About Our Classes
Concentrations Explained
Click here to see all Fall 2024 – Spring 2025 Concentrations and Classes.
Most Einstein’s Workshop’s school year classes are taken through a school-year-long “concentration.” Concentrations meet on the same day and at the same time all school year. Most concentrations consist of four of our popular classes for a given interest and age range. This way, kids can enjoy a school year full of STEAM learning and families get a consistent schedule. Students may join concentrations throughout the academic year, usually at the quarter mark. If students want to try something new, they can switch to a different concentration at the end of each quarter. A few concentrations may be entered on a rolling basis throughout the school year.
Concentrations Offered
Minecraft Classroom
The kids think they’re playing a game, but we know they’re learning a lot! Starting in first grade, kids learn math, architecture, and roller coaster design, all inside Minecraft. By fourth grade, we’re teaching them medieval history, electronics, and computer programming. Minecraft is a great motivator! We’ve got kindergarten Minecraft fans covered too; they learn basic digital citizenship skills and how to use computers, including keyboard and mouse skills, in our Minecraft Adventures Club (see below).
LEGO Engineering and Robotics (FIRST LEGO League)
Einstein’s Workshop started as a FIRST LEGO League, so FLL will always be near and dear to us. Younger kids learn LEGO robotics using human power–cranks, levers, winches–and electronics–motors, sensors, and computers. Then they put their skills to work as part of a FIRST LEGO League Explore team. After the class is over, teams present at a Robotics Festival where they celebrate their hard work with family and friends. Often other teams from around Massachusetts participate in the same festival. Students end the year as Jr. LEGO Masters!
Fourth through eighth graders can join a FIRST LEGO League Challenge team for the first half of the school year, then try out Vex Robotics in the second half.
Hands-On STEAM
Hands on STEAM is a great introduction to Einstein’s Workshop and Maker culture. Younger students (grades K-1) get a taste of robotics, programming, science, engineering, and inventing. They learn what it’s like to be a mad scientist, treasure hunter, or inventor!
Slightly older students design and test things that fly, try advanced LEGO robotics, build handmade robots and upcycled machines, and learn various methods to use computers to make art.
Starting in grade 4, students learn how to design 3D-printable objects, design and make their own laser-cut glowboxes or other inventions, learn stop motion animation, electronics, computer art, and design their own board games.
By middle school, our students are learning arduino and other electronics in addition to refining their 3D design and other maker skills.
High schoolers take the learning further, even learning how to operate our 3D printers and our laser cutter.
Science and Engineering
Does your child want to be Newton or have Fun with Things that Fly? Maybe they want to build handmade robots or invent their own unique creations! Then this is the concentration for them. Students learn about famous scientists past and present then perform experiments inspired by the scientists’ work.
Older kids can learn about the solar system and develop their own space missions to explore it. They create their own space vehicle and the rockets to launch it! They learn by playing Kerbal Space Program (KSP), which NASA engineers say is a fantastic way to learn about the science of space exploration.
KSP realistically simulates the flight and behavior of the student’s space ship, providing an exciting and intuitive environment for learning about space exploration, from rocket design to control to orbital mechanics. Each stage of growth in our space program is informed by actual NASA missions, but what we create is limited only by our imagination — and the constraints of physics!
(This concentration may be entered on a rolling basis throughout the school year.)
Programming
In the 2024-2025 school year, most of our programming classes are offered in club format, which means they can be entered on a rolling basis.
Computer Game Level Design with Unreal Engine is offered in class format (so should be joined in one of the first two weeks of any quarter). Kids in grades 4-8 can learn how to design and build video game levels using Unreal Engine, a powerful open-source industry tool used to make many of today’s top games.
Clubs
Clubs are a social and supportive environment for kids to interact with their peers, tackle new challenges, and learn new skills. Clubs admit students throughout the year on a rolling basis. Email info@einsteinsworkshop.com if you wish to enter outside a quarter boundary, and we can arrange to prorate the cost of the quarter in progress.
