Reo ki te Kāinga was born from a desire to remove as many barriers as possible, for whānau wanting to embark on their reo journey. Three generations of whānau are involved in the process, supporting one another to cultivate te reo Māori in their household.

One of the kaiako Te Aruhe, says creating reo strategies that suit the whānau, plays a crucial role in removing a lot of the barriers they face.

“It’s all about creating reo strategies that work for them, and that meet them at their current level so that using te reo Māori becomes habitual and natural in their whānau. At the beginning, it’s important we spend time in wānanga talking about the barriers to their journey. What are some of the things that are going to prevent them from completing it and how can we overcome them?”

Whānau will set long term goals such as returning to their marae or whenua they have been disconnected from, and in the meantime, work on learning their pepehā, whakapapa, and songs from that whenua, says Te Aruhe. Using this strategy, whānau are able to take small steps every day that help build confidence as they get closer to achieving their long term reo goals.

Shannel’s whānau have started their reo journey thanks to Reo ki te Kāinga, and admits it is something they have been wanting to do for a long time.

“We’ve always wanted to start our reo journey as a whānau and now that our moko has arrived, we are more motivated to take that first step. Being able to do it in the comfort of our own whare has been amazing as time is so precious, and it’s often hard for all of our schedules to match up.”

For Shannel, it has been the small changes that have really added up and made te reo more normalised at home. Being able to implement new daily tasks, such as starting and ending their day with karakia, has felt like small but manageable changes that have helped their journey.

“We know that it’s going to be a big journey for us to become fluent, but that’s okay. We know that learning something is better than learning nothing, and we’ll build on our knowledge as our journey continues.”