Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 7, 1 July 1990 — Learning Hawaiian-style is fun for kids [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Learning Hawaiian-style is fun for kids

by Deborah Ward Editor, Ka Wai Ola O OHA / hear, I forget I see ane/ / remember I do and I understand (Oriental prouerb) For fourth-graders at Keolu Elementary School in Kailua, O'ahu, a hands-on approach makes learning about Hawaiian traditional lifestyle fun and memorable.

Students in a class taught by Keolu teacher Stan Kapepa leam, both in and outside the classroom, about the history of Hawai'i. They study Hawaii's geology on a trip to Hawai'i Volcanoes Nahonal Park. They leam about the Hawaiian as a farmer by going to a taro farm and planting taro huli (cuttings). They leam about the Hawaiian as a fisherman by going to the shore, learning to paddle a eanoe and participating in a hukilau. During the academic year they leam about the ways of Hawaiians of old, about the changes that eame with the first westerners, the monarchy period of Hawai'i, and about the arrival of the first immigrants from Asia and Europe.

The core of Kapepa's fourth-grade curriculum is Hawaiian studies, into whieh he incorporates reading, writing, music, art, science and social studies lessons. When he eame to Keolu School four years ago after being at Blanche Pope Elementary for 14 years, Kapepa developed a new program to teach his students to understand and respect Hawaiian ways. He wanted children of all ethnicities to leam to malama the host culture of Hawai'i. He also wanted to teach Hawaiian culture in a multicultural setting to share the message, "We

Learning the Hawaiian way of doing things is something Stan Kapepa's classes gain from windward kupuna Joseph Kepa "Stew" Kalama, who was born in Ho'okena, Kona and raised in a traditional Hawaiian self-sufficient lifestyle. Kalama has shared his knowledge with children since 1954. Now retired after 19 years as a tour driver, Kalama lives in Kailua and maintains a taro farm in Waihee, O'ahu.

This year he's showed Kapepa's fourth-graders the lifestyle of a taro farmer and fisherman and taught them the Hawaiian vocabulary. One day the class of 30 students and five parents went up to Kalama's taro lo'i (taro field) in Kahalu'u. Working with hands and feet, they built an auwai (irrigation ditch) to the lo'i, planted taro huli and saw fullgrown plants too.

For the final class outing of the schoo! year, Kapepa's class met Kalama at Kailua beach park and divided into three small groups that rotated between learning stations. At the water's edge, Kalama began with the rules of water safety: don't horse around, pay attention; and a bit of tradition, don't jump over the eanoe. He told the children Hawaiians used slippery hau logs to roll their canoes out to the water e-

are all immigrants." The Hawaiians were the first immigrants who were established in these islands more than a thousand years before other groups arrived. Yet, he says "We learned to work together and over eaeh other." Kapepa hasinitiateda traditionatKeoluSchool, an annual Makahiki (new year) ce!ebration. Just before the makahiki, the school holds a pa'ina and the fourth graders make laulau for their speciak luneheon, attended by parents. The fourth grade

specially when there was no sandy beach. He taught them the names of the parts of a wa'a (eanoe); the ama (outrigger float), the manu (parts of a bow and stern endpieces). He showed them how to grasp their paddle, how to dip it into the water and pull it out to complete the stroke. ' Then they helped roll the eanoe down to the water and got in, six first, then the rest. Away they paddled in the shallow water of the Kaelepulu stream.

Later, on the beach they watched Kalama demonstrate the art of hi'a (fish net weaving), then took turns using the shuttle and cord to make a series of loops and knots to form the net eyes. Meanwhile another group nearby learned to play games of skill; ulu maika (stone rolling), moa pahee (sliding darts) and ka'ihe (throwing a wooden spear) at a hapu'u log target.

A third group learned wresthng and endurance games: hakoko noho (a kneeling wrestling game), pa uma (standing wrist wrestling), loulou (a fingerpulling contest)and uma (hand wrestling) . The most exciting time of the day eame when Kalama and members of his family, along with the, Keolu kids and their parents joined in for a hukilau, the first such experience for the children and most

puts on a makahiki program with music and dance. Younger grades look forward to their ehanee to perform in the makahiki and older grades remember when it was their turn. Kapepa, a 1952 graduate of Kamehameha Schools, onee spent two years in the Peaee Corps in Africa. This experience impressed him and reaf firmed his own Hawaiianess.

Now he takes the best of Hawaii's different eultures and structures his curriculum units to include daily writing exercises, skits, arts and music, science, all to buiid upon children's different leaming styles. Creative drama stimulates right-brain development, and games help build vocabulary in his classes. Students have put on a Chinese opera and a Japanese program and other ethnic groups will be featured in the future. Kapepa tries to end eaeh unit with a hands-on outdoor activity. He says, "We forget in today's computer age that we ean still leam by doing. Education now recognizes the value of cooperative learning." It is especially the "doing" that allows children to see the completion of their tasks, and to feel satisfaction and enjoyment, he says.

Hawaiian values and culture have a lot to offer. He says the Hawaiian learning style of nana, ho'olohe, hana (watch, listen and do) encourages hands-on learning. He paraphrasesasayingofculture authority Mary Kawena Pukui, that we don't have to do like the ancestors, but we must leam about them so we ean appreciate what they did.

While 30 percent of the student populahon at Keolu School is Hawaiian, Kapepa says"We must teach the kids how to be Hawaiian and to be successful in Western culture too."

of the parents. As Kalama, his son-in-law, and grandchildren paddled out just off Kailua beach, they set the long hukilau net that onee belonged to Kalama's grandfather. On the eue to pull in the net, the children rushed eagerly to the task, but because the net eame in too quickly and the bottom pulled up, the fish got away. Onee more the eanoe paddlers went out with the net.

This time, the children pulled slowly and carefully , and when the net finally lay on the sand, dozens of moi (threadfish) wriggled in it. Sqealing with delight the kids learned how to pull the fish, headfirst, out of the net and put them into a bucket. Later, washed and elean, the moi filled a large bucket of fresh water and iee.

In preparation for luneh, the children learned to scale and elean the fish, then wrap them in ti leaves (lawalu) to eook over coals in a hibachi. Under a hau tree on the beach, Kalama's 10-year-old grandson Kalena Gerona demonstrated poipounding with a large poi-pounding board and traditional pohaku ku'i 'ai (stone pounder). It was a delicious luneh and satisfying conclusion to a fun day of hands-on learning.

Hoe wa'a! Keolu students with Stew Kalama in stern. paddle down the Kaelepulu stream.

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