International Baccalaureate

Escuela Bilingüe Internacional offers a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from Pre-Kinder through fourth grade, with plans to extend through 8th grade as the current students grow. Students at EBI will become fully literate in Spanish and English, and will develop conversational skills in a third language.

EBI is committed to maintaining high standards for all its students, in all areas of education. We believe that when learning is stimulating, fun and developmentally appropriate, children gain the motivation to become self-directed, life-long learners.

EBI is an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) authorized school for Pre-Kinder, Kindergarten and elementary and plans to follow IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) for 7th and 8th Grade.

For a video introduction to the Primary Years Programme, click here.

The International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) is a nonprofit educational foundation with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The IBO offers three coordinated programs to approved schools, including:

• The Primary Years Program —for students from Pre-Kinder to Grade 5.
• The Middle Years Program —for students in Grades 6 to 10.
• The Diploma Program —for students in Grades 11 and 12.

All IB programs have a similar pedagogical base — they are learner centered and inquiry-based. That means that teaching begins with, and builds on, the curiosity of the students, their capacity to understand the materials, and the questions they ask.

By emphasizing a dynamic combination of concepts, skills, independent critical thought, and international understanding, the IB encourages students to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners, prepared for a life of engaged, responsible world citizenship.

THE PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME

The Primary Years Programme is a comprehensive inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning, encouraging teachers to teach for a depth of understanding, and enabling students to become independent and lifelong learners. Inquiry begins with these transdisciplinary themes:

• Who we are
• Where we are in place and time
• How we express ourselves
• How the world works
• How we organize ourselves
• Sharing the planet

Using structured inquiry based on these themes, the PYP gives children a strong foundation in languages, social studies, mathematics, arts, science and technology, physical education, and personal and social education. The themes include and transcend subject areas and are used to classify knowledge about the world.

UNITS OF INQUIRY

PYP students explore the transdisciplinary themes each year through Units of Inquiry designed to ensure that knowledge, concepts, and skills are developed in sequence. Students become familiar with the structure of questioning, later using this method to answer their own independent questions. The units of inquiry also frame the development of attitudes and the choice of appropriate action on the part of the students.

SKILLS

The acquisition of transdisciplinary skills — those tools needed to acquire, organize, and communicate knowledge — is essential in making students independent learners, capable of pursuing knowledge beyond the classroom. We work systematically to develop and practice skills through the PYP years, each year providing a foundation on which the next year can build.

Research Skills: Students learn how to formulate questions; collect, organize, and interpret data; and present research findings.

Thinking Skills: Through the inquiry method, students learn to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the knowledge they have acquired.

Social Skills: Students learn to accept responsibility, respect others, and resolve conflicts.

Communication skills: Rich and extensive language learning challenges students to become world citizens. Fluency in more than one language opens not only greater possibilities of communication but also greater understanding of other cultures. Students read from a variety of sources, recording and presenting their findings using appropriate technology for effective presentation and representation.

Self - Management Skills: Students work on time-management, organization, safety, good behavior, informed choices, and a healthy lifestyle.

ATTITUDES

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) focuses on the development of personal attitudes towards people, towards the environment and towards learning. These attitudes contribute to the well-being of the individual and of the group.

The Primary Years Program suggests that schools should encourage children to develop the following attitudes:

Appreciation: Appreciating the wonder and beauty of the world and its people.

Commitment: Being committed to their own learning, persevering and showing self-discipline and responsibility.

Confidence: Feeling confident in their ability as learners, having the courage to take risks, applying what they have learned and making appropriate decisions and choices.

Cooperation: Cooperating, collaborating, and leading or following as the situation demands.

Creativity: Being creative and imaginative in their thinking and in their approach.

Curiosity: Being curious about the nature of learning, about the world, its people and culture.

Empathy: Imagining themselves in another’s situation in order to understand his or her reasoning and emotions, so as to be open-minded and reflective about the perspective of others.

Enthusiasm: Enjoying learning and willingly putting the effort into the process.

Independence: Thinking and acting independently, making their own judgments based on reasoned argument, and being able to defend their judgments.

Integrity: Being honest and demonstrating a considered sense of fairness.

Respect: Respecting themselves, others and the world around them.

Tolerance: Being sensitive about differences and diversity in the world and being responsive to the needs of others.

ACTION

An explicit expectation of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) is that successful inquiry will lead to responsible action, initiated by the students as a result of the learning process. The action will extend the student’s learning or may have a wider social impact. Escuela Bilingüe Internacional offers to the students the opportunity and the power to choose to act, to decide on their actions and to reflect on these actions in order to make a difference in and to the world.

How do the themes and Units of Inquiry work together?

Here is an example:

Kindergarten Unit of Inquiry: The Same, but Different

Kindergarten students work with the transdisciplinary theme “who we are” with a unit on differences and similarities that we have with others.

Over the course of six weeks, students develop an understanding of the central idea “Human beings have similarities and differences that unite us”. Teachers plan learning experiences that allow students to construct meaning about how we are similar to yet different from others. Once learners develop a basic understanding of the concepts, teachers guide their students beyond the content into considering how we perceive what surrounds us and finally what we can learn from the differences and similarities we have with others.

Students construct knowledge through engagement and experimentation with the different disciplines. The children use science to make meaning of the central idea by learning about their senses, how they perceive the world using their senses and how different people perceive the world in similar and different ways. They extend this line of inquiry using music and learning how we use our senses to hear low-pitched and high-pitched sounds. In language arts, they read stories about similarities and differences and use information books to learn how we use our senses and how people are similar and different. They use writing and visual media to communicate what they are learning with others. Their work in social studies includes coming together as a classroom community to discuss similarities and differences and establish agreements for respecting themselves, each other and the learning environment. In physical education, the children learn about each other’s strength areas and how they can collaborate as team members to achieve a goal taking into account the ways they are similar and different. The children further develop an understanding of their similarities and differences by using non-standard measurement in mathematics to explore height and weight and graphing their results. In addition to their work in the disciplines, the children and/or the teachers may invite guest experts to share what they know about differences and similarities or take field trips to places that support their learning in away that classroom activity cannot. Along the way, the teachers guide students’ inquiry, recording observations about the children’s learning as the students’ knowledge grows.

For more information on the IBPYP please download the introductory presentation from the International Baccalaureate, refer to Sagrario Argüelles, PYP Coordinator or visit www.ibo.org.