Our programmes
Wordworks’ resource-based early literacy programmes have been designed for adults who work with and care for children from birth to nine years old as well as their parents and caregivers. They skill and support adults to take up different roles to build early literacy foundations in their communities. The programmes are used by thousands of teachers, ECD practitioners, parent educators, tutors and after-school facilitators across the country.
Who can use the Wordworks programmes
Select a programme below to find out more
- Programme Q & A
- Every Word Counts
- Little Stars
- Stellar
- Home-School Partnerships
- Read Write Shine
All about our programmes
Why would I decide to use a programme when there are so many activities on the site and out there?
Based on research and practical experience, our programmes are made up of sequenced learning experiences that systematically build knowledge, skills and confidence over time. Programme materials provide clear guidance to the user. When roleplayers choose a tested programme to guide their work with children or parents, they can be confident of its quality and effectiveness.
Who should use Wordworks programmes?
The programmes are for
- Teachers and ECD practitioners who work with learners in Grade RR and Grade R.
- Tutors and afterschool facilitators who work with Foundation Phase learners.
- Parent educators who work with parents and caregivers of babies and toddlers, preschool and Foundation Phase children.
How do I learn how to use the programme properly?
Wordworks is committed to supporting quality programme use. For this reason, all our early literacy programmes are supported by step-by-step programme guides and learning resources, as well as free online programme training, resources and support.
What early learning principles guide Wordworks programmes?
We understand that young children:
- Are strongest when they can use their mother tongue freely.
- Learn best when new learning is connected to something familiar.
- Make meaning through stories, play, asking and answering questions.
- Learn language within quality adult-child interactions.
- Build vocabulary by hearing and using words often in different contexts.
- Develop ideas when they share opinions, draw and create.
- Build confidence within routines, with lots of practice and repetition.
- Learn when active, having fun and using all their senses in a safe and welcoming environment.
All about programme resources
Where can I find programme resources?
Right here on our site! To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re releasing all our early childhood literacy programme resources on our website for the first time – making them more accessible than ever before!
I don’t want to do the programme training. Can I still get programme resources?
Programme resources can be purchased in either digital or print format in the Wordworks online shop. You are not required to complete the free programme course although we recommend the training!
I am a course graduate. How do I get free digital programme resources?
Once you have received your course certificate you will be able to freely download digital programme resource files.
How do I get printed programme resources?
While there is no obligation to order printed programme resources, feedback from users is that they really enjoy working from the beautiful hard copy resources. Our team strives to keep printing costs low so you can enjoy the resources hands-on. We recommend you order the printed materials when you can.
All about programme training
Why should I sign up for programme training?
Wordworks offers training that integrates theory and practice, giving opportunities for reflection and planning. Evaluations have shown that programme training improves the quality of programme understanding and delivery.
Our online programme courses are free, high quality, practical and where appropriate, SACE endorsed. As a programme graduate you will benefit from ongoing support to help ensure successful programme implementation.
What happens after I sign up for programme training?
After you sign up for programme training and support, you will:
- Receive a link to go into the course.
- Look through the course modules, download course resources and sign up for calendar events.
- Complete your course modules, complete attendance forms
- Submit assignments, portfolios, quizzes, reflections and/ or feedback as required.
What happens after I complete the course?
Receive your programme certificate and become a proud member of the programme network.
- Experience the fulfillment of changing lives through literacy.
- Stay active, check your messages, consult your resources, attend Communities of Practice
- Build confidence, work with others, deepen your impact.
- Complete brief programme reports twice a year.
Are there other programme graduates like me?
Yes! Join a growing network of committed individuals, schools, ECD centres, and organisations using Wordworks’ early childhood literacy programmes to build early literacy and language skills.
What does it cost?
Nothing! All of these steps are free. You may choose to purchase our beautiful materials in print form to enhance your experience.
Stellar
A Wordworks Home Language classroom programme (Grade R)
This early literacy programme is for Grade R teachers working with 5–6 year old children. It is designed to strengthen early language learning and emergent literacy in Grade R classrooms.
The programme is story-based, interactive, activity-rich and CAPS-aligned and is built around a 2-week story-based framework.
How is the programme structured?
4 term packs
The programme is structured to teach early literacy skills as listed in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Grade R. The language development activities and early literacy resources in the programme are developed around 19 stories and organised into four term packs.
19 stories
The programme has adapted 19 stories by different authors and illustrators to reflect a range of cultures and languages. The stories, originally published by Book Dash, African Storybook and Nal’ibali, are freely available through Creative Commons licences.
