Explaining the International Primary Curriculum Early Years Programme
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The International Primary Curriculum Early Years has been written to help teachers be the best teacher they can be, and even more importantly, help their children receive the best international education possible.
It isn’t possible to adopt a ‘one-size fits all’ approach to the education of early years children. It is, however, possible – and necessary – to establish certain principles which, while they may be adapted to suit individual schools, underpin the IPC at early years level.
These principles can be summarised as follows.
- The overriding purpose of early years education is to help children develop the skills and attitudes they will need both at this level and throughout a lifetime of learning.
- Children need an holistic educational experience that doesn’t create artificial boundaries between different aspects of their development.
- Play is an essential part of children’s learning and general development.
The activities undertaken by children aged four and five should help them work towards the subject, personal and international goals of the International Primary Curriculum.
Description of Early Years provision
What follows is a set of descriptions of the things about which children aged four and five should learn. Through this learning, they will develop the skills and attitudes they need to work towards the IPC learning goals at Milepost 1.
The learning strands
At the very heart of the IPC Early Years is a clarity about what children should learn. The learning of children aged four to five is described in four strands:
1.Independence and interdependence
These learning strands are so central to the IPC Early Years that teachers need to think about the language they use when they are communicating with children, colleagues and parents. IPC Early Years teachers talk about what children have learned before they talk about what children have done. The clear, precise learning strands and targets give teachers the chance to do that.
The Early Years Programme of the IPC was never intended to offer a complete language and numeracy programme. There are, however, many opportunities within the strands and therefore within the units for the development of early literacy and numeracy skills.
Early literacy opportunities Using language skills in a variety of contexts. Enjoying and using books. Responding to rhyme, rhythm and alliteration. Enjoying nonsense stories and rhymes. Using words, pictures, print and sounds to represent thoughts, experiences and ideas. Exploring and observing the use of print. Enjoying stories and literature valued by the cultures in their communities. Enjoying and using words and books. Creating stories and symbols. Exploring some of the technology and resources used for mathematics, reading and writing. | Early numeracy opportunities Using shapes and numbers to represent thoughts and ideas. Exploring and observing the use of numbers in purposeful activities. Using mathematical symbols and concepts. Enjoying and using numbers. Exploring some of the technology and resources used for mathematics reading and writing. Setting and solving problems. Looking for patterns, classifying things for a purpose, guessing, using trial and error. |
The Early Years programme reflects the commitment of the whole International Primary Curriculum to the development of an international mindset.
International goals
An international curriculum should develop in children:
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knowledge and understanding beyond that related to their own nationality
- an understanding of the independence and interdependence of peoples, countries and cultures.
It should enable children to:
- adapt to other education systems
- develop both a national and an international perspective.
It should include:
- a degree of focus on the host country
- a degree of focus on the home country.
These characteristics should be reflected in the whole curriculum and in all other aspects of school life. (Adapted from Teaching the IPC Early Years Programme)
