Artifact 05PYP sample unit · Home Connect Letter
PYP home connect letter example: Taking Care of Myself, PYP 1
The whole home connect letter, free to read on this page. The print-ready PDF is free with a teacher account.
Prepared with a PYP school in Hyderabad.
- Role
- PYP homeroom teacher
- Programme
- PYP
- Year group
- PYP 1
- Published
- Length
- 2,296 words, 10 min read
Contents18 sections
- PYP 1 · Academic Year 2026–27
Who We Are
An inquiry into identity as individuals and as part of a collective through:
physical, emotional, social and spiritual health and well-being
relationships and belonging
learning and growing
Our choices about habits, hygiene, and nutrition affect our well-being.
Unit 1: Taking Care of Myself · August–September 2026
NAVIGATING THIS LETTER
What’s inside
SECTION | WHAT YOU’LL FIND |
|---|---|
Welcome Message | An introduction to the learning journey ahead |
Unit Snapshot | Central idea, lines of inquiry, concepts and learning focus |
Know · Understand · Do | What learners will know, understand and be able to do |
Learner Profile & ATL | The dispositions and skills being developed |
Recommended Resources | Books to support the inquiry at home |
Learning Across the Subjects | Language · Mathematics · Additional Languages · Arts · PSPE · Library |
MERAK | KOKORO (SEL) and Action Pathways |
Assessment | How learning is observed, documented and celebrated |
Parent Connect | How to support learning at home, and important dates |
WELCOME MESSAGE
Dear Families, Namaste!
As we begin our first Unit of Inquiry, we warmly invite you to join us on a learning journey filled with wonder, discovery and meaningful connections. At our school, we believe learning flourishes when learners, families and educators work together to nurture curiosity, agency and a lifelong love for learning.
Guided by the IB Primary Years Programme, learners explore significant ideas that help them better understand themselves, others and the world around them. In this first unit, Taking Care of Myself, your child becomes an inquirer into their own well-being: discovering how the everyday choices they make about habits, hygiene and food shape how they feel, grow and learn.
This letter is your window into the six weeks ahead: what learners will explore, the concepts and skills they will build, how learning connects across subjects, and how you can be part of it at home. The most powerful partner in this unit is your dinner table: the small daily conversations about washing hands, choosing foods and going to bed on time are exactly where this learning lives.
Thank you for being an integral part of our learning community.
With gratitude,
The PYP 1 team
UNIT SNAPSHOT
What we are inquiring into
CENTRAL IDEA
Our choices about habits, hygiene, and nutrition affect our well-being.
Line of Inquiry 1
Practices that support good hygiene and health
FUNCTION
How do healthy practices and good habits work? Learners explore handwashing, brushing, bathing and rest, and discover what these routines actually do for the body.
Line of Inquiry 2
The food we eat changes how we feel and grow
CAUSATION
Why do certain choices affect our well-being? Learners sort foods, build balanced plates, and connect what they eat to energy, growth and feelings.
Line of Inquiry 3
The role we play in our well-being
RESPONSIBILITY
What is our role in staying healthy and well? Learners take charge: tracking a habit for a week, setting a Wellness Promise, and teaching others what they’ve learned.
Additional concepts: Well-being · Hygiene · Nutrition · Safety · Habits · Related concepts: Health · Relationships
KNOW · UNDERSTAND · DO
The learning goals, made visible
The KUD framework shows how learning is planned, taught and assessed in the PYP: beyond facts, towards deep conceptual understanding applied in real life.
Know
FACTS & VOCABULARY
Daily hygiene practices: handwashing steps, brushing, bathing, and when each is needed
Food groups, and “everyday” vs. “sometimes” foods
The habits that keep a body well: food, water, rest, movement, cleanliness
Vocabulary: hygiene, germs, habit, nutrition, well-being, balanced, everyday food, sometimes food, routine
Understand
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
The body needs hygiene, nutrition and healthy habits to function well and stay strong
Hygiene practices protect us from germs and illness
The foods we eat affect our energy, growth and feelings
Our daily choices cause positive or negative changes in our health, and taking care of our body is our own responsibility
Do
SKILLS & ACTIONS
Follow hygiene routines independently, and explain why they matter
Classify foods and design a balanced plate
Plan and sequence a healthy daily routine
Set a personal wellness goal, track it, and reflect on progress
DISPOSITIONS
Learner Profile in Focus
⚖ Balanced
Learners recognise the importance of balance in their lives: food, rest, play and quiet: making choices that support physical, emotional and social well-being.
💛 Caring
Learners take care of themselves and notice how their choices touch others: sharing fairly, keeping shared spaces clean, and helping younger friends learn healthy habits.
🪞 Reflective
Learners think about how their actions affect their health and safety: comparing their “before” and “after” thinking, and setting goals from what they notice.
SKILLS
Approaches to Learning (ATL)
🎯 Self-Management Skills
Targeted sub-skills: organisation · states of mind
Learners practise personal care routines, organise their daily habits, track a goal for a week, and take growing responsibility for the habits that keep them well.
