Grades 4 to 5
Grades 4 and 5 are when academic pressure starts to arrive at most schools. More homework. Faster pacing. Less time to actually understand anything.
At Pear Tree, this is when learning gets more demanding — and more interesting. Students in our Grade 4-5 program tackle complex ideas, real debates, and projects that require genuine critical thinking. But the structure stays the same: real work, in small groups, across subjects that connect.
Classes cap at 16 students. Teachers hold Master’s degrees. Your child plays guitar with a dedicated music teacher, eats a fresh hot lunch every day, and moves for a full hour of PE before a single lesson begins.
Every school day includes a full hour of PE at Connaught Park with our dedicated PE teacher, plus 45 minutes of recess. The timetable rotates — when PE happens depends on the day — but the hour is always there.
Grade 4-5 students rotate between 2–3 active themes each day. During the Artificial Intelligence theme, your child might analyze a real dataset to identify bias in a machine learning model (math + critical thinking), write a persuasive essay arguing for or against AI-generated art (literacy + ethics), and prototype a simple sorting algorithm using physical objects (ADST + logic). That’s one afternoon. No worksheets.
Guitar with a dedicated music teacher. Hot chef-prepared lunch. 45 minutes of recess at the park. Day ends at 3:15 with a soft close.
How Theme-Based Learning Works in Grades 4–5
Over a two-year cycle, Grade 4-5 students explore 14 themes — each one designed to deepen rather than just cover. Themes run 2–3 simultaneously, with students rotating between them throughout the week.
Year 1 Themes
7 of 14 themes · Year 1 of 2
Identity (Personal Strengths and Growth)
What kind of learner are you becoming — and how do you want to keep growing? Your child examines their own strengths, interests, and habits. They discover that growth is not just about being ‘good at’ something. It depends on practice, self-discipline, and the courage to keep going when things feel hard. Hobbies, talents, and setbacks all become clues about what motivates them and how they learn best.
- Completes a strengths inventory — identifying what they are good at, what challenges them, and what patterns they notice in how they learn.
- Sets a personal growth goal, tracks their progress over several weeks, and presents what they learned about practice and persistence.
- Interviews a family member or mentor about a time they failed at something and what they did next — then writes about what the story teaches.
- Designs a "growth plan" for one skill they want to develop — with specific steps, a timeline, and a way to measure progress.
Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds
What you eat, how you sleep, how much you move, and how you manage screens do not just change your body. They shape how your brain learns, focuses, and feels. Your child investigates these choices as a connected system. They track how food, sleep, and movement shift energy, mood, and focus at school and at home. They also look at who has easy access to healthy options — and who does not.
- Tracks their own sleep, food, movement, and screen time for a week — then analyses the data for patterns connecting habits to energy and mood.
- Designs a daily routine for a fictional student that balances nutrition, exercise, rest, and learning — and defends why each choice matters.
- Investigates who in their community has easy access to healthy food, safe exercise spaces, and health care — and who does not.
- Creates a presentation teaching younger students one evidence-based habit that improves both body and brain performance.
Rural Farms
The food in your lunchbox depends on a web of soil, water, weather, workers, animals, trucks, and land decisions that most people never see. Your child investigates how farms in BC’s Fraser Valley actually work. They study the economics of rising costs, the science of soil and season, and the ethics of animal care. When a place can grow food and the land is under pressure, what should matter most?
- Researches a specific Fraser Valley farm — mapping what it grows, what it costs to operate, and who buys the products.
- Investigates a real farming dilemma (water use, animal welfare, land development) and writes an argued position using evidence from both sides.
- Calculates the food miles of a typical school lunch — tracing each ingredient from farm to plate and totalling the distance.
- Visits a local farm or farmer's market (or studies one virtually) and presents how farming connects science, economics, and ethics.
Canada Then
Places change when governments and businesses decide whose work counts, whose culture is valued, and what the land is for. Your child investigates how Vancouver grew on Indigenous territories with long-standing laws and trade routes. They learn how Indigenous children were taken to residential schools and Chinese workers who built the railroad were met with exclusion. They examine how power worked, who benefited, and who was harmed.
- Researches a specific community in early Vancouver (Indigenous, Chinese, Japanese, European) and presents what daily life looked like.
- Investigates the history of residential schools — using primary sources — and writes about what they learned and what questions they still have.
- Compares two historical accounts of the same event (e.g., railroad construction) told from different perspectives — and argues whose story is more complete.
- Creates a timeline showing how decisions made 100+ years ago still affect communities in Vancouver today.
Electricity
We do not always see it, but electricity powers almost everything we do. Your child builds circuits, traces how the grid works, and investigates where electricity comes from and who has access to it. They explore how electricity is created, shared, and used. They ask how we might power our lives in smarter, fairer, and more sustainable ways — and what that means for the future.
- Builds a working circuit from scratch — testing how switches, bulbs, and batteries connect — and diagrams the flow of electricity.
- Traces how electricity gets from a BC dam to their classroom light switch — mapping every step of the grid.
