These interconnected mātāpono aronui provide rich contexts for teaching and learning about space 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 space and measurement through their play, routines and everyday experiences. For example:
- interactions encourage children to physically explore spaces beyond their usual setting,
- materials such as buggies, kete or backpacks for children to transport objects and explore spaces, and
- routines are flexible so that children can immerse themselves in their work.
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 space and measurement through play, daily routines and other experiences. For example:
- interactions use maths language to support growing conceptual understandings of space and measurement,
- materials are presented in ways that invite children to notice and explore shape, trajectory, and measurement, and
- routines build knowledge of shapes and the changing use of space, e.g. ringing a triangle to signal that kai is available.
Whānau is about 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 trajectory, location, and measurement). The mātāpono aronui ‘whānau’ provides a context for children to recognise these spatial connections and relationships.
We can strengthen this context by creating environments that help children to learn about space and measurement through their play, daily routines, and other experiences in relational ways. For example:
- interactions draw attention to spatial connections such as location and trajectory,
- materials encourage children to collaborate when exploring space and measurement, and
- routines highlight relationships, e.g. between location (space) and time (measurement).
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 a 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 to learn about space and measurement through play, daily routines, and other experiences. For example:
- Interactions draw attention to the relative distances between geographic locations,
- materials from nature are available for exploring similarities and differences among shapes (including when they are turned or flipped), and
- routines include excursions to significant locations such as maunga, awa, marae, or community gardens.
