IB in Finland

[MrGeckoTheSalamander]

Hi! I just had a quick (okay, maybe it isn't all that quick...) question about the IB (International Baccalaureate) program in Finland.

Where I live, and apparently this only exists in my county of Florida, the IB DP program doesn't just exist for 11th and 12th graders, it exists from ninth through twelfth grade. In 9th and 10th grade, it's not called the DP, it's called Pre-IB, so basically we have our six classes which are meant to be extremely rigorous, but instead of TOK we have Inquiry Skills, and we have no EE, IA, EA, IOs, etc. until we're in 11th grade.

But what troubles me is that a few days ago, I learned that Pre-IB only exists in my area, and that it doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. For a while now, I've wanted to do a foreign exchange to Finland when I'm in 10th grade (I'm currently in 9th) but I don't want to no longer be an IB student for an entire year (or, semester, if I choose that instead).

So, I was wondering if anybody could give me some advice? Is there something similar to Pre-IB or AP in Finland? Do you think I should do the foreign exchange or should I stay here?

Oh, and by the way, yes, I am learning Finnish, and languages are my "thing" I guess you could say (I looove learning languages) so I have no fears of not reaching fluency by next year :)

Thank you for all responses! (This is my first post, actually ^^)

[meplusthree]

Hi, there is Pre-IB year in Finland, my son has just finnished it ! its is year 10 in Finland.
See here for more info about one of the IB Schools http://www.mattliden.fi/ib/about-ib/ib- ... mattlidens

[MrGeckoTheSalamander]

Hi, there is Pre-IB year in Finland, my son has just finnished it ! its is year 10 in Finland.
See here for more info about one of the IB Schools http://www.mattliden.fi/ib/about-ib/ib- ... mattlidens

Oh, ok, I see :)

Could you perhaps elaborate a little further? Like, what classes he took? I'm currently taking Pre-IB US History, Spanish 5, AP Psychology, Pre-IB English 1, IB MYP Algebra 2, Pre-IB Biology 1, and Pre-IB Inquiry Skills.

Thank you for your help, by the way, I really appreciate it :D

[Flossy1978]

Fluency in Finnish by next year? You must be a language genius.

Good luck.

[Rosamunda]

English is the language of instruction in all Finnish IB schools from PYP up to the DP. No need to learn Finnish to do an exchange year.
The choice of subjects is quite limited... Check the websites of the Finnish IB schools for more information. For example, I don't think they all offer Spanish at least not at an advanced level.