Ko te whānautanga o te rōpū kōhanga reo i puta mai i te hui kaumātua a te Tari Māori i tū ki Waiwhetū, i Te Upoko-o-te-Ika, i te tau 1979. Ko ngā kaumātua i taua hui i te māharahara i te rangahau a Benton (1978), ka tere ngaro pūmau atu te reo Māori. Nā taua hui i whakaae ko te reo Māori te poutokomanawa o te mana Māori, ā, me tahuri te iwi Māori ki te “tango mai i te mana whakahaere i te whakaritenga mō te reo mō ngā rā kei te heke mai, me te whakatakoto kaupapa mō tōna oranga tonu” (Te Rōpū Arotake a te Kāwanatanga, 1988, p. 18.)

Nā ngā tono auau tonu mō te reo Māori a Te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora me Te Kaupapa Mātauranga mō te Iwi Māori, mai i tō rāua tīmatanga i ngā rā tōmua o ngā tau 1960, kātahi anō ka whakahaeretia (Te Kaupapa Mātauranga mō te Iwi Māori, 1962; Te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora, 1962; Grey 1963). Ko te whakatau a te hui kaumātua ki te Tari Māori, me whakahāngai te reo Māori hei kaupapa mō te tau 1981 (Te Rōpū Arotake a te Kāwanatanga, 1988).

Nā reira ka whakatauria me whakatū ngā kōhanga reo i raro i ngā kaupapa Māori, ā, ko te takiwā noho me rumaki katoa i roto ite reo Māori. Ka kūmea mai te whakaaronui me te mātauranga o ngā kaumātua hei horopaki i te kōhungahunga me tōna whānau. Kei kō atu tēnei i te tari mō ngā kōhungahunga Māori noa iho. Ko tēnei hei tūrangawaewae mō te akoranga me te tautoko i te whānau mō te iwi Māori. Hei akoranga tēnei mō te ora tonu (Te Rōpū Arotake a te Kāwanatanga, 1988).

Ki tā Mead (Te Tari o te Mātauranga, 1988) i kūmea mai e te rōpū nei ngā rauemi o te reo me ngā mātauranga Māori e kitea ana i roto i ngā kaumātua e ngaro haere nei, me ētahi atu e matatau ana ki te reo. Ki tā Hōhepa (1990) i noho tēnei hei hāngaitanga mō ngā Māori e tino māharahara ana mō te tata o te ngaro o te kōrero i roto i te reo Māori.

Ko te kōhanga reo tuatahi i tīmatatia i Wainuiomata, i te Upoko-o-te-Ika, i te tau 1981, ā, i whakatuwheratia i te 13 o Āperira, 1982, “I muri tata tonu iho ka whai mai ko Waiwhetū, ko Kōkiri Seaview, ko Maraeroa i te rohe o te Upoko-o-te-Ika me Ōrākei i Tāmaki Makaurau” (Te Rōpū Arotake a te Kāwanatanga, 1988, p. 19). Kore rawa e whakaarotia e te tangata te kaingākau o ngā whānau Māori, me te āhua i tangohia ai e rātau tēnei rapunga whakaaro. Ki tā Cook (1985) “I tino whakaparau te ao o ngā kōhungahunga i te kōrerotanga atu kua whakatakotoria ngā kōhanga reo ka tuwhera i roto i te ono marama kei te heke mai” (p. 54).

He mea tango mai i Te Puāwaitanga o te Reo Māori. Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa mō te Rangahau i te Mātauranga 1997.