Kei Tua o te Pae

20 May: I’d like Caroline to have a sense of independence – i.e., not always needing to be with me or her caregiver – time alone, or with other children and no caregiver close by would be good. Not sure how to develop her independence but I don’t want to have created a “clingy” baby either!! Jennifer.

Margaret and the other teachers at the centre had noticed that Caroline preferred to be held by adults and Jennifer agreed that this was not a new issue for Caroline. Jennifer and Margaret also di…

In early childhood, one of the most visible achievements is often a child’s increasing control over their body. Children will achieve a range of milestones on the way to this control, sometimes in an idiosyncratic order. Assessments refer to earlier achievements and may highlight the motivation and curiosity associated with physical explorations, as demonstrated in the exemplar “The acrobat”.

Assessments give value to sensory ways of knowing and to the developing co-ordination of mind, body, an…

It was so good to have the camera handy to catch the magnificent effort of perseverance by Amy today!

The first thing that Amy said to me as I approached was, “I’m getting better and better.”

“What are you doing?” I inquire. “I’m learning to go over here.”

Amy climbs up on top to the platform to show me what she has been teaching herself to do.

Holding onto the ropes, which I have tied up a day or so earlier, Amy is using these to help her walk across the red ladder. This is not an easy thin…

Logan, knowing your interest in archaeology, I wanted to share a couple of my photos that I took in January at two archaeological sites near X’ian, in China.



The first one is really old, and what they are finding dates back to 151 BC, still thousands of years after dinosaurs though, and the second is of the second digging site of the famous terracotta warriors. Both of these are active sites, and won’t be completed for many years. It’s really exciting and interesting, but to my knowledge, th…

8 NovemberIt is so hard to believe for all of us that our beloved marae has been burnt down. The children are constantly talking about it. Many drive past it each day to come to kindergarten. The teaching team has engaged in much dialogue with the children and together they have come up with a plan. Not just some ordinary plan, a marvellous plan indeed.

This is what has been decided at our morning meetings with children. Whaea Taini has lost so many precious things and so why not make her somet…

Assessments value the interactions between adults and children and with peers. They are specific about those aspects of verbal communication that the children are developing. The exemplar “Starting with photos” illustrates how powerful photographs are in initiating a network of other communication modes and in maintaining a connection with the home.

Working theories developed by teachers are relevant here; one teacher’s working theory relates to the value of te reo Māori.7 All early childhood t…

I noticed Rahmat was calling to me and gesturing for me to come over to his easel. He was painting on the far side of the easel and I couldn’t see his creation from where I was.

I went over. ”WOW! Snakes.” “All have tongues and eyes,” he said.

“Beautiful snakes,“ I said. “Do you have snakes in Afghanistan?” I asked. “Yes, and in Pakistan too.” I began to write about his snakes on the painting – my version.

Rahmat listened respectfully to me. I could sense he was not satisfied with my ideas. H…

The busy puzzling morning – Part 1Phoebe often enjoys setting herself the task of solving puzzles. Today she carefully tips out an interesting puzzle that shows lots of pictures about te ao Māori – the Māori world. She turns the pieces over and then is soon absorbed in studying the features of the puzzle. She holds up a comb piece and puts it into the appropriate place, commenting to Ann that she has combs at her house. As she selects hei tiki she wrinkles Phoebe is keen to work from left to rig…

Working theories about the self as capable and competent are the core of this domain. Children are developing an awareness of some of their strengths and a perception of themselves as capable of developing new interests and abilities.

Assessments are specific about children’s strengths and suggest ways forward for their development.

Perceived differently by different cultural groups, respect for all human beings is not simple or easily definable. However, within the context of social justice a…

12 October

Recorded by Marie

Today, for the first time, Anthony was joined by his best friend to give the blessing before we ate.

E Te Atua whakapaingia ēnei kai hei oranga mō ō mātou tinana whāngaia ō mātou wairua ki te taro ō te ora Amine

Anthony spoke with confidence and pride, reciting the whakapai kai karakia he had been taught at home and was now sharing with his friends and teachers at Whare Pukeko.

