![[Y7] Kahu Manu (2) Life in Pages](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvpayqdatpqajsmalpfmq.supabase.co%2Fstorage%2Fv1%2Fobject%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fblogs%2F1787361392616.jpg&w=1920&q=75)
There was a long wait between signing up for Kahu Manu and the first session. In between, the results came through for the classes that needed an application and a ballot, and we paid the fees that were due. Just before everything was confirmed, Min changed her mind. The bagel business was out, and a monster making and sewing programme was in. Then in August, for one full week, Kahu Manu Cycle A replaced every regular class on the timetable: Life in Pages.
Life in Pages is a programme where the children choose and gather their own journals and materials, then build a bullet journal of their own. Min went round Typo, Whitcoulls and Kmart, taking her time over which journal to buy. In the end she settled on one that matched her friends' in size and design, clean but pretty. She also picked out an alphabet sticker book, pearl stickers and patterned paper for her journaling. For the bits and pieces she would actually use, we added a few masking tapes, stickers and double sided tape to what we already had at home, ordering a couple of easier ones online.
At this age journaling is still a kind of making and playing. Watching her on video calls with her friends, all of them holding up the supplies they had gathered, it was clearly part of the fun.
![[Y7] Kahu Manu (2) Life in Pages — photo 1](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvpayqdatpqajsmalpfmq.supabase.co%2Fstorage%2Fv1%2Fobject%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fblogs%2F1787361501205-fl7p3.jpg&w=1080&q=75)
![[Y7] Kahu Manu (2) Life in Pages — photo 2](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvpayqdatpqajsmalpfmq.supabase.co%2Fstorage%2Fv1%2Fobject%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fblogs%2F1787361503089-fclol.jpg&w=1080&q=75)
![[Y7] Kahu Manu (2) Life in Pages — photo 3](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvpayqdatpqajsmalpfmq.supabase.co%2Fstorage%2Fv1%2Fobject%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fblogs%2F1787361505040-9qw0k.jpg&w=1080&q=75)
Her journal changed every day. One day she came home having filled a page introducing herself. Another day she had spread a vision board across two facing pages. I laughed for a long time at that vision board, so densely packed with small things that there wasn't a gap left anywhere. She says she still doesn't know what she wants to do or who she wants to be, but a board filled with everything she loves might turn out to be a hint at the shape of it.
The next day she came home with a monthly spread, the grid ruled out carefully by hand. She is learning how to manage her own time, keep track of what is coming, and break a goal down into steps she can actually take. There is something of the same thread in the magazine the girls and I make together, in how we go about it and what we hope it gives them.
For now it is only ruled squares. But they grow, and soon enough there will be schedules of their own, and dates they don't want to forget. Some days, perhaps, she will sit down beside a mother who journals for the pleasure of it, heads together over an open page.
At the end of the five days she said she had loved it. She may well think of it as a special sort of play with her friends, in place of lessons. The journal has sat neatly on the shelf for a few days now, but I hope it thickens little by little, and fills up with everything worth keeping.
The next cycle is three weeks away: Buddy Learning, where she will be paired with a primary school child and teach them something.
READ MORE:
[Y7] Understanding Year 7
[Y7] Kahu Manu (1) New way of learning
한국어 요약
Kahu Manu 신청 뒤 첫 수업까지는 한참을 기다렸다. 그 사이 선발이 필요한 수업의 결과가 나오고 참가비를 냈다. 확정 직전에 Min은 마음을 바꿔 베이글 비즈니스 대신 괴물 인형 만들기와 바느질 프로그램을 골랐다. 그리고 8월, 일주일 내내 정규 수업을 대신해 Cycle A가 진행됐다. Life in Pages다.
Life in Pages는 아이들이 직접 저널과 재료를 고르고 모아 자기만의 불렛 저널을 만드는 프로그램이다. Min은 Typo, Whitcoulls, Kmart를 돌며 친구들 것과 크기와 디자인이 비슷한, 깔끔하지만 예쁜 저널을 골랐다. 알파벳 스티커북과 진주 스티커, 무늬 종이도 샀고, 마스킹 테이프와 양면테이프는 집에 있는 것에 몇 개를 보탰다. 이 나이의 저널링은 아직 만들기이자 놀이다. 친구들과 영상통화로 서로 모은 재료를 들어 보이는 것부터가 재미였다.
저널은 날마다 달라졌다. 자기소개 페이지, 두 면을 가득 채운 비전 보드, 손으로 칸을 그린 월간 스프레드. Min은 아직 무엇이 되고 싶은지 모른다고 하지만, 좋아하는 것으로 빼곡한 보드가 그 모양의 힌트일지 모른다. 닷새가 끝나고 Min은 정말 좋았다고 했다. 다음 사이클은 3주 뒤, 초등학생을 가르치는 Buddy Learning이다.
Yussi
Writer · Social work student, Massey University
A mother of three girls and a Korean immigrant making Mairangi Bay home — writing about starting school, home learning and everyday life on Auckland's North Shore.
More about Yussi →Frequently asked questions
- What is Life in Pages in the Kahu Manu programme?
- It was Cycle A of Kahu Manu — for one full week in August it replaced every regular class on the timetable. The children choose and gather their own journals and materials, then build a bullet journal of their own.
- What supplies does a Year 7 student need to start a bullet journal?
- Min chose a journal from Typo, Whitcoulls and Kmart, plus an alphabet sticker book, pearl stickers and patterned paper. For the bits she would actually use, we added a few masking tapes, stickers and double-sided tape to what we already had at home.
- What is a bullet journal?
- A plain notebook that holds everything in one place, laid out however the person keeping it wants. Pages are ruled by hand and added as needed, then numbered so they can be found again. A dot marks a task, a circle an event, a dash a note, and an x means done.
- What pages did she make during the week?
- A page introducing herself, a vision board spread across two facing pages, and a monthly spread with the grid ruled out carefully by hand — learning to manage her own time and break a goal into steps she can take.
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