Overall Reflection

Well as I said from the start technology (computer) has been a scary journey for me. Trying to blog , Hyperlink and put up pictures  from certain wed sites well it does show….. I must admit I tried my best and gave it a go to the best of my ability. I would like to thank the group for their  comments and being honest with your korero awesome support and encouragement which empowers myself to keep doing what I am doing so that tamariki will keep responding with wonderment and awe, children will continue thinking and communicating with clarity and precision and gather data through all senses “Kia Ora koutou katoa Kotiro ma”. Rachael thank - you for some great suggestions that will help the development of the tamariki to apply past knowledge to new situations “Kia ora to you. I was a bit concerned about why you did not want to reply to my blog on korero (speech). Thank you for being honest about why you did not want to comment, you felt that the blog I did was not relevant to what was asked of us. I feel that our thoughts and feelings are processed in different ways example, each individual see’s things differently to others and this may come across wrong to you/others but I see it as each individual is unique in their own way just like the tamariki. I see korero especially in the first segment, where it says “Language is…. And continue on ,well I am seeing it through my eye’s as a cycle from when baby is born to old age, Language is leaving a legacy,. I see it as it could be non tech or technology it just depends on how others would see it. Hopefully some one will see it like I do.  My blogs weren’t as good as your girls blogs, I was taken back at you post “excellent job”. It shows me that the passion is strong amongst the group which drives us to do well. And its great to bounce off ideas from one another so that as educators,   implementing different strategies to their play will make children think independently  and remain open to continuous.

Language-(KORERO).

WHY IS LANGUAGE IMPORTANT TO US

Language is when you are born.

Language is being secure.

Language is about being safe.

Language is about Whanau

Language is about Whakapapa.

Language is about Respect and beliefs.

Language is about exploring.

Language is about being shy.

Language is about trust.

Language helps us to communicate with each other.

Language gives knowledge about diversity.

Language can make you competent/confident

Language can make you play.

Language can make you learn.

Language creates empathy for those less fortunate.

Language can make friends.

Language can create enemies.

Language can set rules.

Language can create song.

Language is about Birthdays,

Language is about Transitioning.

Language can make you a leader.

Language can Help you with your Goals

Language helps you to be Successful

Language can also make you fail

Language makes you try again.

Language can help you to be whatever you set you mind to be. 

Language can be happy/sad/angry/funny/scared/calm/caring...............

Language can create careers.

Language can create Love.

Language can create Marriage.

Language can produce Tamariki.

Language can create Hardship.

Language can create Death 

Language can create Break-ups

Language can create Mokopuna's

Language can tell stories.

Language can create memorable moments.

Language can help make Long-Life Soul mates

Language can make you grow old together

Language will carry on your legacy

Language in itself is not technical.  However each culture has spoken or written language and in this modern age, language has evolved through technology.  At it's base language is the spoken or written word.  Previously it was confined due to distance or time but with the use of modern technology we can use telephones to speck to people on different continents, we can talk and write to each other over the Internet, we learn daily news through radio and television. We use technology as a medium for our language. Acronyms and text language are a big part of today's society . Technology has a big impact on our language and our use of written word.

At school children often have their first language and English is usually their second language. I believe in respecting children's language and culture, as they are interwoven, i believe language is a stepping stone of cultural identity of individuals and community. For example the loss of language results in weakened cultural identity." Culture is expressed through language.  Language encapsulates the culture and values are particular to culture" (Ritchie, 2001)

Social cultural theory of vygotsky where he believes that a child's learning is greatly influence by language. Language is used as a strategy's in solving problems for example English being their second language and having been spoken in their own language gives them that sense of belonging, Te Whaariki states "Children and their families experience an environment where they know that they have a place. (MoE.p.58)

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whaariki Matauranga Mo Nga Mokopuna O Aotearoa;

Early Childhood Curriculum.Wellington New Zealand;

Learning Media.

