Matariki celebrations 2016

Matariki encompasses many things, an important aspect is the concept of 'new beginnings'. This year we wanted to celebrate Matariki with a focus on health and well-being; the notion of making good choices for a happy life.

To support our planning, we drew on Dr Mason Durie's whare tapawha model of hauora. Within our activities we wanted to nurture Tapa Tinana (physical health), Tapa Whanau (family health), Tapa Wairua (spiritual health) and Tapa Hinegaro (mental health). "I take care of my body.  I challenge myself physically.  I nurture myself with healthy food.  I test/push my limits and try new activities.  I move within and explore Te Ao." (Apapted from Mason Durie's Whaiora: Maori Health Development, Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1994).

Matariki at Bream Bay kindergarten, a month of celebrations....

Matariki breakfast

To kick off our month of celebrations we began with a special breakfast at kindergarten for tamariki and whanau.  Scrumptious food and fine company!

When invited, children were keen to be caretakers and happily did the washing up...long may that last!

Growing Peas

Next on our list of planned activities...we grew peas to gain an understanding of healthy food, where our food comes from and that we can grow our own food.

  Naming our pea plant pots so we know which pea belongs to us!  It takes a lot of concentration.

Very interesting...the plant grows up and down! 

        

Following, is some children's artwork investigating the growing of peas.  Some interesting ideas emerging here...

"The plant comes from the pea" said Joshua

"It will grow into peas.  This is tricky" said Poppy trying to explain her ideas behind her drawing.

"It has dirt around the pea.  It grows into a pea plant.  A stalk comes from the pea.  The leaves come from the stalk.  It grows peas.  After it grows flowers" said Bailey."

"Those are the peas on the tree.  It makes the peas grow.  It gets watered everyday, then it grows.  In the middle is the seed.  Well when you water it, it grows up.  The seed starts at the bottom, it grows to a different area and then it moves to up into the middle" said Myllah.

"The plant, I think it will grow.  I think underneath the ground" said Alex.

Flax weaving

Flax weaving provides opportunities for creative exploration.  It's a relaxing and peaceful experience.  Being out in the sunshine together with friends during this calm and quiet time is good for the soul.

He oranga ngakau, he pikinga waiora

Positive feeling in your heart will raise your sense of self worth.

Yoga

Throughout the month were opportunities for children to experience the peace and tranquility of Yoga.  Many children enjoyed this activity and have expressed interest to continue learning this activity.

E pai ana te taha wairua, Ka pai ana te taha tinana

When your spirit is well, your body will be well also.

Finding inner peace

Pamper sessions

Looking after other people has the ability to lift spirits too.  We set up a pamper station for children to pamper a friend...it wasn't long before parents realized the benefits of this play experience and lined up to be pampered by their children.   A wonderful bonding experience...hand massages are so relaxing aren't they Mum!

Matariki Hangi

Our traditional Matariki Hangi was a brilliant finish to our celebrations and so very popular.  This year was no exception...such a fantastic time...a full day immersed in fun, laughter and love of community and whanau.

Preparing our yummy kai...

Our whanau patiently wait for the lifting of the hangi...

Such a busy month!

Thanks for sharing the journey.

Arohanui, Tania

About us...

Down hill from here

Several weeks ago Sandy had documented a story about the children exploring ramps and inclines at kindergarten...and rolling tyres down the hill.  

Taking it to another level, this week the children experimented with propelling themselves down the hill on modified sandpit trucks. The natural incline of the small hill and large grassy area provided space to enjoy lots of movement, of which the children took full advantage of throughout the week.

What an absolute joy to see such pleasure and laughter on the faces of those children bold enough to let go, and experience wind in their hair as they hurtled themselves down the slope.  The odd crash was no deterrent, seemly adding to the exhilaration of the experience.

 “Rather than being receivers of information, young children need to enjoy the experience of discovery, so that they can apply knowledge, concepts and skills, and take calculated risks in a structured rather than a directed environment.  In all activities, children need to play.” (Claire Warden).

As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure 

was going to happen!

