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O Ka ‘Āina education is a space to share my ʻohana education experiences and offer learning bundles to other ‘ohana for their own educational journey. ‘Ohana can be homeschooling ‘ohana looking for an EAducational approach that requires both parent and Keiki to learn together, the interested ‘ohana can be enrolled in a traditional educational system and are looking for additional or supplemental O Ka ʻĀina experiences for their ‘ohana, and ʻOhana can be school communtites wanting to bring O Ka ʻĀina experiences to the indoor and outdoor classroom setting.
Childrenʻs Book Series: This is the first book in a series. It accompanies the Fruiting Trees Kilo book and focuses on an ʻohanaʻs journey of awareness towards food sustainability in Hawaiʻi. This book is available in both English and ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaii.
It began with a simple question on the lānai. My six-year-old daughter looked up at the sky and asked, "Mommy, what is time?" Seeking a way for my keiki to truly see time pass, I looked to our ʻāina—to the tall ʻōhiʻa, the gardenias, and our fruiting trees. I realized that by documenting the life cycles of the avocado, tangerine, lychee, and mango, we could witness the heartbeat of the seasons.
On Hawaiʻi Island, we see time move from the April tangerines to the late-May avocado fruit and the emergence of lychee blossoms. These moments inspired a learning routine rooted in kilo (observation), where writing and math meet the natural world. Through this practice, my keiki don’t just learn about time; they become experts of their wahi ʻāina.
Below I share how we as an ʻohana use our O Ka ʻĀina experiences and observations to build and strengthen awareness and skill.
What fruiting Trees can you observe at home and in your community? There is currently 5 observational workbooks available: avocado, tangerine, lychee, mango, and mountain apple
Incorporate kilo into your daily rhythm through casual conversations with your keiki. Observation doesn’t always happen at a desk—it happens during a stroll to Tūtū and Papa’s house, a drive to the beach, or a simple walk through your neighborhood.
Document the seasonal journey of your local landscape. Use the Fruiting Trees of Hawaii Observation Book
Puke kilo mea ulu to chart every stage of growth, from the first flower to the final harvest.
Turn observations into insights. Use these guided prompts to have meaningful conversations with your keiki about the growth patterns you’ve identified together. You can record these long-term cycles on the final page of your kilo book or on our Patterns Calendar.
Nā Lauana is available as a helpful add-on.
Extend your learning beyond the home. By sharing your new ʻike with your ʻohana and neighbors, you contribute to a collective wealth of knowledge that nourishes the entire community.
Keep the journey alive by nurturing daily ʻohana conversations and creating new experiences within the beauty of our natural environment
This chart allows ʻOhana to see fruiting patterns of Hawaiʻiʻs Trees and have discussions with each other, in the Patterns Calendar provided with the kilo book
E palapala i nā lauana mea ulu ma ka Pakuhi Lauana, Ka ʻaoʻao hope o ka puke kilo.
Establish an understanding of weather patterns. Ask your keiki when does it rain a lot? When is it more sunny?
Have many casual conversations with your keiki about the natural world around them. Weather Kilo can look like a morning, or after chores routine. Ask keiki what weather looks and feels like. Encourage them to describe weather phenomenon using senses.
Record weather observation in Weather Kilo Book. Ka Puke kilo Anilā. Once established this task is an independent skill-building expansion.
Have encouraged and guided conversations with your keiki about the weather patterns identified and observed over time by graphing monthly weather occurrences and charting cycles over the short and long term in the Weather Charting Set provided as an Add-on option.
Share your ʻike, your new knowledge with ʻohana and community that encourage ʻohana and community wealth by documenting in the Patterns Chart. provided as an Add-On option
Continue to have ʻohana conversations and experiences with all things within out natural environment.
This allows ʻOhana to visually show dominant weather phenomena as well as fruiting stages of Hawaiʻiʻs Trees. Provided as an Add-On option
E palapala i nā lauana anilā a me nā lauana o nā mea ulu. He lako koena kēia.
Aloha mai kākou,
Here is a parent guidebook that I offer to ʻohana. This guide provides some insight into how to complete the different learning activities, as well as some examples of my own keikiʻs work. If you are not sure where to begin, then maybe perusing through this guide will help. The downloadable PDF is here for easy access or a spiral-bound version can be purchased in the "Parent Guide book" category in the SHOP.

Here is a useful resource to use when having conversations with your keiki about Hawaiʻiʻs Fruiting Trees. While observing your Fruiting Trees around your community, point out these plant parts normalizing the vocabulary. Select an images below to download a free PDF.

These conversations early on make keiki comfortable with the natural world and its processes. Sharing the story with your keiki about how plants grow encourages them to see the magic in observation, time, growth, and maturity. Select an image below to download a free PDF.

Here are some PDF downloadable ʻohana resources

Ua ʻaneʻane hoʻi e paʻa
I had a parent ask me how to help their keiki with visualizing fractions and percentage coverage in order to estimate the amount of flowers or fruits on a tree, in the Hawaiʻi Fruiting Trees Observation Book 3. A no laila! Here it is, click on the image to be taken to a PDF.