Tamariki at BestStart Beach Haven are growing te reo Māori through daily routines, waiata, storytelling, and reading. Babies and toddlers are developing language, identity, and connection, nurturing this treasured taonga in meaningful, playful ways.
At BestStart Beach Haven, in our Pipi Room (Babies) and Tawera Room (Toddlers), we have been walking together to support and grow the wonderful language of Aotearoa — Te Reo Māori. A taonga (treasure), we are planting seeds for a future where te reo is alive, heard, and valued every day.
We believe te reo Māori is more than just a means of communication. Hearing the language in our everyday environment strengthens our tamariki’s taha wairua, taha whānau, taha hinengaro, and taha tinana — their identity, connection, mana, and sense of belonging. This is why we celebrate and nurture te reo Māori with our babies and toddlers every day.
Throughout our teaching practice, we naturally weave te reo Māori into daily routines. Our kaiako use simple words and phrases such as numbers, colours, body parts, animals, feelings, and greetings/farewells. Te Reo Māori has become a daily ritual, especially during mat times.
We love to sing waiata during transitions, mat times, and karakia before kai. Singing with movement encourages tamariki to connect words to actions, supporting language development and recognising rhythm, sound, and patterns.
We share pakiwaitara (stories) and read pukapuka — te reo Māori books — with our tamariki. They are soaking up new words and gaining exposure to more than one language. Reading aloud also supports listening and comprehension skills.
We will continue to celebrate and embrace te reo Māori, recognising it as both our privilege and responsibility to uplift this taonga with our tamariki. Through these experiences, their early learning is rich in the language and culture of Aotearoa.
“He reo tupu, he reo ora” — A growing language is a living language.