Anthony, it was only a few weeks ago that you shyly introduced “whakapai kai” to your…

Today I wanted to laminate some of the children’s work so I set up the laminator in the Castle room and as you walked past on your way outside you spotted it.

“I’ll do that for you, Elizabeth,” you said.

So you set about your job of laminating the pictures for me. Today, however, was different from the last time because today other children were interested, too. Oh dear, they all wanted a turn. To begin with you were very protective of your laminating, however you also let the other children j…

Micah and Jak had built a construction with blocks and then added treasure. Suddenly Micah left, followed by Jak, who then returned and with great delight slid into the construction and it collapsed. Micah came in and was very disappointed. Jak said to him, “It’s okay – we will build another one,” and they did.

This time they began with the beads and the blocks together from the beginning and they included the beads as they built it in a very clever way. Micah had a beautiful golden buckle and…

This is an exemplar of learning that is distributed across or “stretched” over people, places, and things: the teacher, the place (in this case the photograph of a place), and the things (the blocks). Jak appears to be exploring how three-dimensional objects can be fitted together and moved in space, also ways in which spatial information can be represented in photographs and used as a guide for building. Jak uses analogy (it’s like a skeleton) to make sense of the teacher’s explanation. This ex…

Playing with language and literacy practices includes playing with the units (the sounds, images, letters, and words); and playing with the cultural tools associated with oral, visual, and written literacy (making marks, copying writers and readers).

The exemplar “Flopsy and Mopsy” includes Aimee playing with words. The teacher recognises that Aimee is, on this occasion, perhaps more interested in the words than in the story, and she encourages her playfulness with words.

Date: 5 June

  Examples or cues
A Learning Story

Belonging

Mana whenua
Taking an Interest
Finding an interest here – a topic, an activity, a role. Recognising the familiar, enjoying the unfamiliar. Coping with change.

Hikurangi and Joel held hands and were very quiet and focused during the karanga as we were called onto the marae – as were the other children. Hikurangi liked the waiata in the wharenui, especially “Whakaaria mai”, which both tangata whenua and manuhiri sang together before th…

Playing with mathematical symbols, tools, and practices includes playing with and noticing numbers, shapes and sizes, and quantities of things. It includes trying out tools for exploring number, shape, space, time, and distance and finding out what these tools can do.

In the exemplar “Quin and quarters”, Quin has been playing with symmetry and quarters, painting a pattern that she “appeared to be really happy with”.

Child: Nicholas

Observer: Julie

Date: 14 March

$29.95

Nick asked me how much this was.

“Twenty-nine dollars, ninety-five cents, Nick,” I said.

“That’s a lot of money – but I’ve got heaps of money. When my Nana died, she left me some money,” Nick told me.

“What will you spend it on, Nick?” I asked. “A motorbike!” he told me.

“How about drawing me a picture so I can see what sort of bike you’ll buy?” Nick drew several bikes and ordered them from small to large.

“The big one is a Harley-Da…

The technologies and symbol systems associated with the arts are inviting contexts for play with no purpose in mind. Experiencing pleasure and enjoyment and “trying out” activities are examples of exploration through play.

In the exemplar “Painting tastes good!”, Jack explores some apparently “strange looking stuff” called paint. In the exemplar “Greta responds to music”, Greta tries out a range of movements to music.

Child: Greta (20 months)

Teacher: Caroline

A learning storyThe tape of dancing music was turned on and Greta began to wiggle her hips to the beat. Caroline: “Dancing, Greta.”

She turned and smiled.

Caroline: “Jiggling to the beat.”

Moving her feet and tapping, Greta continued to dance. The music stopped so Greta stopped.

We changed the tape to a “sounds” tape. Greta stood listening intently for a moment and then jumped up and down, clapping her hands. The sound changed to a heavy beat and…