Pre-K and Kindergarten (ES)

Welcome to Pre-K and Kindergarten (ES)

GISNY's Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) and Kindergarten (ES) programs offer 3-,  4- and 5-year-old children a warm and nurturing environment with small class sizes, bright and spacious classrooms, and beautiful school grounds.

With our Nature-Based Early Childhood Educational (NBECE) program our youngest students enjoy most of their school day outdoors exploring, learning, and playing on our picturesque 20-acre campus. 

Entering Pre-K and Kindergarten children are not required to speak or understand German and build the foundation of being bilingual by first grade.

School hours: 8:30 a.m. to 2:05 p.m.

Nature-Based Early Childhood Educational (NBECE) program introduction

Nature Program: Garden Bed

Nature Program: Experiment

Playing Is Learning

Led by our dual German- and English-speaking teachers who are specially qualified for nursery and early childhood education, children are encouraged to embrace discovery both indoors and out.  The large and sun-filled classrooms have direct access to the playground, which translates into plenty of outdoor exploration and play time.  Decades of research have shown us that play is a critical element in all facets of a child’s development.  In fact, it is through play that a child acquires valuable knowledge of his or her environment.  For that reason, our classrooms are specially designed to stimulate curiosity, discovery and creative thinking.

Learning at Your Child's Pace

One thing you will not find in our Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms is pressure.  We are firm believers that a child’s social, emotional and cognitive development should be stimulated and encouraged but not forced.  Children need to be allowed to experience their own stage of development and feel successful at each step of that journey free from external pressures, such as learning to read or write by a prescribed deadline.  While some children may be ready to read in Kindergarten, many others are not.  To meet the needs of each child, we create an environment for success by introducing challenging and enjoyable literacy-related activities and experiences that are guided by a child’s readiness.   This helps them to grow into confident, independent learners. 

One Teacher, One Language

Given that many of our Pre-K and Kindergarten students join our program speaking only one language, most often either English or German, the roots of their bilingualism also begin to grow here.  Our “One Teacher, One Language” approach exposes children to both German and English throughout the day. By teaching language in this way (again, without pressure), children naturally acquire language concepts and skills that become the building blocks of their bilingualism and literacy.  And while few aspects of the language learning process surprise us, we always enjoy seeing the looks of happy disbelief on parents‘ faces when they discover that their previously monolingual children are, in just a matter of months, playing with their classmates in their new second language!

Want to Learn More?

We welcome the opportunity to introduce you to our remarkable program and give you a personal tour of our story-book like classrooms. 

For more information and to schedule a tour, please complete our Admissions Information Request form, or you may call our Main Office at (914) 948-6513.

For more information on the early childhood concept upon which our Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten programs are based, we encourage you to visit Educational Preschool and Kindergarten Guidelines of Thuringia, Germany.