Le Monde is an official International Baccalaureate (IB) Candidate School for the Primary Years Programme (PYP). Our elementary program builds curious, confident learners through full language immersion, IB-aligned inquiry, and a warm, community-centered culture. From day one, students learn core academic content through a second language while developing strong foundations in literacy, numeracy, science, and the arts, meeting and often exceeding Oklahoma Academic Standards.

We believe every child can grow into a capable, confident learner, not because talent is fixed, but because effort, practice, and the right support build real ability over time. That belief runs through everything we do: students learn that “I can’t do this yet” is simply the starting point, and that mistakes are evidence of learning, not failure.

• Strong Academics — A high-quality curriculum, explicit literacy and math instruction, and frequent checks for understanding (including benchmark assessments) let us personalize support and meet every child where they are.
• A Growth-Oriented Culture — We teach students that ability grows with effort and strategy. Mistakes are treated as part of learning, and “not yet” is part of our everyday classroom language.
• Whole-Child Development — Social-emotional learning, character, and collaboration are built into daily routines, not treated as an add-on.
• Safe, Caring Environment — Clear routines and strong family partnerships give students the stability they need to take on challenges and stick with them.

Language immersion means students learn academic content through the target language. It is challenging by design — and that challenge is exactly what builds resilient, capable communicators. Teachers use visuals, modeling, gestures (TPR), and structured talk to make content comprehensible while students steadily grow their bilingual skills, one attempt at a time.

Pre-K: Language Immersion & Foundations

• Joyful exposure through songs, stories, routines, and play.
• Oral language first; early print awareness grows naturally.
• English used strategically for safety and relationship-building.

K–2nd: 90% in the Target Language

• Core instruction occurs almost entirely in the target language; ~10% English supports foundational literacy bridges and essential services.
• Techniques include comprehensible input, sentence frames, partner talk, and small-group supports — scaffolds that let students stretch into what they can’t quite do alone yet.
• Early literacy develops in both languages with intentional transfer (phonemic awareness, phonics, high-frequency words, shared reading).

3rd–5th: 50/50 Model

• Approximately half the day in the target language and half in English.
• Typical pattern: math and science in the target language; ELA in English; social studies alternates and spirals across languages.
• Writing and academic talk are balanced to strengthen biliteracy; assessments in both languages guide instruction.

Why this progression works: High exposure in K–2 builds strong listening and speaking skills and academic vocabulary through sustained effort and repetition. The 50/50 balance in grades 3–5 deepens biliteracy and builds the stamina and confidence students need for middle school.

Family partnership: We provide at-home ideas — songs, read-alouds, cognate lists — so every family, regardless of language background, can support their child’s persistence and progress at home.

The IB Primary Years Programme is an internationally recognized framework for students ages 3–12, used in thousands of schools across more than 100 countries. It is built around the idea that learning is most powerful when students actively construct understanding — asking questions, testing ideas, and revising their thinking — rather than passively receiving information. As a Candidate School for the PYP, Le Monde is working toward full IB authorization while already implementing the programme’s framework, standards, and philosophy in our classrooms.

The Learner Profile

At the heart of the PYP is the IB Learner Profile — ten attributes of internationally minded people that we develop explicitly at every grade level: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective. These aren’t abstract ideals; they show up in daily classroom language, in how conflicts are resolved on the playground, and in how students talk about their own learning.

Transdisciplinary Learning

Rather than teaching subjects in isolation, PYP units are organized around six transdisciplinary themes that connect reading, writing, math, science, and social studies to real-world questions — themes like Who We Are, How the World Works, How We Express Ourselves, and Sharing the Planet. Grade-level teams design these standards-aligned units collaboratively, so learning feels connected rather than fragmented.

How It Works Here

• Inquiry Units — Teacher teams design units of inquiry that anchor a full range of academic content in genuine, student-driven questions.
• Immersion + Inquiry — Students investigate central ideas in both the target language and English (per our immersion model), building bilingual academic vocabulary and transfer skills as they go.
• Concept to Action — Learning moves deliberately from facts → concepts → action, culminating in age-appropriate service and student-led projects. Students learn that understanding something well means being able to do something with it.
• Approaches to Learning (ATL) — Alongside content, students explicitly build the skill sets the IB identifies as essential to lifelong learning: thinking skills, research skills, communication, social skills, and self-management — including goal-setting and reflecting on effort and strategy, not just results.
• Assessment for Learning — Rubrics, structured reflection, and benchmark data (alongside IB-aligned tasks) give students ongoing, honest feedback they can act on.
• Culminating Showcases — Students present their learning to the community and reflect on their growth as learners, practicing the habit of looking back at how far their effort has taken them.
• The PYP Exhibition (Grade 5) — Our oldest elementary students take on a collaborative, self-directed inquiry into a real-world issue they care about — the capstone experience of the programme, where every Learner Profile attribute and years of ATL skill-building come together.

Le Monde students leave elementary school as learners who know that ability is built, not born. They are:

• Bilingual and Biliterate — Communicating effectively in more than one language, across subjects.
• Academically Strong — Reading, writing, and reasoning with confidence; applying math to real problems.
• Globally Minded — Demonstrating the IB Learner Profile through empathy, curiosity, and principled action.
• Resilient and Reflective — Comfortable with challenge, able to name their own strategies for working through difficulty, and confident that consistent effort leads to growth.
• Ready for Middle School — Equipped with strong study habits, collaboration skills, and a genuine growth mindset.