"I didn't learn te reo until I went to university so I wanted my boys to be comfortable in both Pakeha and Maori worlds early on," he said.
Mrs Fitzpatrick said they helped their children learn te reo with the family playing games, singing waiata and taking part in different and fun activities.
"When you are a kid you learn faster and it's paid off for our boys. We all speak te reo and English at home but on Sundays we only speak te reo with no TV, electronic games or Facebook," she said.
Kahurangi said learning te reo was a lot of fun but to remember the ancestry of his whakapapa was difficult.
"I don't get bored because every morning, we sing waiata and karakia and when we play touch rugby, we speak te reo, too," he said
Pita agreed with his older sibling and said he enjoyed learning people's names and New Zealand landmarks.
"I know a lot of places around New Zealand in Maori now," he said.
The couple would like to see bilingual signs in towns and cities, te reo to be compulsory in primary schools and people to korero [converse] in Maori in shops.
"Maori language needs to normalised by everybody especially Maori and be intergenerational. If parents want their children to learn te reo, they should do the journey of learning with them," Mr King said.
"It's the adults that have a problem with it, not children. The children lap it up and their English won't suffer at all. You can all encourage and support each other and kids aren't shy at giving pointers," Mrs Fitzpatrick said.