Ritchie, J (2001). Implementing a bicultural curriculum; Some considerations

In Early Childhood Folio 5: 2001- A Collection,

of Recent Research (pp.23-26). Wellington NZCER.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?_r=1

Using Playdough

Children were eager to make playdough. Getting all the dry ingredients together and putting it into a bowl and then mixing it with water the dough started to take shape.  Once the playdough was ready children were ready to use it. Fellow members your probably wondering " What about the playdough you havern't even said what the ingredients to making playdough is and why"? I know what your thinking. The reason why i put this post up is because of what the tamariki wanted to do with the play-dough. Gone are the days when all I  had in my day was just plain mud and water we did lots of things with mud, painted the house with it putting it on our bodies from top to bottom with it ha ha I'm grinning while I'm typing this but the best part was throwing it at my sister and my cousins that was the good old days it certainly has brought make some magical moments for me. So you can just imagine how i felt when they were wanting play-dough i was over the moon especially getting to pick different colours to put in our play-dough i felt just like the tamariki I  felt like a child myself. Noticing as the children started doing their shapes i was quiet surprized at the results. For myself as a Maori female i was quiet taken back at what the tamariki were producing. The children korero about mat time and how some of the children were wearing necklaces. One korero they shared the most with each other were some of the greenstone that the tamariki were wearing, and talked about it been a special gift and is given to a special person.Te Whaariki states Children develop an appreciation of the ways in which they can make contributions to groups and to group well-being. (Ministry of Education. 1996). So the children had decided that they were going to make special necklace for a special person. According Santrock (2008) "Children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings. They form  stable concept and begin to reason". (p.247)

  





 It felt great when they asked me to make one, i felt awesome demonstrating  and talking to them while I did my Taonga. According to MacNaughton and Williams (2004) "Demonstrating will effectively support children's learning when staff uses clear unambiguous verbal instruction to support the demonstration". (p.55).  Children started rolling, pushing, shaping  and cutting the playdough this helps tamariki develop their literacy and numeracy skills as children make sense of sybmbols representing information. Tamariki show great hand and eye co-ordination Sensory skills that extends imagination and creativity. An open resource with no set way of using no predetermined skills or abilities required. 





WoW what can i say i am blown away at what the tamariki have produced.
Tumeke Rawatu Tamariki ma. As you can see the proof is in the pudding.To all thse Carvers out there "BEWARE" you have competition.




MacNaughton, G., &Williams, G (2004).  Technique for teaching young children
Choices in Theory and practice (2nd ed).
French Forrest, NSW, Austrailia: Pearson Educaation.

Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whaariki; He Whaariki Maturanga
mo nga Mokopuna o Aotearoa. Early childhood curriculum. Wellington; Learning Media

Santrock,J.W. (2008). Life-span development (11th ed). Boston, Ma.,
United States of America: MaCraw Hill.









 

Outdoor Activities

In my centre I have discovered that finding 'technology' is difficult in the outdoors. This is because we often focus on technology beings computers and electronics. However if we look at the equipment we have in the outdoor area for the children we can see that they are all made by technology and are in themselves a form of technology. In this picture you see that there are only a few children playing on the jungle gym where as the majority of the tamariki at our centre would prefer to RUN I believe that open spaces provide this for tamariki, this gives them an opportunity to run races, play tiggy, or follow the leader, play rough and tumble and to interact with nature.  According to Richardson (2006) "Young children need challenges and risk within aframe of security and safety. The outdoor environment leads itself to offering challenges, helping children about being safe and to be aware of others" (p.9). A spacious environment provides these opportunities for these kind of games.Children show growing self-esteem as they engage in new challenges and recognise their own growth and accomplishments.Te Whaariki states "Young children need to be able to set and meet their own challenges, become aware of their limits and push their abilities (at their own pace)  to be prepared to make mistakes, and experience the pleasure of feeling capable and competent" (p.87). I always praise tamariki for giving it ago especially tamariki that don't show a lot of enthusiasm because of their size, I truly believe that encouraging and supporting children helps them develop confidence to believe in themselves with their teachers and this will helps them to conquer any obstacles that are in their way during their Tumeke journey, I believe tamariki develop increasing control over their bodies, including development of locomotor skills non locomotor  skills, manipulative skills and increasing agility, co-ordination and balance. Out door play enhances children's intellectual and cognitive development.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whaariki; He Whaariki matuaranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa.Wellington; Learnig Media.