Links between living things in our environment and kaitiakitanga
One of the ways we in which we embody, model, and teach kaitiakitanga is in our sharing of our environment here at Miramar Childcare (MCC) with other living beings - in sharing our space with living beings we need to practice caring for them on a daily basis - this includes ensuring their physical needs are met (be that kai, water, light, space), respecting that they right to our space as much as we do (giving animals room to explore, allowing our plants to grow, being gentle and kind), finding joy in observing them, recognising changes and increasing our eco literacies (things that grow, or fruit, or shed, or lose their leaves, or change colour, knowing who is who in our garden).
A little background information:
For those who know our centre well, you'll remember our dear rāpeti Rosie who passed away last year. Our new little hoa left quite the whole in her wake! All of us missed feeding her, having gentle pats, the way she would patter about that garden, and come up to say hello.
We've been on the look out for some new rāpeti who might want to call MCC home, and when we stumbled upon Kobe and Toby who were in search of a new home, we instantly knew we needed to offer them a place here.
These two beautiful rāpeti were in need of a new home - they were much loved pets - but their owner had moved into a home that wasn't suitable for them anymore. Our paths crossed and we were able to offer these two beautiful little creatures a safe and secure home where they would have an ample run (our fully fenced rabbit proofed back yard), protected spaces to spend time in when they wanted some alone time, and plenty of loving kaiako and tamariki to interact with.
Settling our new friends into their new home
Protecting the rights and wellbeing of our rāpeti is really important for all of us - our tamariki and kaiako alike - and in our Care Code we kōrero about how we can safely nurture our rāpeti.
Their kai bowl is well positioned so we can observe them as they eat! We collect our vege scraps (that ones that are safe for them! We have a what can we eat and what can't we eat list up in our kitchen!) and the tamariki pop them into their bowl for the meal - they also have pallet kai for breakfast like they did in their old home to keep things nice and familiar! As well as feeding our bunnies something both delicious and nutritious, in saving our kai scraps, we're learning about kai wastage and healthy eating.
These two little monkeys are quite the adventurers are are all about our garden! They can hop right over what had once been a Rosie-proof vege garden fence, and dug a wee hole under their hutch on day one! But with 6 foot high fences around and a side gate that blocks our main play space off from the nature side of our kāinga, they've got so much space to run and play (and have discovered the art of digging in the sandpit rather than under their own whare!)
Links to learning about our Pepeha
In caring for our rāpeti we are able to kōrero about how it is our responsibility to protect, respect and give space to all of Papatūānuku's children. We are able to recognise that we are a part of the circle of life, and that we share the face of this beautiful earth with others who are just as special and important as we are.
In sharing our kāinga with others we are reinforcing how special the space is that we enjoy together each day, we are building on our relationships with other living beings who we have invited to share this space with us, we are deepening our relationships with this place.
Comments