Two-week teaching cycle
The programme is built around a repeating two-week cycle of early language and literacy activities centred around a different story each fortnight. This provides a total of 38 weeks of teaching. Each day the teacher leads two whole class activities:
- Story-based activities designed to develop Grade R learners’ vocabulary, oral language and early reading and writing skills.
- Letters and sounds activities designed to develop Grade R learners’ phonological awareness, letter formation and letter-sound knowledge in meaningful contexts.
The learners also participate in daily small group activities designed to reinforce the language and literacy skills introduced.
Programme resources
Stellar teacher year pack
The Stellar teacher year pack includes the following early literacy resources:
- A Concept Guide
- 4 Activity Guides (one per term)
- 19 story packs which include a big book, puppets and sequence pictures
- A resource pack which includes game boards and templates
- A teachers guide for parent meetings
Resources are available in all official South African written languages, with English and African language text provided on opposite pages to support cross-reference.
Programme training and support
We encourage programme training!
Teachers can use the resources without attending a course. But, training is
- Fun and fulfilling!
- Free!
- SACE endorsed.
- Effective. Evaluation has shown that teacher training significantly improves children’s learning.
And, remember, programme resources are free to download for course graduates!
We offer Stellar teachers ongoing support!
After you complete teacher training, you will become a member of the Stellar programme network
- Have free and easy access to online programme resources
- Enjoy free access to online programme messages and support sessions,
- Renew your free membership annually on submission of a short report.
Invitation to partner
Programme impact
In the field
Stellar empowers Grade R teachers in Ngcobo
15/08/2025
The Stellar Home Language Programme has launched in Ngcobo with support from the Sanlam Foundation, bringing interactive, CAPS-aligned literacy training to Grade R teachers at Masonwabe and Tembeni Primary Schools. Wordworks will continue training throughout 2025 and 2026.
Grade R literacy in the Northern Cape
17/07/2025
Wordworks, in collaboration with the Northern Cape Department of Education, hosted a three-day STELLAR Home Language workshop for provincial subject advisers. These advisers are set to train 90 Grade R teachers in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District, expanding early literacy and language support.
Programme research and results
Teaching language and literacy in Grade R: The value of oral storytelling (2024)
This learning brief was developed as part of the Gauteng Grade R Improvement Project’s story-based Home Language programme. It highlights the key principles underpinning the development of materials to strengthen oral language teaching in Grade R.
Teaching language and literacy in Grade R: A focus on letters and sounds within a story-based programme (2023)
This learning brief highlights research-based principles for teaching letter–sound knowledge in Grade R. It reflects on the development of a CAPS-aligned, story-based, multilingual programme created by Wordworks for the Gauteng Grade R Improvement Project in 2020.
Every Word Counts
A Wordworks parent education programme (0-5)
This early literacy programme is for parent educators working with parents and caregivers of babies, toddlers and preschool children.
The programme is designed to
- Build an understanding of the importance of loving, responsive care giving and the positive impact of talking with babies and young children.
- Introduce parents and caregivers to what is meant by early language and literacy learning.
- Share practical ideas and resources on how to support and stimulate language and early literacy at home.
How is the programme structured?
Workshops and home visits
The programme can be offered through different forms of parent engagement, depending on the community context. Parent educators are often ECD practitioners, NGO and community workers.
- Organisations can integrate the programme and resources into their work with parents and caregivers through regular home visits or in a series of activity-based parent workshops.
- ECD practitioners and playgroup facilitators can share ideas in informal engagement as well as through a series of workshops for their parents.
Two age bands
Programme resources have been developed with different content for two age bands:
- Babies and toddlers
- Preschool children.
Parent educators can choose appropriate content for the parents and caregivers in their sessions.
Overview of the EWC core content
Programme resources
For the parent educator
- EWC guides for parent educators
The guides provide parent educators with age-appropriate knowledge and practical ideas to support early learning at home. - Flip books for parent educators
This handy set of demonstration pictures and talking points provides a practical way to prompt conversation and learning. - Notes for running parent workshops
The notes equip parent educators to organise and run workshops for a group of parents and caregivers.
For parents and caregivers
- EWC workbooks for parents & caregivers
Parent educators decide whether their sessions would benefit from workbooks or would be more effectively conducted without them.
Programme training and support
We encourage programme training!
Teachers can use the resources without attending a course. But, training is:
- Fun and fulfilling!
- Free!
- Effective. After training parent educators feel confident and inspired to run workshops.
