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Exploring pepeha

Tēnᾱ koutou over te wiki o te reo Mᾱori  we have began a journey exploring pepeha. We started off with a question “ ko wai ahau” this was an extension of welcoming our tamariki back to the centre after lockdown. We reflected on ways to strengthen a sense of belonging and identity within the environment. The teaching team has supported tamariki to build knowledge about maunga, awa, iwi and waka to support mana, and celebrate who they are and where they come from. Te wiki o te reo Mᾱori has been a great opportunity to begin our centre pepeha journey using environments, play, interests, waiata, puka puka and whanau contribution to support bicultural learning for our tamariki. We have had fun in celebrating Mᾱori language week as it is a time to recognise Maori as an official language in New Zealand. It gives us a great opportunities to celebrate something that is truly unique to our country and te reo is a part of who we are as a nation….ask anyone who has ever watched an All Black game! A socio-cultural lens is such a big part of learning and teaching in a multicultural early childhood curriculum.  It is time to celebrate when we can assess a child’s learning from a cultural perspective in a cultural context for the very best learning outcomes. The more knowledge we build about a child and their whanau the more learning and teaching opportunities we have!

“Poipoia te kakano kia puawai”

Nuture the seed and it will blossom

He whakatauki