💡 Thinking Skills
Targeted sub-skills: analysis · reflection
Learners sort and group foods and habits, reason about cause and effect (“if I skip washing my hands, then…”), and reflect on how their own choices change how they feel.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Books to explore at home
BOOK | AUTHOR | HOW IT SUPPORTS THE UNIT |
|---|---|---|
I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato | Lauren Child | Lola won’t eat her vegetables: until imagination changes everything. A joyful way into everyday/sometimes foods and trying new things. |
Germs Are Not for Sharing | Elizabeth Verdick | A gentle, practical introduction to how germs spread and the habits: washing, covering coughs: that keep everyone well. |
Gregory, the Terrible Eater | Mitchell Sharmat | A goat who wants fruits and vegetables while his parents push junk! Turns the balanced-diet conversation upside down, delightfully. |
Oh, the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You! | Tish Rabe | The Cat in the Hat’s tour of healthy habits: food, exercise, sleep and hygiene: in irresistible rhyme. |
Unit Reflection Template: whenever you observe your child taking meaningful action or sharing anecdotes connected to the unit: an unprompted handwash, a “this is a sometimes food!” at the shop: kindly record it in the reflection template and share it with the homeroom teachers.
LEARNING ACROSS THE SUBJECTS
Language
STRAND | FOCUS | WHAT LEARNERS WILL EXPLORE |
|---|---|---|
Oral Language: Listening | Active listening | Listen attentively, follow instructions, identify key information and respond appropriately during discussions and read-alouds. |
Oral Language: Speaking | Communicating ideas · questioning | Share ideas and experiences confidently through storytelling and discussion; ask and answer questions to deepen understanding of how choices affect wellness. |
Viewing & Presenting | Visual communication | Interpret posters and advertisements, understand how visual messages influence behaviour, and create their own campaign posters. |
Written Language: Reading | Decoding · fluency | Apply knowledge of common digraphs (sh, ch, th) to decode unfamiliar words; distinguish fiction from non-fiction; read familiar texts with growing accuracy and expression. |
Written Language: Writing | Sentence formation & conventions | Apply the CUPS strategy (Capitalisation, Usage, Punctuation, Spelling) to write instructions, captions and recounts with a beginning, middle and end. |
Grammar | Nouns | Identify and sort nouns as people, places, animals or things while talking and writing about everyday wellness experiences. |
Word Studio
Through the four pillars: Notice · Explore · Build · Transfer: learners collect the unit’s power words (hygiene, germs, habit, balanced, well-being), investigate their meanings, and use them confidently in speaking, writing and reflection.
LEARNING ACROSS THE SUBJECTS
Mathematics
STRAND | WHAT LEARNERS WILL EXPLORE |
|---|---|
Number | Count, estimate and compare quantities in real contexts; model simple fractions (½, ¼) through fair sharing of food; represent addition and subtraction stories with objects, drawings and number sentences. |
Measurement | Compare mass with a balance scale, measure length with cubes and centimetres, explore duration (how long is 20 seconds?), and read time to the hour and half-hour: connected to meals, sleep and routines. |
Data Handling | Run real surveys (favourite fruit, brushing tallies), build pictographs and tally charts, and use chance language: always, might, won’t: about everyday events. |
Pattern & Function | Find patterns in daily routines, skip-count in 2s, 5s and 10s, and build growing patterns: like a habit growing stronger every day. |
Shape & Space | Use positional language (above, behind, between) in movement games, and recognise 2D shapes while designing campaign posters. |
LEARNING ACROSS THE SUBJECTS
Additional Languages
LANGUAGE | WHAT LEARNERS WILL EXPLORE THIS TRIMESTER |
|---|---|
French | Actively listen and respond to familiar French words: greetings, classroom instructions and vocabulary: through songs, rhymes and games. Learn numbers 0–10, ask and answer simple questions (Comment t’appelles-tu ? Comment ça va ?), explore fun facts about France, and trace and write letters A–H. |
Spanish | Listen and respond to familiar Spanish greetings and classroom words through songs and partner games. Learn numbers 0–10, build early conversations (¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cómo estás?), explore Spanish culture, and trace and write letters A–H. |
Hindi | Explore healthy daily habits through poems and picture discussions; meet the vowels (स्वर अ–अः) through picture cards and sound games; begin tracing and writing; and reflect on healthy routines through the story Aalasi Ladka. |
Telugu | Build confidence in listening, speaking and reciting: including the poem “Endukuraa…” with clear pronunciation and expression; revise Telugu basics and learn Alpa and Maha Pranakshara words through engaging activities. |
Mandatory Telugu | Explore Telugu sounds and letters with picture support; respond to simple spoken instructions; interpret pictures of familiar objects and express observations using simple Telugu words. |
LEARNING ACROSS THE SUBJECTS
Arts · PSPE · Library
Visual Arts | Creating: healthy-plate collages, handwashing sequence drawings and habit puppets: making purposeful choices of tools and materials. Responding: observing and discussing artworks and posters about health, sharpening observation and art vocabulary. |
|---|---|
Drama | Exploring identity and healthy choices through role-play, improvisation and drama games: doctor visits, mealtime scenes: building confidence to express ideas and emotions. |
Music | Exploring the singing voice through songs about the body and routines: matching pitch, keeping a steady beat, and noticing loud/soft and fast/slow. |
PSPE | Identity: growing awareness of their own body, needs and feelings. Active Living: daily movement and play, hygiene and safety routines, and safe choices that protect themselves and others. |
Library | Read-aloud of I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child to explore healthy eating and responsible food choices; learning to share a favourite part of a story and support opinions with drawings and sentences. |
MERAK
KOKORO: our SEL journey
Our learners are beginning their KOKORO journey: our Social and Emotional Learning programme nurturing Mind, Body and Spirit. These first weeks introduce KOKORO’s foundational value of Sensitivity, and Theme 1: Knowing Myself: a natural companion to this unit’s inquiry into well-being.
