2.+Early+Years+Funds+of+Knowledge

**EARLY YEARS FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE**

Each of the six members in this group interviewed a child to discover, among other things, their funds of knowledge. These six children range in age from six to eight years and from prep to Grade Three.

“Funds of knowledge are not just a bank of ideas... Funds of knowledge are not taught directly, but come from shared activities with families and communities” (Hill, 2006, p. 58). When every child begins school they each bring with them very different funds of knowledge. This is knowledge that they have gained from their differing cultural heritage, family situations, community involvement and influence and home activities.

The children interviewed by this group come from a fairly similar ethnic background of Anglo-Saxon heritage, with the exception of Olivia who is of Latin American heritage. This gives most of the children similar cultural funds of knowledge. An idea of acceptable behaviour in the classroom can come from the acceptable behaviour in their own homes with their families. A child from a different cultural background may have less understanding of the Western behaviours expected in a Melbourne classroom. Olivia’s funds of knowledge include some knowledge of Central American traditions as well as the Spanish language. This knowledge is something Olivia will carry with her when she attends school, which most children will not have.

All six children also come from families that have both mother and father living in the same home. This too may give them similar funds of knowledge when it comes to ideas of family. This would be very different to the knowledge that a child from a broken home or a single parent family may bring to the classroom.

The older children, Olivia and Miss H from grade two and Lili from Grade three have a greater knowledge of technology, particularly computers. This capability could have been added to their funds of knowledge from their lessons at school, but they all exercise this knowledge in a home setting in individual ways. This suggests that this aspect of their funds of knowledge is at least affected by their home or community situation. Miss H uses her home computer most for mathletic activities. This suggests that while she has learned to use the computer at school, she may not have gained this fund of knowledge from her home life. Olivia and Lili on the other hand, use their home computers for a variety of activities, from writing stories and drawing pictures, to researching topics and viewing the websites of their favourite TV shows. Their fund of knowledge in the area of technology has been developed in their home setting and has been nurtured by their families. Almost every child has access to and uses some kind of gaming console at home, predominantly the Nintendo Wii. Four out of six children have a Wii at home and of the remaining two; one has a Nintendo DS. These technologies will produce various funds of knowledge in the different children due to their families. For example, the children that have siblings around a similar age to them may have developed a better sense of sharing through the use of their gaming console. They will also have in their funds of knowledge, the ability to use these technologies; this experience can assist in learning to use other technologies. Each child interviewed holds a very different fund of knowledge. These funds are collected and developed from the individual child’s family life and various involvements in the community. When a child goes to school they greatly expand their funds of knowledge. These children will continually be adding to their funds of knowledge through the interactions they have with everyone around them.