AHA PUNANA LEO
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Mission Statement
Ua ulu mai ke aukahi Pūnana Leo mai loko mai o ka ʻiʻini e hoʻokumu paʻa ʻia a puni ʻo Hawaiʻi nei ke kūlana mana o ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ola mai o Kikilo mai. ʻO ka hana a ka ʻohana Pūnana Leo, ʻo ia ka hoʻokumu, hoʻolako, a mālama i nā kaiapuni ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi like ʻole. ʻO nā ʻohana ke ola o ia mau kaiapuni, a ma ke aloha akua, aloha ʻōlelo, aloha lāhui, aloha ʻāina, a me ke aloha naʻauao e pono ai kākou. The Pūnana Leo Movement grew out of a dream that there be reestablished throughout Hawai‘i the mana of a living Hawaiian language from the depth of our origins. The Pūnana Leo initiates, provides for and nurtures various Hawaiian Language environments. Our families are the living essence of these environments, and we find our strength in our spirituality, love of our language, love of our people, love of our land, and love of knowledge.
About This Cause
Pūnana Leo means language nest, and just as young fledglings are fed directly from the mouths of their mothers, Hawaiian language is fed into the ears of our 3- and 4-year old students from the mouths of the Hawaiian language speakers around them. From the moment a Pūnana Leo ʻohana (family) enters preschool, they are immersed in a rich and stimulating honua (environment) where all must observe the kapu of “Hawaiian language only.” The observance of the kapu helps families and their children learn Hawaiian quickly. New preschoolers learn simple phrases, sentences, and songs with the help of fluent kumu (teachers) and older classmates. Many, if not all, Pūnana Leo preschoolers are able to speak Hawaiian within three or four months. Pūnana Leo classrooms are warm, nurturing places that value and stimulate young minds and prepare them for lifelong learning. Children discover the world through a culturally and age-level appropriate curriculum based on the Kumu Honua Mauli Ola educational philosophy in a safe and secure environment. Our approach to education is through a family-based model. Parents participate in hui kīpaepae weekly language and culture classes held at the school site, lā ʻohana family days, and hoʻihoʻi honua giving back to their school by cleaning the classrooms and school grounds. The ʻAha Pūnana Leo was awarded the world’s first accreditation of an early education program conducted through an endangered and indigenous language by the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC). The new preschool through high school accreditation opens a pathway for distinctive accreditation of indigenous early education around the globe under international guidelines set by WINHEC. There are 11 Pūnana Leo throughout the state of Hawai‘i located on the islands of Hawai‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu and Kaua‘i.