The families of Kawaikini Charter School each recently received a boxed set of 31 illustrated Hawaiian-language books, a news release says. “It was a wonderful surprise and an awesome gift from Associate Professor Sam L. No‘eau Warner of the University
The families of Kawaikini Charter School each recently received a boxed set of 31 illustrated Hawaiian-language books, a news release says.
“It was a wonderful surprise and an awesome gift from Associate Professor Sam L. No‘eau Warner of the University of Hawai‘i Manoa Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language,” the release says. “Now, a few months later, the families are enjoying the books as they gather to read the stories to each other during their family time. What a great gift to receive for developing family literacy in the Hawaiian language.”
In 2005, Warner was awarded the I Mua Na Ka Ulu grant, through the U.S. Department of Education under the Native Hawaiian Education Act, to write the books. He wrote 30 of the books, two of which were co-written, and one book was written by his colleague and assistant, Professor Laiana Wong, the release says.
Warner was all too familiar with the challenge that the statewide Hawaiian-immersion program had faced for years in the development of curriculum materials for the heart of their program — Hawaiian language and literacy. He expressed his concern and the goal of his project through the grant: “The struggle to raise the standard of teaching and learning in Hawaiian-language-immersion classrooms has long posed a challenge since the program’s inception 21 years ago.”
“This project seeks to increase literacy development in the entire Hawaiian community so that everyone can literally be on the same page. They are aimed at helping Hawaiian-immersion children and beginning learners and above to learn specific grammatical structures, vocabulary and/or ways of speaking of kupuna, that have been problematic,” the release says.
The Hawaiian-language books are written with stories that reflect the daily lives of children growing up in Hawai‘i today.
The glossy, colorful illustrations capture the delightful stories of the local lifestyle through the eyes of the local native artists, the release says.
Leialoha Kauahi, director of Kawaikini Charter School, is tremendously grateful for the books, as they will enhance the reading experiences of the students at the school, the release says.
As parents and children are partners in reading, they are engaged in developing the critical skills of fluent, knowledgeable readers and the love for reading, the release states. The incredible value of this partnership on the children’s success in reading and their learning in other areas is overwhelmingly positive, said Kauahi.
By entrance into kindergarten, children should have been read to regularly and have heard stories from over 500 books, the release says.
Warner’s set of books will add to the significance of reading aloud to the children and build their own personal library of books, the release states.
