“Hatten” refers to the process of “developing”, creating, improving, or expanding something. “Ki” is the universal energy or force that can be harnessed for healing and self-improvement. “Ki” also means a “tree.” Hattennoki, in Japanese, translates to a "tree of development."
Many believe that education is the pathway to a career and a school is the foremost space for a child's exposure to social interaction. While it may be true, the holistic purpose and effect of education, learning, environment, and schools can hardly be measured or encapsulated.
Learning is lifelong and education is multi-purpose. As equalizers, schools promote social justice, shape society, and give individuals tools for problem-solving, flexible thinking, and logical reasoning to make connections and applications in the real world. Learning must not only be a source to expand one's intellect but also being recreational, joyous, therapeutic, and experiential, a stairway to growth, wisdom, and understanding of one’s and others' beliefs, values, and ethos. Education must teach kindness, perseverance, a growth-mindset, risk-taking, focus, and provide one with a firm yet gentle foundation to understand and interact with the world around us.
Hattennoki sums up my work with schools, parents, teachers, and children to make learning, teaching, curriculum, classrooms, mathematics, reading, language, and comprehension engaging and meaningful. Driven by brain science, child development, research in teaching and pedagogy, my work at Hattennoki aims to spark and sustain engagement, build and nurture curiosity, resilience, creativity, joy, thought, humaneness, and discovery in teaching and learning.
When schools invest in their learning program beyond the curriculum and textbooks, when teachers grow professionally, when parents are partnered in the process of learning, children automatically benefit.
Hattennoki gives me opportunities to:
Consult with schools, teachers, and families across the globe to strengthen curriculum, delivery, engagement, achievement, remediation, and enrichment in K-12 and early childhood teaching and learning focusing on research and pedagogy
Facilitate workshops to augment teacher, school, student, and parent understanding of mathematics, reading, child development, and social-emotional learning
Conduct training sessions for educators to build numeracy, literacy, reading fluency, and comprehension from the onset by sharing effective tools, resources, strategies, and parenting/classroom support
Design and deliver intriguing lessons, content, and courses incorporating best practices in learning and brain development, instructional design frameworks, assign, grade, and provide tailor-made solutions and constructive feedback to all learners
Teach mathematics and reading across the globe to children (Pre-K to Grade 12)
Develop a growth-mindset, boost number sense, and instil confidence in children, families, and teachers, especially those who struggle with math, reading, need remediation, have math or reading anxiety, or are in search of ways to resuscitate life into math and literacy teaching
Work with parents and children and train teachers in Early Education on motor skills, thinking and reasoning skills, social skills involving math and reading fundamentals through play-based methods using stories, music, rhymes, rhythm and movement, exercises, play, puzzles, and multiple multi-sensory manipulatives to connect what they absorb with the real-world.
I started Math with a Smile with a vision to make math education more engaging, accessible, and enjoyable for all learners.
Hattennoki is the next milestone in my journey as an educator. It aptly captures the holistic nature of education; ergo, Math with a Smile is now a subset of Hattennoki.
