The Lycée Français International de Taipei (LIFT) offers a curriculum that adheres to the programs of the French Ministry of National Education, renowned for its academic rigor and international openness. From primary school to middle school, students benefit from multilingual education and individualized support that fosters their development and success.

The teaching is organized into cycles, each lasting three years:

• Cycle 2 or the cycle of fundamental learning includes the preparatory class (CP), first year of elementary school (CE1), and second year of elementary school (CE2).
• Cycle 3 or the cycle of consolidation includes the first year of middle school (CM1) and the second year of middle school (CM2). This cycle continues in middle school with the 6th grade.
• Cycle 4, covering the 5th, 4th, and 3rd grades, is a critical stage in the students’ academic journey. It aims to reinforce the knowledge acquired in Cycle 3 and gradually prepare students for entry into high school.

What is Learned in Cycle 2?

• French: Continuing from preschool, where students developed skills in oral language use and learned to speak together, heard texts, discovered the function of writing, and began writing, the goal in Cycle 2 is to consolidate language mastery and move towards writing skills through daily activities in reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and vocabulary.
• Mathematics: Students continue their understanding of whole numbers and explore their various properties, writings, and relationships. The study of the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) begins at the start of the cycle with problems that give them meaning and is reinforced by daily mental calculation practice. Problem-solving is central to mathematical activity, developing their ability to search, reason, and communicate.
• Questioning the World: From preschool, students explore and observe the world around them; in Cycle 2, they will learn to question it more precisely through a first scientific and thoughtful approach. The world of living things, matter, and objects will be addressed.
• Moral and Civic Education: Through real-life situations and an introduction to debate and philosophical discussions, students build a civic culture around areas of sensitivity, rules and rights, judgment, and engagement.
• Visual Arts: Teaching is built around elements of artistic language: form, space, light, color, material, gesture, support, tool, time. It explores various fields both in practice and in references: drawing, painting, collage, modeling, sculpture, assembly, photography, video, and digital creation. Encountering works of art has a privileged place, allowing students to engage in a sensitive and curious approach, enriching their expressive potential and judgment.
• Music Education: Taking into account the sensitivity and pleasure of making music as well as listening to it, music education provides the cultural and technical knowledge necessary to develop listening and expression skills. The voice plays a central role in class musical practices, where students learn 6 to 8 songs and analyze 6 to 8 works from the cultural heritage.
• Physical Education and Sports: In Cycle 2, students spontaneously and enjoyably engage in physical activities. They develop their motor skills, build body language, and learn to verbalize their emotions and actions. By the end of Cycle 2, students will have acquired essential motor skills for the continuation of their physical education and sports journey. Special attention is paid to swimming.

What is Learned in Cycle 3?

