THE IB PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME (PYP)
IN AN EARLY YEARS SETTING
Laying a solid foundation
for future learning

What is your memorable early learning experience? If you’re like many adults, you have fondmemories of kindergarten. We now know, though, that children actually need to begin theireducation before kindergarten. Those early years are key. Children are active in the learning
process and preschool lays a solid foundation for future learning.
Research by the Centre on the Developing
Child, Harvard University, also underlines theimportance of preschool. It indicates that forchildren to reach their full potential, they needstimulating and appropriate experiences inthe earliest years, when their brain is optimallyprogrammed to benefit from these experiences.
These very young learners need stimulating,supportive interactions with their peers andteachers and the effective use of curricula.
The early years settings of the Primary Years
Programme (PYP) provides schools with athoughtfully designed way to give 3-to-5-yearolds exactly that. The PYP was created 17 years
ago by the International Baccalaureate (IB),which also offers the Middle Years, Career-related and Diploma Programme for older
students.

The IB knows that young learners are intelligent, resourceful and creative individuals whogrow, develop and learn at different rates.
They explore their environment and learn
about their world through play and relationships with peers, teachers, family and community members. Early learning in the PYP isa holistic learning experience that integrates
socio-emotional, physical and cognitive development. In the PYP classroom, it takes placein dynamic environments that promote play,
discovery and exploration.
Parents whose children have experienced
the PYP in an early years setting like how theprogramme acknowledges that each child isunique. One parent sees “an appreciation of thefact the children develop differently, so one-sizefits-all doesn’t apply with the kids and that’s quitekey.”
Teachers are enthusiastic, too. For example,
one says, “It’s quite amazing in the sense that …
all the curriculum areas encourage inquiry.”And teachers appreciate the opportunities for
professional development that the IB offersthem. Online and face-to-face workshops areavailable year-round, including ones such as“Making the PYP happen in the classroom inthe early years” and “Play-based learning.” Bothpractitioners who have no formal qualifications in education or child services andthose with such qualifications find workshops
designed for them.
Research supports the effectiveness of theIB’s PYP in an early years setting. A study byresearchers from Deakin University in Australia of four such programmes in Australia andSingapore found that the literacy skills werefairly developed; children were performingat levels commensurate with or better interms of school readiness; and children weredeveloping learning skills at higher rates thana comparative sample.
The IB works with schools large and small,government-funded and private, to begin andsupport their early years programmes.

Interested in learning more about
the PYP? Watch a video, download
brochures, and read more online!
www.ibo.org/pyp

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) is designed to be responsive to young children’s ways of knowing by the International Baccalaureate (IB), a not-for-profit
organization supporting the education of more than 1 million students every year
in over 3,900 schools in 147 countries. It provides schools with a thoughtfully designed way to give 3-to-5-year-olds stimulating, supportive interactions with theirteachers and the effective use of curricula.

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2015
International Baccalaureate® | Baccalauréat International® | Bachillerato Internacional®