LATEST STORIES
Totara Room Learning
Kia ora! Throughout the Totara room, we have been working towards strengthening our interests in construction (toi waihanga). Each day, we enhance the interest in construction by providing the tamariki with a variety of resources.
Such as blocks in various sizes, shapes, and colors, magnets, bamboo pipes, carpentry resources, and natural resources that Kaiako have gathered. With each of these resources, tamariki are strengthening their fine motor and gross motor skills while linking their learning to the wider world.
Through construction, children are learning strengthening their knowledge of their interests, testing their knowledge of construction, challenging their abilities and balancing skills as well as fostering their creativity and enhancing their architectural thinking. Not only does construction enhance children’s lenses of creativity and skill, but it also supports tamariki when fostering strong relationships (whanaungatanga) and, emotional and social competency.
Construction is an important attribute to the tamariki and their everyday learning as it scaffolds children’s communication skills, by, encouraging tamariki to share their ideas and opinions with their Kaiako and peers as well as feeling confident in asking questions as they work through their strategies and theories together. All of this contributes to our prior learning by, building confident and competent learners whilst supporting their social and emotional competency.
Through Construction, Kaiako ensures that they are being mindful when setting out an experience by positioning equipment and materials in certain areas that will gain the children's interests as well as having resources available to children at all times of the day. Throughout experiences, Kaiako is modeling how to use resources while co-constructing ideas and working theories with the tamariki. Kaiako will scaffold children’s communication throughout construction by, asking questions, thinking aloud, describing and annotating what happening, as well as, using “I wonder…” statements. This encourages tamariki to question their outcomes and extend their knowledge of construction.