• French: Cycle 2 enabled the acquisition of reading and writing. Cycle 3 aims to consolidate these skills to use them for other learning, through broad and diversified use of reading and writing. Overall, language mastery remains a central goal in Cycle 3, and the integration of 6th grade into the cycle ensures all students have sufficient autonomy in reading and writing to enter Cycle 4 with the necessary foundation for further education. The French curriculum includes regular and significant activities in reading, writing, and speaking, complemented by specific language study activities (grammar, spelling, vocabulary) to understand its structure and acquire the rules. Oral and written expression, as well as reading, are emphasized, in connection with text study, introducing students to a common literary culture.
• Mathematics: Cycle 3 aims to deepen mathematical concepts introduced in Cycle 2, expand their study scope, and reinforce the automation of written calculation techniques introduced earlier (addition, subtraction, multiplication) and mental calculation results and procedures from Cycle 2. It also builds new written (division) and mental calculation techniques and introduces new concepts such as decimal numbers, proportionality, and the study of new magnitudes (area, volume, angle, etc.). Geometric activities in Cycle 3 continue those from Cycle 2 but with a greater focus on reasoning and argumentation that complement spatial perception and the use of instruments. They also offer new spatial representations (patterns, perspectives, views from the front, side, above, etc.).
• Science and Technology: In Cycle 2, students explored, observed, and experimented with the world around them. In Cycle 3, previously addressed concepts are revisited to move towards more generalization and abstraction, always starting from concrete examples and students’ representations. The teaching is divided into four main themes: (1) Matter, movement, energy, information, (2) Living organisms, their diversity, and the functions that characterize them, (3) Materials and technical objects, (4) The planet Earth. Scientific concepts are built through observation, experimentation, measurement, hypothesis formulation, and testing.
• Moral and Civic Education: The approach here is similar to Cycle 2, but the subjects of study are adapted to students’ age (racism, online harassment, Republican values, etc.). Through real-life situations and initial debates and philosophical discussions, students build a civic culture around sensitivity, rules and rights, judgment, and engagement.
• History: By working on historical events from Prehistory to the contemporary world, students first learn to distinguish history from fiction and begin to understand that the past is a source of questioning. The aim of Cycle 3 is not to achieve a linear and exhaustive knowledge of history, but to establish shared historical markers, which will be developed progressively throughout Cycles 3 and 4, allowing students to understand that today’s world and contemporary society are the heirs of long processes, breaks, and choices made by people in the past.
• Geography: The concept of “inhabiting” is central in Cycle 3; it helps students better understand and appropriate the objectives and methods of geography teaching. They learn that for a person, using a place involves performing daily tasks like work, shopping, leisure activities, etc. The learning begins with the investigation of daily life places and proximity, then explores other scales and social and cultural environments. The last year of Cycle 3 opens up to analyzing the diversity of “inhabiting” around the world.
• Visual Arts: In Cycle 3, visual arts teaching builds on the experiences, knowledge, and skills worked on in Cycle 2, leading students toward a more independent, sensitive practice. The development of creativity and invention continues. Learning is enriched by introducing more precise knowledge and a more focused effort to explain students’ artistic production, the observed artistic processes, and the reception of works encountered. The goal is to give students the means to develop and affirm artistic intentions and to achieve an initial understanding of the main questions raised by the creation of visual arts.
• Music Education: By listening to music, students develop their abilities to perceive finer characteristics and more complex structures in music. They learn to identify relationships, similarities, and differences between different works, acquire knowledge that shapes their artistic culture, and learn to refer to it. They gradually discover that taste is a relative concept, and beyond their immediate emotions, they develop critical thinking by expressing personal opinions. They continue vocal expression work and develop techniques to diversify their expressive vocabulary for an interpretation project.
• Physical Education and Sports: In Cycle 3, students mobilize their resources to refine their motor skills in more varied and challenging contexts. They identify the immediate effects of their actions, emphasizing the necessary mediation of oral and written language. They continue their initiation into various roles (referee, observer) and understand the importance of rules. Through substantial practice time, students test and develop specific working methods related to the discipline (action, imitation, observation, cooperation, etc.).

What is Learned in Cycle 4?

Teaching in Cycle 4 is structured around five main domains, according to the objectives set by the French Ministry of Education:

1. Languages for Thinking and Communicating

• Mastery of French, both written and oral.
• Development of foreign and regional language skills.
• Use of scientific and artistic languages.

2. Methods and Tools for Learning

• Work on autonomy and organization.
• Use of digital tools and research skills.

3. Formation of the Person and Citizen

• Awareness of republican and civic values.
• Development of critical thinking and respect for others.

4. Natural Systems and Technical Systems

• Deepening knowledge in sciences (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, technology).
• Understanding the world and its functioning.

5. Representations of the World and Human Activity

• Studies in history, geography, and moral and civic education.
• Exploration of arts and culture.

A Multidisciplinary and Dynamic Education

Cycle 4 emphasizes interdisciplinary teaching (EPI), which allows students to approach subjects transversally by integrating several disciplines. These projects encourage creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork.

Personalized Learning Paths

Students benefit from tailored learning paths to develop their curiosity and skills:

• Civic Pathway: Engagement and reflection on democratic values.
• Artistic and Cultural Pathway: Discovery of heritage and artistic practices.
• Future Pathway: Introduction to careers and building a professional project.

Preparation for the Diplôme National du Brevet and Career Orientation
In 3rd grade, students prepare for the Diplôme National du Brevet (DNB), which assesses their achievements across all subjects, including an oral presentation of an interdisciplinary project.

Orientation toward general, technological, or vocational high school is also a key objective of Cycle 4, and students are guided through this process in line with their interests and aptitudes.