Hunter Park Kindergarten

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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Matariki-tokotoko

The last few weeks we've been getting ready for Matariki, learning about what it means and tying into this terms virtue of idealism, resilience, trustworthiness and enthusiasm.
Watching Kapahaka on YouTube has been a great way to learn about enthusiasm, and has been giving the children a taste of what they'll be able to see free at the A.W. Parson stadium on Friday night.
Amongst the books we've been reading has been Dot Meharry's "The Talking stick." Sam was very impressed by Hohepa's idealism following his dream, not to mention his resilience overcoming the obstacles, his enthusiasm in speaking and the trust his father and family placed in him when they handed him back his tokotoko.
So Sam decided to make a tokotoko of his own. With only three days before school, it still needs work, but he' industriously shaved the bark, sanded from p60 to p120 (learning about sandpaper grades and sanding in the process) and oiled it. (All with a lot of support from Sharon.)
Unlike Hohepa who choose Kauri, Sam choose willow. As well as being amongst what we had, it's traditionally been used in walking sticks and by bards and storytellers.
Sam also made himself a face mask, because you have to be careful with dust while sanding and to emphasis the point, brought us "Harry the builder" out of the library to show us how Harry wears a mask while sanding as well. I think Phil and the team at Flemington will need an upgrade of their carpentry gear next week.
David

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