- Calculates how much electricity their household uses in a week — and designs a realistic plan to reduce it by 20%.
- Researches one renewable energy source (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal) and argues whether BC should invest more in it — using real data.
A.I.
Artificial intelligence is changing the world by helping machines do things that once required human thinking. Your child examines how AI actually works, where bias hides in data, and who decides what AI is allowed to do. They explore chatbots, image generators, and robots. Then they face the real challenge: not just teaching machines to think, but deciding what kind of thinkers we want them to be.
- Tests an AI tool (chatbot, image generator, recommendation system) and documents where it gets things right, where it fails, and where it shows bias.
- Investigates how a specific AI system makes decisions — and presents a diagram showing what data goes in and what comes out.
- Debates a real AI ethics question (e.g., should AI write school essays? Should self-driving cars be legal?) — defending a position with evidence.
- Designs rules for how AI should be used in their school — explaining what should be allowed, what should be restricted, and why.
Shores & Sustainability
Where land and water meet, life depends on a delicate balance of movement, shelter, and change. Your child investigates how shores protect habitats, feed communities, and support travel. They look at what happens when erosion, waste, and development push these systems past their limits. The real question is not whether shores will change. It is what kind of change we are willing to cause, prevent, or restore.
- Investigates a specific BC shoreline — mapping what lives there, how it has changed, and what is threatening it.
- Measures erosion, tide patterns, or beach debris using real field data (or published data) and presents findings with graphs.
- Researches how one coastal community is balancing development with environmental protection — and argues whether their approach is working.
- Designs a sustainable plan for a piece of shoreline — balancing recreation, housing, habitat protection, and climate resilience.
Year 2 Themes
7 of 14 themes · Year 2 of 2
Identity (Bias, Stereotypes, and Social Identity)
Who gets to define you — and what would it take to build a world where people are seen more fully? Your child examines how identity is shaped by the messages, labels, and expectations around us — from family and school to advertising and social media. They investigate how bias forms, how stereotypes spread, and what happens when people are sorted by gender, race, or class. They learn that fairness is not always about giving everyone the same thing.
- Analyses advertisements or social media posts — tracking how they portray gender, race, age, or body type — and presents the patterns they find.
- Investigates a real case where stereotypes caused harm (in hiring, policing, media, or school) and writes a report on what happened and what could change.
- Compares equality (everyone gets the same thing) and equity (everyone gets what they need) using real scenarios — and argues which approach is fairer.
- Designs a campaign to challenge one specific stereotype they encounter in their daily life — with a clear audience, message, and plan.
Medieval Times
Castles, villages, monasteries, and marketplaces were all part of a world where food, craftsmanship, religion, and leadership were deeply connected. Your child investigates how medieval societies organised themselves through systems of land, loyalty, trade, and protection. They explore how people worked, travelled, built, governed, and defended their communities. How do people create order and live together in times very different from our own?
- Researches daily life for a specific person in medieval society (farmer, knight, monk, merchant, queen) and presents what their day looked like.
- Builds a scale model of a medieval structure (castle, cathedral, village) — labelling materials, defensive features, and purpose.
- Compares the feudal system with a modern government — identifying what is similar, what changed, and why.
- Investigates how medieval trade routes connected distant places — and maps the goods, risks, and relationships involved.
Edible Vancouver
A city is fed by many connected systems — from the land and water that provide ingredients to the markets, restaurants, and kitchens where people prepare and share them. Your child traces how culture, migration, family tradition, and the service industry shape what Vancouver eats. They investigate who has access to fresh food, whose traditions are celebrated, and what gets lost when food becomes just another product.
- Traces a specific Vancouver dish (sushi, dim sum, bannock, pho) from its cultural origin to the local restaurant or kitchen where it is served today.
- Interviews someone who works in food (chef, farmer, server, food bank volunteer) and presents what the food system looks like from their perspective.
- Investigates food access in two Vancouver neighbourhoods — comparing prices, options, and distance to fresh food — and presents the gap.
- Designs a school lunch menu that reflects Vancouver's cultural diversity — explaining why each dish was chosen and where the ingredients come from.
Mars
A distant planet can be a test lab for human curiosity, engineering, and survival. Your child explores what makes a planet livable, what humans would need to survive beyond Earth, and why those same questions show how rare life on our planet really is. They investigate who gets to shape the future of space travel, what risks are worth taking, and why Earth is the only world that already knows how to keep us alive.
- Compares Earth and Mars using real data (gravity, atmosphere, temperature, water) — and presents why one supports life and the other does not.
- Designs a Mars habitat that provides air, water, food, shelter, and energy — explaining the engineering choices and trade-offs.
- Calculates the time, distance, and fuel needed for a Mars mission using simplified NASA data — and presents the numbers.
- Debates whether governments and companies should spend billions on Mars exploration when problems on Earth remain unsolved.
