and recently as a grandparent.
**Become a member today, starting at $54 for one year, and pay the member price for classes! You’ll save on tuition for this course and more on future classes and public programs tickets.