We help young learners to develop their coordination, creativity, and expression skills. With so much available in the immediate vicinity of the school, including Comenius Park, the Ostrava Zoo, and the Arts Museum, our students get to learn and play in environments that encourage discovery, teamwork and problem solving.
Learning Programme
The IB Learner Profile at the Early Years Centre
The International Baccalaureate programmes strive to encourage young people to be internationally-minded, by recognising our common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, and who help to create a better and more peaceful world.
The IB Learner Profile is a set of attributes and values that we encourage our school community to adopt, starting with our youngest learners.
At the Early Years Centre, we learn to assimilate the IB Learner Profile attributes through various mindfulness practices embedded into the curriculum. These encourage our young learners to begin taking action over their behavioural choices, both independently, and within the community.
To make it even more fun, children are awarded with a joyful TOIS Celebration Card when exemplifying a positive IB Learner Profile choice.
Sample Schedule
Our Early Years (3-4 year-olds) and PYP Prep (5 years old) children are free to discover, connect and achieve in the calm, safe and green environment of the TOIS Early Years Centre.
TOIS Early Years Centre introduces young learners to the IB PYP program, which offers an exceptionally well-articulated, transdisciplinary framework, that links Units of Inquiry with English Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Science, PSPE (Personal, Social & Physical Education), Visual Arts, and Music.
A typical day at the Early Years Centre might look like this:
- 8:00-8:30 Arrival and morning discovery
- 08:30-09:00 Circle Time
- 09:00-09:15 Exercise and Hygiene
- 09:15-09:30 Snack
- 09:30-10:45 Unit of Inquiry Time
- 10:45-11:30 Outdoor play
- 11:30-12:00 Lunch
- 12:00-12:15 Hygiene
- 12:15-13:45 Resting & Play Time
- 13:45-14:00 Snack
- 14:00-14:45 Individual UOI Time and Play Time
- 14:45-16:00 Clubs & Pick Up Time
Units of Inquiry
The Early Years Centre programmes are all about play-based, inquiry-led learning. We believe that when learning is fun, and full of conversations and questions, children naturally draw upon their boundless imagination to make curious connections and deeper understandings.
Literacy and numeracy foundations are embedded within four Units of Inquiry (UoI) each year. Every UoI focuses on meaningful and conceptual central ideas that offer kids the chance to playfully and purposefully link their learning across a variety of subject areas.
| Early Years 3-4 Units of Inquiry |
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| PYP Prep Units of Inquiry |
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Numeracy
TOIS EYC believes that Mathematics can open up a world of discovery for children to learn about themselves and the world around them.
Through personal investigation, children develop mathematical thinking through pictures and drawings, mathematical symbols, table and writing, and by sharing what they have learned with others.
Through the communication of Mathematical concepts, children also learn that there can be several ways to solve a problem, and how important it is to listen to the reasoning of others.
| Early Years 3-4 Numeracy Focus |
Mathematical skills relating to number, measurement and shape are embedded throughout the Units of Inquiry, in the form of games and activities.
Learners discover through:
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| PYP Prep Numeracy Focus |
Units of inquiry expand Mathematical concepts to include an expanded use of culture and internationalism.
Learners discover, connect and articulate Mathematical connections by:
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English Language and Literacy
Our Language and Literacy program aims to inspire learners to read, write, and express themselves with joy and enthusiasm. Children practice language skills by imitating what they hear. Language empowers the learner and provides an intellectual framework to support conceptual development and critical thinking.
For most of our youngest learners at TOIS, English is already a second or third language.
Although it may initially take young learners a bit more time to express themselves fluently in several languages at once, there are proven benefits to learning additional languages at an early age. Multilingual children are often in a position to learn certain skills faster, including problem-solving, socialising, and moving beyond creative limits.
Multilingual learners become Global Citizens, naturally.
| Early Years 3-4 English Language and Literacy |
Children learn to express themselves in the language arts through:
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| PYP Prep English Language and Literacy |
Children continue to develop their expressive abilities, learning to read and write, sharing their own ideas individually and in groups, integrating their understanding of an expanding world by:
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Science
Children develop language skills and at the same time deepen intercultural understanding, learn about the differences in the way of life of people from other countries and their different cultural traditions. The program helps create preconditions for effective interpersonal communication, either oral or written. It develops strategic skills: formulate ideas orally and in writing, understand spoken and written language.