Canada Now
A country is not just a place on a map. It is shaped every day by the people who live there, the land they depend on, and the decisions they make together. Your child investigates the questions shaping Canada today: Indigenous rights, immigration, climate, housing, language, and belonging. They begin to see Canada as something still being built, debated, and reimagined.
- Researches a current issue shaping Canada (Indigenous rights, immigration, housing, climate) and presents what different groups think about it.
- Compares how two provinces or territories approach the same challenge — using data, news, and government sources.
- Interviews a family member about what being Canadian means to them — and writes about how that answer reflects their experience.
- Writes a letter to a future Canadian explaining what the country is like today — what is working, what is not, and what they hope will change.
Climate Change
The air, oceans, and land are connected in ways that shape the weather, the food we grow, and the places living things can survive. Your child investigates what happens when people burn fossil fuels, cut down forests, and build cities in certain ways. They study stronger storms, rising temperatures, and shifting habitats. They ask why some communities are affected more than others — and what kind of future becomes possible when we decide to respond.
- Analyses real temperature and weather data from the past 50 years — graphing the trends and presenting what the numbers show.
- Traces how burning fossil fuels, cutting forests, or building cities in specific ways creates a chain of consequences for weather and habitats.
- Investigates why climate impacts hit some communities harder than others — and presents the data on who is most affected and why.
- Designs a realistic climate action plan for their school or neighbourhood — with specific targets, costs, and a way to measure progress.
Urban Gardeners
Cities are often seen as places that consume food. But they can also become places that grow it. Your child turns rooftops, schoolyards, and empty lots into growing spaces. Urban gardens do more than produce vegetables — they create habitats for pollinators, reduce waste, and make fresh food more available. Your child designs and builds a real garden from scratch. What kind of city are we building when we make room for living things?
- Designs and builds a real garden from scratch — choosing plants based on season, soil, sunlight, and what pollinators need.
- Measures growth, water use, and yield over several weeks — recording data and graphing results.
- Investigates how community gardens improve food access in neighbourhoods where fresh produce is hard to find.
- Presents their garden project to the class — covering what they planted, what worked, what failed, and what they would do differently.
Themes rotate on a two-year cycle. Your child covers all 14 by the end of Grade 5.
Year 1 of 2 — 7 of 14 themes
What Your Child Gets in Grade 4-5
- They learn to argue with evidence. Students debate real-world issues, form positions, and back them up — in writing and in front of an audience.
- They do actual math. Applied problems using real data, budgets, statistics, and measurement — not formulaic exercises.
- They lead projects. Students make decisions, divide work, resolve disagreements, and present outcomes to classmates and parents.
- They think across subjects. In Grade 4-5, the AI theme means students aren’t just studying technology — they’re applying ethics, writing persuasively, doing data analysis, and building prototypes. One theme. Every subject.
- They build a portfolio of real work. Not test scores. Actual projects, presentations, and outputs they can show people.
A Typical Day in Grades 4-5
Themes run in parallel — not one at a time. On any given day, your child works on two or three different themes.
Beyond the Classroom
Daily PE — A Full Hour, Every Day
Grade 4-5 students get a dedicated PE teacher and a full hour at Connaught Park every single day. At this age, PE introduces more structured sport and team dynamics: swimming, ice skating, cross-country, basketball, and more. Children who are physically active during the school day focus better, behave better, and retain more — and that hour is protected in the timetable.
Hot Lunch — Made Fresh, Every Day
Every student eats a hot, chef-prepared lunch daily. No packed lunches. The menu changes monthly and accommodates all dietary requirements — gluten-free, vegetarian, allergy-specific. During Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, the lunch menu connects directly to what students are studying about nutrition in class.
Guitar
Grade 4-5 students take guitar with our dedicated music teacher — a daily session built into the schedule, not an add-on. By the end of the year, students can read basic notation, play chords, and perform simple pieces. Music literacy is part of the program, not optional enrichment.
After-School Co-Curriculars & Care
After 3:15 PM, students can stay for optional programs that rotate each term: cross-country, art, performing arts, coding, chess, robotics, basketball, and martial arts.
Before School Care: 7:30–8:00 AM · $15/day. After School Care: 3:30–5:00 PM · $30/day. Available any combination of days.
Don't take our word for it
“I quickly saw a complete transformation in my son's excitement to go to school, his engagement with the theme-based learning, and his overall attitude towards learning and taking his studies seriously.”
“I happened to check out an open house at Pear Tree many years ago and instantly fell in love with the teachers and ethos of the school.”
“I really feel this way of teaching provides as equal an opportunity as possible for every student to succeed in life, whatever that is.”
See What Grade 4-5 Looks Like in Real Life
Come during a school day. Watch students present. Sit in on a debate. See what a theme looks like when it’s running. Most parents know within one visit.
Tour our SchoolContact Us
Main Campus (West Broadway)
Suite 215 (and Suite 201)
2678 West Broadway
Vancouver, B.C. V6K 2G3
Yaletown Campus
1035 Cambie St
Vancouver, B.C. V6B 2E2
