Celebrating the month of Matariki



Over the past month we have been celebrating the Māori new year, Matariki. Matariki has become an auspicious and important period of reflection and sharing on our Kindergarten's calendar.

This year Matariki began on the 10th of June. At Mairtown we always begin our month of celebrations with a shared breakfast. The Matariki breakfast is Donna's speciality, she arrives early in the morning to prepare a sumptuous feast for the children and families to partake from when they arrive at Kindergarten.

As always Donna put on a delicious spread including scrambled eggs, baked beans, muesli, porridge, toast and spreads. Haere ki te kai! Come and eat!

Sharing kai is an important quality of Tikanga Māori and our philosophy of manaakintanga/care at Kindergarten.

Matariki ahunga nui - Matariki provider of plentiful food

On June the 26th we further celebrated the month of matariki with our first ever 'Harvest Day'. The focus of Harvest Day was about sharing our abundance. Families/whānau were asked to bring in something from their homes that that could share with others.

We also provided a provocation for people to send a special message in with their contribution. Our vision was to nurture both the Tinana (body) and Wairua (spirit).

On our Harvest Day morning the children and families arrived with their gifts of abundance and skills. These gifts were laid out on a specially prepared table which turned into a visual feast, bursting with homemade baked goods, pickles, herbs, fresh fruits and veges. We were truly humbled by the offerings that our families had prepared for each other.

The harvest table was an exchange table. In return for gifting something you chose another item to take away. Throughout the morning the children visited the table to admire all the beautiful offerings and discuss what they might take home. Many stories were offered and shared. Oscar proudly told us about collecting his 6 fresh eggs whilst Lucas's citrus were their 'first pickings'.  James kindly shared the only chilli's from his plant and Cohen couldn't wait to eat one of the cookies he had made with his Mum!

The gifts were presented in baskets, bags, bundles and boxes, and along with the blessing of kai came messages for the heart.

"Always do your best...What you plant now you will harvest later"

"Something small, something sweet, just for you, a tasty treat"

"Kia ora mo nga hoa me nga kai i wwaenganui i a tatou - Thank you for the friends and the food we share"

 

The grand finale of our Matariki celebrations is our annual hangi and lantern parade. This is a highly anticipated and attended event.

As teachers, we love the shared energy that our families offer in the preparations leading up to the evening. This is a time of participation, collaboration and festivity.

There are lanterns to be made…

food to prepare...

and cook

and an evening of celebrating with friends old and new. Our matariki hangi and lantern parade is enjoyed by current attending families and those who have left. A highlight for us all is catching up with old friends.

Matariki is unique to our country and culture. During Matariki we celebrate our unique place in the world. We give respect to the whenua on which we live, and admiration to our mother earth Papatūānuku.

Matariki signals growth. It’s a time of change. It’s a time to prepare, and a time of action.

During Matariki we acknowledge what we have and what we have to give.

Matariki celebrates the diversity of life.

It’s a celebration of culture, language, spirit and people.

This year’s hangi and evening have been captured beautifully on the following video created by Christine. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared in the bounty of the past months events.

Nau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ora te manuhiri

With your food basket and my food basket, the guests will be fed.

Kim

A Map of my Heart

A couple of weeks ago I introduced the children to a book by Sara Fanelli, called 'My Map Book'. As the title suggests this book is full of wonderful illustrations and suggests to children the concept that maps can be drawn or written about many different themes. For instance some of Sara Fanelli’s unusual maps include a ‘map of my day’, a ‘map of my face’, a ‘map of my tummy’, a ‘map of my dog’, and my favourite: a ‘map of my heart’.

It was this map, ‘a map of my heart’ that I used as a provocation for the children whilst asking them the question, ‘If you drew a map of your heart, what would you include?’ My idea was to encourage the children to think deeply and honestly, to be self-reflective and to develop their 'metacognitive' thinking.

The term metacognition was introduced by Flavell in 1976 to refer to "the individual's own awareness and consideration of his or her cognitive processes and strategies" (Flavell 1979). It refers to that uniquely human capacity of people to be self-reflective, not just to think and know but to think about their own thinking and knowing.

It has been a wonderful experience to work alongside the children in this project, and so interesting to listen to their words, thoughts and ideas, as well as watch their ‘thinking taking place’.

Marcus, for instance, was quick to draw a first map which included his superman cape, train tracks and himself, yet returned a little while later asking to do another: “I want to do another one as I didn’t give that one enough thinking”.

Here is his second map along with his words:

 “I put in Chester my cat and his tail. And I guess Carla, she’s our dog. She’s got a big fat body and a head and a pointy nose and a long tail and 4 legs and floppy ears. I guess me now and now Daddy with his heaps of prickles, and Alice with long hair. Now my Mummy, now my Katie and the last person Heidi.”

Lucas spent absolutely ages in front of his blank piece of paper, thinking so very hard. As he told me, “I only want special things”. He took several breaks over the course of completing his map, returning every once in a while to add another element with each extra idea.

Here is his final map and words:

 "The moon and the stars at nighttime. I love my donkey with long ears, I sleep with it and it has a dress and a white nose and his name is German. And I love pancakes, pancakes on top of each other with syrup. And a Christmas tree, I love getting presents, I put a little heart on the top. And I want to draw an elephant, look he’s twisting his trunk!”

By creating a map of their heart, children are able to bring to the forefront the things that matter most to them, the memories, passions, people, and places that a child cares most deeply about; the things that they each hold close to their hearts.

Here are some other wonderful examples of the children’s works:

“Chocolate chip cookies. Now my sister Caitlin. And the fish Nemo and the other one was shining star, they are dead now which makes me a bit sad. Lollipops, and my mum and dad. This is Emma, cause we are good friends, and this is Zair, and that’s you. I need to draw another heart.  Now I’m going to draw Donna and now Kim with her hair tied up. I don’t have a cat, but I’d really like one and if we move I might be able to get one. This is the Sun. This is my special toy, a baby jaguar. This is a swing, I love doing that and touching the roof. And here’s me painting a picture and I like stars!” (Claudia)

“I love Lollipops, this is Mummy, she’s holding a lollipop and candy. That’s Mia and she’s holding a treat. This is Thomas, I love Thomas, he’s number 1. That’s a snowman, I like the snow, and I like the beach so I’ll draw a bucket and yes a spade. And one more - a car, a fast car, I like fast cars" (Kito)

“I like to give my mum a cuddle. I also like my Pippa, she’s a pussy cat... (thinking break)...I have more to add to my heart map. It’s a shaker at my home; my nanny gave it to me. I like all the roads, and hearts, and cookies - plain ones with dots on, and caterpillars. Oh, I forgot me – I like me” (Kate)

‘The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the Heart’ (Helen Keller)

Christine