The Primary Program at BASIS International School Bangkok offers an unmatched learning experience for students as they begin to fully embrace a variety of subjects and their inter-connectivity. This program is uniquely defined by the emphasis on connections between subjects as well as the teaching partnership present in Grades 1– 5.* Students have different Subject Expert Teachers (SETs) for every core class paired with a Learning Expert Teacher (LET) from Grade1 to 4 and Grade 5 for Academic Coach shepherding the learning environment as they move from each SET’s classroom to another with their LET.
Grades 1 through 5 Curriculum
Starting in Grade 1, BASIS Curriculum students are no longer in a self-contained classroom for a full-day.
Our Primary School curriculum (Grades 1 through 5) was developed through collaborative work within the BASIS Curriculum Schools Network by teachers with deep subject knowledge, and elementary education experts with diverse teaching experiences.
For G1-G4, in every subject, student work with a Subject Expert Learning Expert teachers.
For G5, students gain independence and learning to work with Subject Expert teachers and Academic Coach directly, testing the boundary of moving up to higher level learning.
Subject Expert and Learning Expert Teacher Model (G1 – G4)
The BASIS Primary School Program has a unique educational model that enables students to rapidly master content knowledge. Two teachers work in tandem to introduce and reinforce skills and knowledge that accelerates the learning process.
The Subject Expert Teacher (SET) is a teacher who specializes in the subject that they are teaching, many of whom have advanced degrees in the field they teach. These teachers bring the depth of content knowledge and passion for their subject material that ignites student’s interests.
The Learning Expert Teacher (LET) is a teacher who specializes in educational pedagogy. The role of the LET is to ensure that students understand what they are being taught and that each individual student is working to the best of his or her ability. The LET travels with the students throughout the school day as they move between subjects.
The synergy of the SET and LET facilitates a rapid transition from instruction of foundational skills and knowledge to independent thinking and active learning.
Spiraling Curriculum and Connections
The BASIS Curriculum has been designed to link subject matter across content areas and Grade levels. This approach teaches students that the ability to combine information and methods among various content areas is a powerful tool necessary to understand and change the world. To help reinforce concepts and master subject material, our curriculum is designed to revisit core concepts as students progress through the school year. This spiraling curriculum ensures a thorough understanding of the content within each subject.
Emphasis is placed on making connections between subjects by reiterating key concepts throughout the curriculum fostering the move from acquisition to application of knowledge. A key element of this is the Connections Class (Grades 1-3) and Academic Enrichment (Grade 4-5) taught by the LET in which students synthesize the information they have been learning throughout their various subjects in a project based group setting.
