LATEST STORIES
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori at BestStart Wairakei Road
Yearly, we celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori language week). This celebration is actually not just focused on using the language. We took this opportunity to provide a variety of experiences that gave our tamariki a taste of the Māori culture. We have been learning new Māori waiata such as "Oma Rapeti", "Ma is white", "Tohora Nui", and "Tena Koe". We have also used traditional mediums such as rakau sticks, poi, and used puipui for dance and movement.
This experience helped them develop their literacy and numeracy skills. Doing music together helps them develop their social skills, confidence, and leadership skills as the older ones made sure the babies got their poi or other medium we use for our music. We read the book 'In the Beginning' which is a Māori myth. After reading this, we learned about some of the gods through our play.
Together we painted Ranginui (the sky) and Papatūānuku (the earth). We will be turning this into a display for our classroom! We learned about Tangaroa (the god of the ocean and of all its creatures) through sensory play with different sea creatures. We also learned about Tawhiri-matea (the god of winds and storms) by painting rocks for our garden.
As the Tamariki played, we talked about the book so they could begin to form these connections. We also painted Koru, and read different Te Reo Pukapuka (books). We learned our colours, shapes, numbers and animals in Te Reo Māori! It was such an amazing celebration. Our children were very engaged with all of these activities. This links to our vision which is “Together we are nurtured as we play, learn and have fun.”