Lower School | Grades 1-4
Children in Pine Cobble’s Lower School make joyful new discoveries each and every day, guided by caring and knowledgeable teachers. The Lower School curriculum is designed to make students excited about learning, give them the fundamental skills they need for later academic success, and connect them to their community and to the world around them.
Lower School students explore the process of hands-on experimentation, begin testing the laws of nature, delve deeper into language and mathematics, make history come to life, and further expand their creative minds. Academics are rigorous, age-appropriate, and aligned with a social-emotional curriculum that helps students discover confidence, personal responsibility, and an increased independence. Most importantly, they
discover within themselves a capable, curious, and confident young person who plays a meaningful role in a wider community.
Curriculum Highlights
The Lower School program offers a balance between academic fundamentals and a creative exploration of the world and students’ place in it. Lower School teachers are master educators who understand that at this age, the acquisition of academic skills is a process. Lower School teachers guide students through that process in a personalized, low-pressure way.
The culture of the Lower School is intimate and friendly. Students of all abilities and backgrounds are supported and empowered to strive for their personal best, and that support extends to all the core academic areas. The literature program helps children grow into successful readers and writers by incorporating guided, shared, and independent reading and writing sessions. The math curriculum is both rigorous and flexible, and adaptable for a wide range of mathematical abilities. Students discover the role that math plays in our everyday lives; this recognition of real-world relationships inspires students to seek out the real meaning behind numbers, and to articulate mathematical processes and ideas.
The hands-on, experiential science program introduces students to scientific observation and reasoning. Children learn why phenomena occur, test hypotheses and prove theories, collect and analyze data, and make predictions and draw conclusions based on observation. Social studies, geography, and history allow students to understand their world in context, and to envision landmark moments in time. Students develop a sense of how past events shaped the world we live in today.
All Lower School students take Spanish classes twice per week and have the opportunity to participate in language roundtables on a regular basis. A robust arts program encourages free creative expression using a variety of canvasses, materials, tools, instruments, and palettes. Over the course of three years, students will experience a wide range of forms and mediums, and examine and experiment with the elements and principles of art. Multiple music and stage opportunities allow students to explore and experiment with performance as another avenue of creative expression.
Regular physical education programs inspire a healthy and positive attitude towards exercise in a confidence-building environment. In addition to strengthening and developing motor skills and coordination, children learn the concepts of teamwork, effort, and good sportsmanship. In addition, community service is a strong part of the Lower School curriculum, with service opportunities offered regularly both on and off campus.