Winnie the Pooh

"What's gonna work?.......Teamwork!"

At kindergarten we encourage and nurture teamwork. 'Teamwork - help each other' is the phrase we use. 

This week the trolley-car activity required teamwork from those wishing to participate. It wasn't a game you could play by yourself. You needed others to make it work. It required a cooperative effort by two or more children to move the trolley-car.

DJ called out "Who's gonna push me?"

Without teamwork it simply didn't work. 

Without teamwork you didn't go far at all. 

Without teamwork the trolley simply stayed still. 

The children figured out pretty quickly that this game wasn't much fun when there wasn't anyone to push them. It required the cooperation of a friend to push the trolley-car.

"We need teamwork to move", said DJ. "Ask Tain to push, he's really strong".

"Through interactions with others, children learn to take another's point of view, to empathise with others, to ask for help, to see themselves as a help for others, and to discuss or explain their ideas to adults or to other children" (Te Whaariki, 1996, p64). Through the trolley-car play, the children are all making a contribution, they are learning with and alongside each other. 

The best part about the trolley-car was being the driver and steering the trolley. The children enjoyed being the one in control and being able to determine where they wanted to go.

The children discovered that when they couldn't be the driver, it was actually quite fun to just be a passenger.

They also discovered that when the 'pushers' did teamwork, it was so much easier to move the trolley-car. 

When the trolley-car's wheels sank in the sand and the trolley-car stopped moving, the children used communication to problem solve. They voiced their ideas and listened to the suggestions of their friends, eventually finding a way to get out of the sand.

Life is not a game of Solitaire; people depend on one another. When one does well, others are lifted. When one stumbles, others also are impacted. There are no one-man teams—either by definition or natural law. Success is a cooperative effort; it’s dependent upon those who stand beside you.  

JON M. HUNTSMAN SR.

It's a shark story....

Recently we found that there was a lot of interest in the shark song. Everyone wanted to sing it, strum it, shout it! So we invited children to draw and tell their shark stories. There was lots of wonderful discussion - some real tales of shark stories and some hilariously creative ones. From these elaborate stories the children were keen to create art pieces reflecting their ideas. These ideas and stories were recorded for them.

“Students engage in various discourse forms relating to informing, narrating, inquiring, arguing, persuading and entertaining to make their ideas understandable and even memorable” (Labbo, Reinking &McKenna, 1998).

The interest in sharks continued over a number of weeks and tamariki progressed their interest further into the playground .....  But it continued to return back to art pieces.

"Young children have increasing capacities for lanugage and inquiry, increasing ability to understand another point of view, and are developing interests in representation and symbols such as pictures, numbers and words. The children's increasing abilities to plan and monitor their activities are evident in their developing awareness of themselves as learners" (MoE, 1996).

The tamariki  loved their creations and together we shared and talked about the sharks...we decided to bring their images to life using the ipad. 

“It has long been known that information and communication technologies (ICT’s) have the propensity to increase children's motivation, interest and engagement in literacy and language learning” (McCarrick & Xiaming, 2007).

The opportunity to make a movie, to illustrate it and narrate it all by themselves appealed to many of the children. It was a long process and it took a great deal of patience and understanding to make it through to the finished product. 

"Young children's greater working memory contributes to their capacity for telling stories, for more complex problem-solving strategies, for longer periods of focussed attention, and for more persistent curiosity" (MoE, 1996).

Once we started more and more children noticed what was happening and wanted to be involved. Beginning the process with the creation of their sharks and other characters. 

“In many respects New Zealand early childhood education is no stranger to the idea that learning of any kind involves a complex interplay of knowledge, skills and learning dispositions and that it may in fact be the dispositions that are the most powerful trigger for learning success “ (Carr, 2001). 

Then we began the process of creating the story....

And here is a collection of the stories produced by the children!

Waiata joy

An enthusiastic rendition of Haere Mai Ra...

Haere mai ra

Haere mai ra

Tena ra koutou katoa

E te iwi

Nui tonu ra

Tena ra koutou katoa