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Ministry of Education New Zealand
Parent Portal survey

We’re inviting whānau to share their feedback on the Parent Portal to help us improve the information and support we provide. Take a few minutes to complete our short survey.

Parent Portal survey – Survey Monkey

Kaupapa: Tau (number)#

In their first year at kura, mokopuna will be learning to:

  • join in mathematical investigations and ask questions
  • communicate whether sets are bigger or smaller, understanding the relationship between more than, less than, and equal
  • count to 10 and beyond to 20, forwards and backwards, from any number
  • identify, read, and write numbers to 100
  • group and partition numbers up to 100 in different ways using place value concepts, for example, 34=30+4
  • to count forward and back from any whole number between 1 and 20 and then 1 and 100.

Ideas for whānau activities#

Visit the beach and find and collect shells or other objects with mokopuna. Ask questions like:

  • "E hia ngā mea kua kohia?", "How many items have you collected?"
  • "Me whakarōpū?", "Shall we group them?".

Go on a bush walk and spot the kawakawa trees. How many did you count?

Visit the playground or local park and count the:

  • people
  • swings
  • seesaws
  • bridges
  • slides
  • tables
  • benches
  • animals.

Interests and hobbies

  • Weaving harakeke – how many rau harakeke do you need?
  • Read stories together. Count how many characters, vehicles, houses or animals are in the story.
  • Sing counting songs, like "Tahi, rua, toru, whā" or "E rima ngā rakiraki".
Ngā tini mata o te reo o tau – the language of number

  • ōrite – same
  • rōpū – group
  • ingoa o ngā tau tae noa ki te 10 – names of numbers up to 10
  • wāwāhi – partition.

Kaupapa: Taurangi (algebra)#

By the end of the first year at kura, mokopuna will have learned to:

  • sort shapes and objects by a feature (colour, shape)
  • represent patterns using materials, words, symbols, movements and pictures
  • investigate repeating patterns in a range of contexts
  • identify, describe, and classify 2D and 3D basic shapes, including cubes, cylinders, and spheres.

Ideas for whānau activities#

Rapu āhuahanga – finding shapes

Look around your home and neighbourhood for shapes like:

  • porowhita (clocks, light shades, speed signs)
  • tapawhā (letterboxes, doors, windows)
  • niho taniwha (leaves with serrated edges, kōwhaiwhai).

Kei te marae – at the marae

Compare shapes in whakairo, or tukutuku to shapes in the environment.

Whakarōpū – grouping

Organise books or toys on a shelf from tallest to shortest, biggest to smallest, or in colour groups.

Raranga – weaving

Weave harakeke or strips of paper with mokopuna.

Waiata – songs

Sing songs with actions about shapes, such as "porowhita, tapawhā, tapatoru".

Ngā tini mata o te reo o taurangi – the language of algebra

  • tauira – pattern
  • tāruarua – repetition
  • huānga – element
  • whakaroa – continue.

Kaupapa: Ine (measurement)#

By the end of the first year at kura, mokopuna will have learned to:

  • directly compare 2 objects from the world around them using an attribute
  • compare objects using informal measurements
  • name the units being used to measure an object (centimetres, metre)
  • connect days of the week to familiar events and daily routines
  • compare the length, mass (weight), or capacity of objects directly or indirectly, for example, by comparing each of them with another reference object, which is used repeatedly
  • apply comparison and non-standard measurement skills in kaupapa Māori contexts such as:
    • timing kapa haka rotations
    • planting distances in māra kai
    • measuring taonga using natural units.

Ideas for whānau activities#

Nga tau – numbers

Practise counting, reading, and writing numbers using these Google slides. The resources may not be in accessible formats.

Tākaro kēmu – playing games

Play with pāngarau words to develop their understanding of:

  • runga
  • raro
  • mua
  • muri
  • tuatahi
  • tuarua
  • tuatoru.

Whakanui i te pāngarau – be positive about pāngarau

Show mokopuna where you use pāngarau, such as counting things. This will help them build confidence in pāngarau. Praise their efforts.

Ngā tini mata o te reo o ine – the language of measurement

  • roa – length/long
  • taumaha – weight/heavy
  • whānui – width/wide
  • tāroa – height/tall/long
  • teitei – height/high
  • poto – short
  • iti – small
  • hahaka – low
  • hōhonu – depth/deep
  • pāpaku – shallow
  • tawhiti – distance/distant/far
  • tata – nearness/near/close.

Kaupapa: Āhuahanga (geometry)#

By the end of their first year at kura, mokopuna will have learned to:

  • explain the reasons for their groupings of shapes or objects
  • identify, sort by 1 feature, and describe familiar shapes
  • identify the position of an object and recognise that if the mokopuna changes position, then the object’s position and direction change
  • use words to describe the orientation of objects such as whakamua (forward), whakamuri (backward), mauī (left), matau (right), whakarunga (upwards) and whakararo (downwards).

Ideas for whānau activities#

Whakarōpū – grouping

Sort a group of objects (for example, toys or leaves) according to length, shape, size or colour. Ask, "ko tēhea te mea roa rawa?", "Which is the longest?"

Haere ki tātahi – go to the beach

Run up the sand dunes and when you and the mokopuna get to the top call out: "Kei runga tāua/tātou i te puke!"

Run down again and say, "Kei raro tāua/tātou!"

Waiata – songs

Sing waiata ā-ringa with actions and words such as "titiro whakarunga, titiro whakararo, haere whakamua, hoki whakamuri".

Ngā tini mata o te reo o āhuahanga – the language of geometry

  • tapa – side
  • mata – face
  • kokonga – corner
  • kōpiko – curve
  • rārangi – line
  • torotika – straight
  • tata – near
  • mua – front
  • muri – back
  • taha – side
  • taha mauī – left side
  • taha matau – right side
  • waenganui – middle
  • pito – centre
  • tua atu – far
  • tua mai – close
  • runga – up
  • raro – down
  • roto – inside
  • waho – outside
  • tuatahi – first
  • tuarua – second
  • mai – from
  • atu – to
  • whakamua – forward
  • whakamuri – backward.