Hunter Park Kindergarten

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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Visit to Lindsay Bush-Celebrating 80 years

Today we celebrated 80 years of Heretaunga Kindergarten Association by visiting Lindsay Bush.
Being able to see things like a Kahikatia tree we meet in songs like "E tu Kahikatia" just helps make the knowledge more real and puts it in context. The forest had many different trees, serving many different roles we talked about as we explored. To be able to stare up the trunk of nga rakau roa ki roto i te ngahere and wonder were the top is.The vines reminded one boy of the rigging he's been putting on the masts of his pirate ship he's been making over the last two weeks.We could hear te tangi o nga manu in the trees, and sometimes see their nests (kohanga) and the birds them selves.As well as giants the forest had ferns and moss. "he whakapai uruora" we go towards goodness through the help of those around us.One particular favourite was the spider webs, as we passed them our parents were prompted by the sights to start sharing stories, our community of learners sharing their knowledge.Some trees were just so big you had to see what was on the other side.
You couldn't help wonder, could you climb them?Small caves drew us in to find who lived in them.
And some trees just had all of us adults and children exploring our disposition to ask questions and enquire.
Moss, grubs, beetles.
Families in the forest
To help celebrate we dressed up. You never know who you might see in the woods. We invited local story teller Mary and her husband Peter to come share stories and songs with us. She tucked a horse into bed with the help of one strong boy.
We counted 39, whoops 38 monkeys in a tree.
We pulled up the most enormous turnip and much much more.
Learning in Early Childhood is learning in context, hands on, real life.
It is holistic, each piece taken together as part of a broader picture.
It is formed by communities interacting with everything around them giving us all a sense of belonging.
It is exploring, curiousity, imagination. It is the sights, sounds, touch, taste and feel of our own and other cultures.
It is safe and at the sametime challenging and wonderful.
It is driven by the contributions of everyone to the baskets of knowledge, the quests to explore, children and adults.
It is about a rich web of language and communication on which the knowledge is hung.
It fosters the dispositions that will drive learning all through life.
It gives love and recieves it.
It is for the past, the future and the present
It is for every person, every age, every thing.
For us, 80 years on, it is still growing, guided by all around us.
E tu kahikatia
he whakapai uruora
awhi mai, awhi atu
tatau tatau e.
kia ora e hoa ma, kia ora te whanau, kia ora te ao.
David

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