Our Story
Who we are
Wordworks is a South African non-profit organisation dedicated to early language and literacy development in the critical first years of children’s lives.
We began work 20 years ago to research and develop early literacy programmes for use in schools and communities. We piloted models of work with partners in different contexts, across languages, prioritising under-resourced communities. We built a strong case for the transformative role of families and early childhood educators.
As interest in our work grows, as evaluations are conducted, our team and methodologies have expanded to meet the requirements of projects and partners across the country. By sharing our tested programmes, resources and courses, we continue to scale our contribution. By remaining open to genuine collaboration, we experience rich cycles of reflection, learning, and improvement. Watch the video for more About Wordworks.
Why we are here
A literacy crisis
Wordworks is committed to help find solutions to the ongoing literacy crisis in South Africa.
Studies show that many Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning in their home language. This aligns with teachers’ classroom experiences and sheds light on low educational attainment, high dropout rates, and persistent inequality.
Simply put, it is impossible to succeed at school, with meaning and enjoyment, without fluent reading and writing skills.
The crisis has its roots in the early years
The process to build reading and writing skills should begin long before a child starts school. But many of our young children simply do not have access to language-rich, informal early learning experiences. The literacy crisis in South Africa has its roots in inequality, in under-resourced homes, ECD centres and Grade R classrooms. The crisis is rooted in adults who are not aware of the importance of early language learning, or lack resources and confidence to engage their children’s language learning.
The result is that far too many children enter Grade 1 without the foundations needed to engage and benefit from the formal home language curriculum because it assumes oral language and emergent literacy skills which are not yet in place. Large numbers of learners thus fall behind and fail to catch up by the end of the Foundation Phase.
Ordinary people can change children’s lives
Wordworks has argued that the solution is to intervene comprehensively with children before they reach Grade 1, and to ensure ongoing family involvement and targeted support for learners at risk in the Foundation Phase. To do this affordably, at scale, we can not only rely on specialists. We need to trust those adults that naturally engage with children in the early years. We need ordinary people to realise the extraordinary difference they can make.
Wordworks has demonstrated the transformative role of parents and caregivers, ECD practitioners and teachers, and community members. By choosing to be a literacy champion, ordinary people have the power to change children’s learning trajectories. Wordworks believes we all do what is best for the children in our care. Once we are informed. Once we are resourced. Once we know we are important. We can change our children’s lives through literacy.
What we do
Advocacy
Wordworks advocates for intervention in the early years – at home, in ECD centres and in the early grades at school. We champion investment in the crucial role of families, communities and educators to transform children’s learning trajectories. Read more.
Early literacy programmes
We develop high-quality, research-based, multilingual programmes to strengthen early language and literacy work. Learn more about our programmes.
We produce resources packed with activities to support language development and build emergent literacy skills in young learners. Our courses share knowledge and build confidence to work with parents and children.
We build a supportive partner network of individuals, schools, ECD centres, and organisations that use our early literacy programmes. Members receive resource-based training and enjoy ongoing support for their early literacy work. See our programme partners.
Accountable work at scale
We contribute to and learn from exciting collaborations, building new materials and models, combining our early literacy expertise with the rich experience of strategic partners. See our collaboration partners.
We join government, NGOs and donors in projects that can offer capacity building, resources and support to key stakeholders at scale in our education system. Read about our projects.
We are committed to accountability. We develop and test monitoring and evaluation tools, participate in impact evaluations and research studies, and share our expertise and data-informed insights within the early learning and literacy sectors. Read programme evaluations.
Work with us
Join our programme network
Are you looking for an effective, carefully designed early literacy programme? Consider joining the growing network of individuals, schools, ECD centres and organisations that use Wordworks early language and literacy programmes. The intention is not that members become Wordworks branches or franchisees. Instead, our commitment is to provide training, support and resourcing so you can use our programmes in your own work, in your own communities, building early literacy your way.
How does it work?
- Learn to use a programme
Choose a programme, sign up for online programme training and support, get resources, do the training. - Use the programme in your context Experience the joy of changing lives through literacy.
- Stay active in the network Receive support, reflect and share learning, grow in confidence, deepen your impact.
What does it cost?
All these steps are free, but you may choose to buy our beautiful materials in their print form.
Collaborate with us
Wordworks is committed to working together with government, the private sector and civil society.
We enjoy working together to achieve shared goals. We have contributed to and learned from exciting collaborations over the years, building new materials and models, combining our early literacy expertise with the rich experience of strategic partners. Our resources are open licensed to enable a range of solutions.
Want to work with us to design and roll out a project?
Want to integrate our resources into your own materials?
Any thing else you can think of? We’d love to think with you!
We enjoy working together to achieve shared goals. We have contributed to and learned from exciting collaborations over the years, building new materials and models, combining our early literacy expertise with the rich experience of strategic partners. Our resources are open licensed to enable a range of solutions.
