| The Primary years program has identified six areas of knowledge - called transdisciplinary
themes - that are considered to be of lasting significance for all students and for all cultures.
These themes provide a framework for teachers to design units of inquiry that incorporate
district/state/national learning standards as well as oppurtunities for students to develop the skills;
attitudes, concepts and knowledge needed to become internationally - minded people and life-long learners.
PYP units of inquiry approach learning as being transdisciplinary in nature. Teachers use
structured inquiry to guide students through each unit while incorporating perspectives from a
variety of fields of knowledge (scientific, mathematical,technological,artistic,musical,linguistic, historical,cultural and socialto name a few) to build on their past experiences and reach new
understandings.
The six transdisciplinary themes are addressed at each grade level, even though the individual
units of inquiry based upon them are all unique, exploring different aspects of the knowledge
contained under each theme. In addition to six yearly transdisciplinary units of inquiry based upon
the PYP transdisciplinary themes, students receive daily instruction in Math, Reading and Writing to ensure
that they continue to develop their skills in those foundational subject areas.
The PYP transdisciplinary themes are as follows:
| Who We Are - Exploring ourselves, our beliefs and values rights and responsibilities, our friends, families and cultures. |
How We Express Ourselves - Exploring the ways that express ourselves, our ideas, our feelings, our cultures, and our
beliefs and values through language and the Arts. |
| How We Organize Ourselves - Exploring human systems and communities and the working world. |
Where We Are in Place and Time - Exploring our location in place and time, our personal histories, local and global
history and geography, migrations and discoveries of ourselves and others, the contributions of individuals
and civilizations. |
| How the World Works - Exploring natural and human-made phenomena and the world of science and technology |
Sharing the Planet - Exploring relationships between living and how humans and other living things share
the world's finite resources. |
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