Learners will
recognise how emotions show up in the body (butterflies in the tummy when nervous)
begin to understand that healthy habits: eating, sleeping, moving: help us feel strong inside and out
discuss how thoughts and feelings influence actions
explore simple ways to calm down, refocus or gain energy through body awareness
At home, learners can
share what their body feels like when they are happy or sad
choose healthy snacks and talk about how food helps the body
try a calm moment: sitting together quietly with eyes closed
reflect together: “What made you feel calm today?” or “What helped you when you felt upset?”
MERAK
Action Pathways
Through Action Pathways and Green Hour, learners discover how small, meaningful actions create positive impact. This unit’s natural pathway is lifestyle action: learners carry their classroom learning home: the 7-day habit tracker, the Wellness Promise, and the Week 5 Wellness Campaign where they teach another class what they have learned.
At home, families can
help your child keep their habit tracker honestly: missed days are part of learning too
let your child lead: ask them to teach you the handwashing steps or sort the shopping into everyday/sometimes
display the Wellness Promise somewhere it will be seen every day
How learning is observed, documented and celebrated
understand and can do, while guiding future teaching. Formative assessments are designed to support learning rather than simply measure it: learners receive timely feedback, identify next steps, set goals and take ownership of their journey. There are no marks or grades in the PYP; there is evidence, feedback and growth.
ASSESSMENT | EVIDENCE OF LEARNING |
|---|---|
Prior Knowledge Assessment (PKA) Week 1 | Learners explore a Wellness Wonder Table of real objects and pictures. Through the See– Think–Wonder routine and a picture sort, they share observations, prior knowledge and questions about what it means to be well. |
Formative assessment Weeks 2–5, embedded · Week 6, focused tasks |
|
Transdisciplinary connection: Language | Listening, discussion and simple sentence writing develop through wellness contexts: instructions, captions, recounts and campaign posters. |
Transdisciplinary connection: Mathematics | Counting, patterns, sequencing events, reading time, measuring and graphing develop through food choices, routines and habit tracking. |
Reporting for Trimester 1: the Student-Led Conference, where learners share evidence of their learning and discuss goals
with their families, and the Progress Report Card, an overview of each learner’s development and next steps.
ASSESSMENT IN THE PYP AT OUR SCHOOL
At our school, assessment is an ongoing and integral part of learning. It helps us understand what learners know,
PARENT CONNECT
How you can support learning
🎤 Expert Talk | If your profession or passion connects with health and well-being: doctor, nurse, dentist, nutritionist, chef, athlete, yoga practitioner: we would love to welcome you for an interactive session with our learners. |
📚 Reading at Home | Encourage your child to read (or be read to) for 20–30 minutes daily. The book list in this letter is a lovely place to start. |
🤝 Partner with Us | Questions to ask your child during this unit:
|
IMPORTANT DATES
August 2026
DATE | EVENT |
|---|---|
Aug 10, 2026 | School Holiday: Bonalu |
Aug 15, 2026 | Holiday: Independence Day Celebration |
Aug 28, 2026 | Three-Way Conference |
How this was made
Prepared with Koncepts using Create Notes, starting from the unit's central idea and lines of inquiry. It tells families what the class is inquiring into, the learning goals, books to explore at home and how they can support learning.
Download this home connect letter as a PDF
The print-ready PDF of this home connect letter: 16 pages, 637 KB.
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About this home connect letter
What is this document?
A real PYP home connect letter to families for Taking Care of Myself, a PYP 1 unit, prepared by a practising IB teacher. Free to read in full.
How was it made?
Prepared with Koncepts using Create Notes, starting from the unit's central idea and lines of inquiry. It tells families what the class is inquiring into, the learning goals, books to explore at home and how they can support learning.
Is it free to read and download?
The whole home connect letter, free to read on this page. The print-ready PDF is free with a teacher account.