Hi
We are looking into schools for kindergarten next year for our son 5y0m. Several local schools offer the international baccalaureate primary years program, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I quite like some of the aspects of the approach, especially encouraging risk-taking within learning which my son reeeeally needs work on, perfectionist that he is. However I haven't met anyone who's actually had experience with the program. Anyone have any thoughts?

Hi
I posted this in the elementary school forum as well, but thought I'd try here as well:
We are looking into schools for kindergarten next year for our son 5y0m. Several local schools offer the international baccalaureate primary years program, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I quite like some of the aspects of the approach, especially encouraging risk-taking within learning which my son reeeeally needs work on, perfectionist that he is. However I haven't met anyone who's actually had experience with the program. Anyone have any thoughts?

As a parent I have not had experience with it, however, I have worked at schools where it is taught and really like it. If my kids had been school age when I taught there I would have been thrilled to have them in the program.
Done correctly, the program does make the kids think critically and see the world around them in a different way. It is great at generating thinkers and more independent learners. The culminating project in grade 5 is a big bonus of the program, in my opinion, because it allows the kids to delve really deep into a topic that is interesting and intriguing to the kids as well as giving them a chance to do some real research and presenting.

It did not work well for DS8, who is HG+ and needs lots of time for experimentation and free play. He ended up with such a high level of stress and anxiety that he would throw up several times throughout the school week. I realize that the regimented and high-pressure nature of that school may not have been as much about the IB program in and of itself as it was an issue with implementation of the program.

I found the IB PYP program at that school to be more effective and positive for his classmates who were both high ability and high achievers, but who may or may not have been gifted.

Thanks for the input. Sounds like both of you have very different experiences with the program. Diamondblue, sorry to hear about your son, sounds like an awful experience. I don't get the impression from the school I am looking at that they are regimented or high-pressure, in fact it seemed a lot less so than the other "traditional" school we looked at... It's definitely something to keep in mind though, because my DS is high anxiety and probably wouldn't cope well with that sort of environment. Thanks for heads up.

I just wanted to come in and edit this post to say I now love this program! The project-based learning has become the highlight of my child's educational experience.

Good things:
A second language and art must be offered, which is helpful in today's climate where those things get cut first. My child would not be getting foreign language if it weren't required by the IB program.

I live in a state with weak state standards, and I like the fact that there is a second body looking in.

The learner profile stuff gets a little hokey at times, but I think it is good that they're getting those ideas drilled into them. (The kids do talk a lot about taking risks and there is space built in for them to be reflective, for example).

The transdisciplinary learning is not just talk. It is obvious that the teachers spend a lot of time developing the curriculum together.

The kids stay with one main teacher for all their academic subjects, which means that there is less opportunity for differentiation by splitting kids up into subject classes with different teachers. My child's school definitely struggles with differentiation, but I do think they are trying to crack that nut. But honestly, when I look ahead, I do not see her getting the same education that her friends in private school are going to get by the time they are in the 5th grade unless we give it to her at home.

If you are in a public school the inquiry-based approach does not supersede mandatory state tests, so if the school feels the need to teach to the test, they're still going to teach to the test. My child's school still has plenty of worksheets, even with the IB program.

Thanks so much for that detailed reply. It's great to hear from people who have actual hands on experience. The school we are looking at is private, however it is my understanding (I may be wrong) that where we are (australia), the national curriculum can't be entirely replaced by an individual school's curriculum. They have promised differentiation of course, but I'm unsure how that will work out. He would be starting in a combined kindergarten/grade 1 class, so at least he would be able to do the grade 1 work. DS is not HG, so this may well be enough for him, although from what I can gather he is already at around a beginning grade 2 level for measurable things eg maths/reading with very little instruction, and will not start kindergarten for another 6 months. Of course kindergarten is also about social skills and other things, so I hope it will be a good fit and he'll be happy there. Our local public schools are struggling due to axing of teaching positions and budgets, and there are no other good private schools nearby, so fingers crossed.

It sounds like you have some school values in place that I would like for my child (combining grades and promising differentiation). In my opinion, when you have a perfect world where you get to choose, you need to look at school values and IB values separately. IB values are a constant, school values are a variable, and both are important.

The trans-disciplinary learning really is great. In the US, state standards tell you what facts and skills you must learn, and at what ages. Our Common Core that everyone is talking about suggests transdisiplinary learning, but it doesn't provide a methodology. From what I see, that's what IB provides--a framework that help schools integrate these themes and learner profiles with the work.

So an IB school has to provide BOTH the facts and skills that the state requires (or your national curriculum) and the collaborative, project-based, process-oriented methodology that IB requires. What that means to me is that while you may be able to teach to the test some of the time, you can't limit yourself to that and still be an IB school. I like that.

I may have just said the same thing twice, but you get the point.

I agree with Questions202. I really like the international bent in IB PYP but so far I haven't seen rigor necessarily. To the contrary, our school's adoption of PYP has made it harder for me to get my child the math acceleration he needs, as I've been told that PYP prohibits switching classes for math. (I am not totally sure how accurate that is and am in the process of trying to figure that out).

Hi Napangaka. This should help re your concerns about IB PYP meeting Australian curriculum standards. It is the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority report which recommends the IB for recognition as meeting the standards. It was passed in 2011 so all good on that front. The Australian Curriculum is about meeting certain minimum standards and objectives and they have determined that IB meets those criteria.

http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/ib_recommendations_attachment.pdf

Hi Kombre. From the IB website it would appear from one comment that schools have some flexibility in how they administer the IB. Not sure if that is helpful re trying to advocate for acceleration.


"All assessment in the Primary Years Programme is carried out internally by teachers within the school. The IB does not set examinations nor does it moderate grades in the PYP."

My children are at a private IB school in Australia, our local public school offers the PYP as well. Our maths standards, for example, include the IB guidelines and the Australian National Curriculum (which if I understand it all schools must meet). Both my boys received differentiated maths instruction both in the regular classroom and outside with a specialist enrichment teacher.

FWIW, my children do very few worksheets. There is not a lot of testing, NAPLAN being the exception (unavioidable). I think they spend a little bit of time each day the week before preparing for it (minimal in my mind).

We did an extensive search of schools, and have not found one that would work better for us than the one we are currently using. Not to say it is perfect, but I have yet to find a perfect school!

Let me know if I can be of any more help.

Thanks heaps for the info! We had our formal interview this week and we were quite impressed. He got a spot, so we'll be going ahead and enrolling him for next year. In terms of acceleration, they said that they aim for flexibility and fluidity between grades, and that they expect to have some kindergarten children attending higher grades for certain subjects. We'll see how that pans out in real life.