Children have a natural yearning to discovery and understand the biological, chemical, and physical aspects of our constantly changing world.
Through targeted scientific play and inquiry, our learners absorb the language to develop the scientific skills of observation, prediction, critical thinking, and discussion, and a greater appreciation that their actions influence not only themselves, but the world around them.
The knowledge of Science in the EYC PYP is arranged into five strands, integrated with the Units of Inquiry:
- Living and Non-living Things
- Healthy Humans
- Seasonal Changes
- Materials and Matter
- Forces and Energy
Personal, Social, and Physical Education (PSPE)
At TOIS, Physical Education is not separated from the rest of the curriculum. Rather, it is closely linked with the overall personal and social development of the student, and embedded throughout the Units of Inquiry, with the aim of encouraging our students to pursue life-long, healthy lifestyles.
Well-being is supported through three interactive strands:
- Identity: Developing an understanding of one’s own beliefs and values, in order to successfully cope with situations of change
- Active living: Understanding the attributes of a balanced, healthy lifestyle, the body’s potential for movement and expression, prevention of illness, making healthy choices, and evaluating consequences
- Interactions: Appreciating the environment
Physical Education focuses on:
- Developing locomotor and non-locomotor skills, balance, coordination and control. Developing self-control and social skills during games and physical activities.
| Physical Education | Personal and Social Education | |
| Early Years 3-4 PSPE |
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| PYP Prep PSPE |
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Visual Arts
Visual Arts at the early Years Centre lead children to follow their curiosity and explore artistic experiences through the use of a wide variety of materials and media. By learning the basic language of art (colour, shape, line, space, texture), children get a sense of infinite possibility.
Our young learners express and interpret concepts and ideas, using everything from classic paper and pen, to materials such as seeds, leaves, flowers, fruits, glues, ribbons, buttons, shaving foam, cotton, clay, chalk, charcoal, pastels, crayons, pencils, felt pens, and different types of paints.
| Early Years 3-4 Visual Arts |
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| PYP Prep Visual Arts |
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Music
Music is a language and form of expressions that we encourage our students to discover and nurture for a lifetime.
Early Years Centre Music helps students tune in to their learning by exploring body music, listening for melody, rhythm, and harmony, playing simple instruments, singing and notation.
Each Unit of Inquiry incorporates strands of singing, improvisation and creation, instrumentation and music appreciation, in an effort to allow music to become an area of discovery, connection, inspiration.
| Early Years Music |
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| PYP Prep Music |
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Mother Tongue
Our students come to us with diverse cultural identities and it is important to develop the mother tongue language to celebrate their cultural background. Success in mother tongue development is a strong predictor of students´ academic achievements. It has an impact on the cognitive development of a student including the acquisition of other languages.
TOIS EYC fosters Mother Tongue development by:
- Promoting free-time play in the mother tongue
- Celebrating festivals of all nationalities attending the school
- Stocking the library with the books in various mother tongues
- Educating parents of the importance of mother tongue being used at home
Clubs and Activities
TOIS EYC provides after-school activities to further enrich the learning experience of our students. There are two 45 minute-blocks dedicated to clubs after school weekly, starting at 3:00 p.m.
Clubs and activities are offered in accordance with parental preference, and may very from term to term to include, for example:
- Lego Club
- Dance Club
- Cooking Club
- Yoga Club
Discover
Providing opportunities for children to discover their world through sensory experience form the basis of TOIS Early Years approach to teaching and learning. We want our children to observe, to listen, to enjoy movement, to touch things, and to express themselves in all kinds of ways.
Connect
Whether on their own, in small groups, or in larger assemblies, we provide young learners with lots of opportunities to get involved in activities that they care about.
Achieve
The Units of Inquiry at the Early Year’s Centre give learners a creative and fun head start in Mathematics, Literacy, Science, the Arts, and PE on the path to the Primary Years Programme.
What They Say