Computer Programming
Children in grades 3-6 learn Scratch, a programming language developed at MIT that has caught on worldwide. They’ll start with the basics but will be telling their own stories or writing their own computer games, (yes, including platformers) by the end of the year. This concentration is appropriate for kids who already know some Scratch or who have never seen it before as these courses are very adaptable to the interests and skills of the students.
Middle schoolers learn or get better at programming in Python, using the USA Computing Olympiad (USACO) as motivation. After the USACO season ends, we finish off the school year with an introduction to AI.
Math Club
Click here to learn more about the Einstein’s Workshop Math Club (grades 4-8) and Math Club Jr. (grades 1-3).
Minecraft Adventures
Join a group of like minded builders, crafters and adventurers playing Minecraft. Play on two servers, one in creative mode for unlimited building of epic structures and one in survival mode for the ultimate adventure. Students learn the meaning of good digital citizenship, teamwork, and how to use computers, including keyboard and mouse skills. Our seasoned staff guide students’ focus on building and growing as a group in this one-of-a-kind experience.
Dungeons & Dragons
Embark on grand adventures! Explore long lost lands, battle perilous foes, and make new friends along the way. Dungeons and Dragons is great for developing imagination, creative problem solving, and teamwork.
Chess Club
Learn to play chess and practice with your classmates. Learn fun facets of chess history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do any concentrations have prerequisites?
Only one of our concentrations, Engineering and Robotics 2.0, has a prerequisite (for the first half of the school year only). Students must have taken our FLL Skills class or previously participated in an FLL Challenge team to join us for the first half of LEGO Engineering and Robotics 2.0. The FLL Skills class is offered in Quarter 3, during February and April vacation camp, and several times during the Summer. Students with no prior experience may join LEGO Engineering and Robotics 2.0 once we move on to Vex Robotics at the start of Quarter 3.
How is tuition charged?
When you sign up for a year-long concentration, you may choose to pay for the entire year or in installments. For most concentrations, the first installment is charged on the day of enrollment to secure the student’s spot. Subsequent charges are made during Weeks 8, 16, and 24. After initial payment, the remaining installments are automatically charged to the credit card or bank account on file without further authorization. LEGO Engineering and Robotics 2.0 requires payment for the first two quarters at enrollment because FIRST LEGO League teams meet for the first two quarters of the school year; the Q3 and Q4 installments are charged during Weeks 16 and 24.
You may withdraw before the second, third, or fourth quarter payments (except for the LEGO Engineering and Robotics 2.0 concentration where you may withdraw before the third or fourth quarters) provided you notify Einstein’s Workshop, in writing, at least two weeks prior to the next payment date. You may request a transfer or credit provided you notify Einstein’s Workshop, in writing, at least one week before the start of the next quarter.
To place a drop, transfer, or credit request for your student, please contact info@einsteinsworkshop.com.
Why is the first half of the Engineering and Robotics 2.0 concentration sixteen weeks, not eight weeks like most other classes?
In the first half of Engineering and Robotics 2.0, students join a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge team. The FLL season goes into December and can go longer if the team advances beyond the regional competition. For teams that don’t advance, we use the final few weeks to teach advanced robotics programming techniques that will serve the kids well in future FLL competitions.
Why is the cost of joining an FLL team higher than other concentrations?
FLL teams meet for 1.5 hours/week; most of our other classes meet for 1.25 hours/week. FLL team membership includes the FLL team registration fee, competition entry fee, access to the competition game board, and all robotics pieces necessary to compete. Einstein’s Workshop covers those charges for its teams. Parents will be asked to cover expenses related to competing beyond the state competition (travel, registration fees, etc.). Note that the third and fourth quarters of LEGO Engineering and Robotics 2.0 cost a little less because those classes meet for 1.25 hours/week instead of 1.5 hours/week.
