The Director of BBIS discusses the value of an IB education

An IB education in the early years allows children the opportunity to explore the benefits of adopting the IB philosophy from an early age in the context of family global mobility.

Peter Kotrc

10 January 2017

When moving with young children to a new country, parents are often faced with the dilemma of putting their 3–5 year olds in either a local or an international Kindergarten or pre-school. In order to make this decision, parents should consider long-term planning in this situation: what are their plans for the future? Is it likely that the posting will become a permanent move to the new country? When parents embark on an international career, they should consider a form of early education that is compatible with schools in their next location assignment.Most likely, the International Baccalaureate programmes come to mind. Most international schools offering the IB curricula in primary/elementary and secondary/middle/high schools will also adopt the principles of the IB for their youngest pupils. These schools will use the IB early learner profile as a baseline for the child’s school career all the way up until the age of 18.

The ten IB traits are a perfect basis for very young children as they support their development. For example, 3–5 year olds are:

dedicated, curious inquirers
they strive to become good communicators
they are unspoilt in their principles
their learning always starts with an open mind
they are risk-takers (sometimes maybe too much for their parents)
they dare to try out new things
they think deeply about problems

BBIS children

These intuitive, child-like traits attained in the IB Early Years Programme continue in an upward spiral and prepare students not only for completing the IB curriculum but also for our ever-changing, globalised world. At the Berlin Brandenburg International School, we have combined the IB traits with the avant-garde Reggio Emilia model to nurture creativity and inspire children to develop even more curiosity during their time with us.So, an IB early education and the IB learner profile are both safeguarding the smooth transition for students moving from one IB school to the next, maintaining the same philosophy and the same approaches to teaching. Surely that is enough reason to choose an IB education as early as possible!