Te Tari Puna Ora o Aotearoa/NZ Childcare Association believes that every child in New Zealand has the right to know and enjoy the dual cultural heritage of Te Tiriti o Waitangi partners along with his/her own cultural heritage.
Using words and phrases in your early childhood service shows a commitment to the recognition of te reo Māori as a valuable tool in upholding quality early childhood education in New Zealand.
Te Whāriki, our early childhood education curriculum, anticipates one of the outcomes for children participating in early childhood education will be that they will develop “an appreciation of te reo as a living and relevant language” (Ministry of Education 1996, p76).
We can help achieve that by ensuring children are hearing and using te reo Māori regularly to communicate thoughts and ideas.
Ka pai ki te mahi!
The following phrases are examples of conversations that can be used in the centre and at home to reinforce te reo as a living language.
Mihi mihi (Introductions)
An important part of any communication is greeting one another, a simple greeting or mihimihi can be as follows:
Tēnā koutou katoa
Greetings to you all
Ko (full name) ahau
My name is…
No (place where you live) ahau
I live at…
E mahi ana ahau i te whare kohungahunga (the name of the centre where you work)
I work at…
No reira tena ra tatou katoa
And so greetings to us all
Mānawa (Greetings)
Formal personal greeting used any time of the day
Tēnā koē (one person)
Tēnā korua (to two people)
Tēnā koutou (to more than two people)
Ata mārie koutou tamariki mā
Good morning (to 3 or more children).
Tēnā koutou i tēnei ahiahi
Good afternoon (to 3 or more people)
Poroporoaki (farewells)
Farewelling those leaving or those staying is different in each case, for example:
Haere ra (name), ka kite ano āpopo
Goodbye (when one person is leaving and you are staying), see you tomorrow
E noho ra (name), kia pai to ra
Goodbye (to person when you are leaving), have a good day
Whakamihi (praise)
Phrases to use to praise children can be quite specific and easy to vary, for example:
Ka pai ki te waiata* tamariki ma.
Good singing* children (*this word can be changed to whatever activity children are doing e.g. peita / painting, honohono / sharing, whakarongo / listening, korero / talking etc.)
Pai ki ahau to mahi takaro*.
I like the way you are playing* (*this word can be changed to whatever the children are engaging in).
Questions or comments about day to day events help child learn new words in a natural context.
Pātai (questions)
He aha tenei tae tamariki ma? He kahurangi!*
What is this colour children, blue!* (*this colour can be changed to whatever colour there is).
He aha tenei ahua tamariki ma? He porowhita!*
What is this shape children? A circle!* (*other shapes can be added to this e.g. tapatoru / triangle, tapawha / rectangle, whetu / star, marama / moon etc.)
Tohutohu (directions)
Maku e awhi i a koe (name)
I will help you (name)
Haere mai ki ahau tamariki ma
Come to me children
E noho ki runga i te whaariki*
Sit on the mat* (*this word can be changed with turu/chair or papa/floor)
Ko te wa whakapai te ruma
It’s tidy up time
E tu ki runga tamariki ma
Stand up children
Haere ki te horoi nga ringaringa tamariki ma
Go and wash hands children
Kei hea to potae*? Tikina atu
Where is your hat*? Go and get it. (*this can be changed for maro/apron).
Ko te wa kai o te ata
It’s morning tea time
Ko te wa kai o te ahiahi
It’s afternoon tea time
Ko te wa kai tina
It’s lunch time
Kia tupato (name), ka mamae koe
Be careful (name), you will hurt yourself
Me haere tatou ki waho ki te takaro
Lets all go outside to play