What is the International Baccalaureate's Primary Years Programme?
It is a transdisciplinary programme of international education designed to foster the development of the whole child.
The IB program is an internationally practiced method of curriculum planning and teaching that brings different subject areas together, providing interconnected meaning to the students’ learning experience. It is strongly endorsed by the State of Michigan because it focuses on developing the physical, emotional, social and intellectual needs of all students. At the elementary level, IB is organized under the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of Inquiry. The PYP provides six unit themes that teachers use to plan lessons and align our district’s curriculum with state standards and benchmarks.
The lessons not only provide in-depth academic learning, but also provide global awareness relevant to the academic subject areas. This allows students to think critically, make connections across subject areas, and develop strong problem-solving skills in the areas of academic knowledge and social awareness. The PYP helps students to develop a strong sense of responsibility for their achievement and the role they play in the world around them. This allows students to develop effective skills as inquirers, thinkers, communicators and risk takers, as well as to become individuals who are more knowledgeable, principled, caring, open-minded, balanced and reflective.