For 37 years, Mrs. Lisa Weihe has been driving the same route from home to Pine Crest School. A beloved pre-kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Weihe began her tenure when her eldest daughter started pre-kindergarten in 1985. 

Setting your child up for success begins with you! As a parent, you are your child’s very first teacher. School readiness is not just about learning the ABCs and 123s—young children need to learn skills such as: listening to a set of instructions, following multi-step directions, becoming comfortable with routines, sitting quietly for whole group instruction, keeping hands to themselves, and self-regulation. 

An important part of applying for admission to an independent school is getting to know the school and assessing if it is right for your family.

Families applying to independent schools often ask how they may prepare their children for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. While each school may have different admission criteria, one area that many schools evaluate is a child’s fine motor skills.

By Danielle Weisfisch ’20

Today’s pre-primary aged students are presented with a variety of different tech tools, many of which we use at Pine Crest School.

At Pine Crest School innovation is part of the curriculum from day one. Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten students visit the Zimmerman Family iLab, or the Mintz Family iLab each month, and have computer science class twice a week.

Students are exposed to basic algorithmic thinking and logical reasoning through elementary coding classes. Students use applications on iPads, like Dash and Dot, Ozobot, Bee-Bot, and Codeable to learn to sequence and debug code. Students see their code come to life in the small robots that complement the applications they use.  

Digital portfolios are also part of their computer science and technology curriculum. Students upload samples of their assignments, or “artifacts,” to reflect on what they have learned. These portfolios will follow them throughout their academic careers at Pine Crest.

During their time in the iLabs, students are exposed to organic gardening and engineering challenges. They are exposed to the design thinking process showing students how to research, ideate, experiment, and reflect as to problem-solve and think creatively.  

Students are given design challenges exposing them to the engineering process and teaching them to manipulate materials and construction techniques appropriate for their age level. Additionally, students use Squishy Circuits to learn the basics of electricity and circuitry.

This innovative curriculum is designed for students to take risks and fail forward.