These interconnected mātāpono aronui provide rich contexts for teaching and learning about number and measurement in the early years.
Whatumanawa is the mauri/essence of the emotions of children. Nurturing mauri supports children to be open to learning.
We nurture mauri when we create environments that respect the ways children explore number and measurement through their play, routines and everyday experiences. For example:
- interactions that create enjoyment, like waiata and games with number, e.g. “What’s the time Mr Wolf?”,
- materials that enable children to measure quantity for a purpose, such as making rēwena bread, and
- routines that include opportunities to explore number patterns, such as setting tables and chairs for lunch.
Whare has a dual meaning: the home of children and ‘house of learning’. These are not necessarily physical buildings but are ‘houses of knowledge'. Maths has a distinct whare of both Pākehā and Māori knowledge, and it is our role to support children to enter into and explore this whare.
We can support children to explore this whare by creating purposeful environments for children to learn about number and measurement through play, daily routines and other experiences. For example:
- interactions use intentional maths language when talking about measurement, number, relative magnitude etc., e.g. ‘We need twice as much flour, we’ve put in one cup so now we need to measure one more cup’,
- materials invite children to group, compare, count, estimate or predict and
- routines encourage children to practice grouping or counting, e.g. tidying away three items each before lunch.
Whānau speaks to the important interpersonal relationships of children. Children develop tuakana, teina relationships with people at home, within the early learning centre and in the wider community. Maths connections and relationships also work together as a ‘maths whānau’such as relationships between number, sequence, and grouping. The mātāpono aronui ‘whānau’ provides a context for children to recognise these connections and relationships.
We can strengthen this context by creating environments that help children to learn about number and measurement through play, daily routines and other experiences in relational ways. For example:
- interactions draw attention to relationships between number, measurement, and other maths concepts such as pattern,
- materials reflect the home life of children, including the people in their home, and
- routines incorporate sequences familiar to children and their whānau, e.g. “First you put your rabbit in bed, second you go to the wharepaku, third you get your blanket for bed”.
Whenua refers to land and also means placenta. Returning the placenta to the whenua when children are born connects them to their land, to Papatūānuku, and to their whakapapa back to atua Māori. The mātāpono aronui ‘whenua’ provides context for children to make connections to natural areas of collective belonging.
We can strengthen this context by creating environments that encourage children to use the natural world as they learn about number and measurement through play, daily routines and other experiences. For example:
- interactions draw attention to measurement in the natural world, such as noticing the relative size of hills,
- materials from nature are available for children to group, compare, count, estimate, or predict, and
- routines involve estimating quantities, grouping or counting in ways that protect the environment, such as sorting the recycling.