And, remember, programme resources are free to download for course graduates!
We offer EWC parent educators ongoing support!
After you complete training as a parent educator, you will become a member of the EWC programme network
- Have free and easy access to online programme resources.
- Enjoy free access to online programme messages and support sessions.
- Renew your free membership annually on submission of a short report.
Invitation to partner
Programme impact
In the field
Parents empowered in Eldorado and Freedom Park
27/05/2025
In April 2025, five Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in Eldorado Park and Freedom Park, Gauteng, trained with Wordworks to become facilitators of the Every Word Counts (EWC) programme. The initiative equips parents and caregivers with practical strategies to support early language and literacy at home.
Partnering for impact: Advancing early literacy in Worcester 2025
To kick off the academic year, our Early Literacy Specialists travelled to Worcester for a three-day Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop focused on our Every Word Counts and Little Stars early literacy programs. The workshop aimed to deepen understanding and implementation of these programs, which support language development in early childhood and build foundational literacy skills through interactive, practical sessions.
Programme research and results
Reflections and evidence on Every Word Counts (with parents and caregivers of 0-5 year-old children)
When Wordworks began work in the first five years of children’s lives, we developed a set of resources that we hoped would be used in a variety of ways in the diverse ECD sector. While we have not had funding for a large external evaluation, a number of studies and reflections have been done. We hope that by collecting them together here we create a rich and textured narrative of the interesting and important work that has been done using EWC.
Outcomes of the EWC Programme within the Yizani Sifunde collaboration (2021-2023)
This slide deck shows the findings from an internal evaluation on the outcomes of Yizani Sifunde EWC caregiver workshops offered by trained ECD practitioners (Eastern Cape, 2021-2023). It uses Home-Learning Environment data pre- and post-intervention to surface shifts in caregiver behaviour around reading, storytelling, etc.
Little Stars
A Wordworks Home Language classroom programme (Grade RR)
This early literacy programme is for pre-Grade R teachers working with 4–5 year old children. It is designed to strengthen early language learning and emergent literacy in pre-Grade R classrooms.
The programme is interactive, activity-rich, play-based and NCF-aligned and is built around a 2-week story-based framework. Little Stars has been shown to be effective across contexts including where children may have had limited language learning opportunities and experiences with books in their early years.
How is the programme structured?
6 ELDA Theme Packs
The programme aligns with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), with stories linked to each of the six Early Learning and Development Areas (ELDAs). Each programme theme pack includes three stories with related early literacy activities and resources.
18 stories
The Little Stars programme is built around 18 stories, three per ELDA theme. The programme has adapted a wide variety of stories by different authors and illustrators to reflect a range of cultures and languages. The stories, originally published by Book Dash, African Storybook and Nal’ibali, are freely available through Creative Commons licences.
2-week teaching cycle
The programme is built around a repeating two-week cycle of early language and literacy activities centred around a different story each fortnight. This provides a total of 36 weeks of teaching, with five activities per week.
Programme resources
Little Stars teacher year pack
The Little Stars teacher year pack includes the following early literacy resources:
- 6 activity guides (one per ELDA)
- 18 story packs which each include a big book, puppets and sequence pictures.
How do I get a year pack?
Programme resources can be purchased in either digital or print format in the Wordworks online shop.
Resources are currently available in bilingual packs: English with IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Afrikaans, Sesotho, and Setswana (More language versions are in development)
How do I get resources?
Programme resources can be purchased in either digital or print format in the Wordworks online shop.
Programme training and support
We encourage programme training!
Teachers can use the resources without attending a course. But, training is:
- Fun and fulfilling!
- Free!
- Effective. Evaluation has shown that teacher training significantly improves children’s learning.
And, remember, programme resources are free to download for course graduates!
We offer teachers ongoing support!
After you complete teacher training, you will become a member of the Little Stars programme network.
- Have free and easy access to online programme resources.
- Enjoy free access to online programme messages and support sessions.
- Renew your free membership annually on submission of a short report.
Invitation to partner
Programme impact
In the field
Mgcamabele ECD Practitioners complete Little Stars training
22/05/2025
ECD practitioners at Mgcamabele Community Centre recently completed Wordworks’ Little Stars training, offered in partnership with the Ubunye Foundation and supported by the Get It Done Foundation. This initiative equips educators with practical tools and high-quality early literacy resources, enabling them to nurture young minds with engaging, play-based learning.
Little Stars training strengthens learning in Makhanda
31/07/2025
In July 2025, Wordworks hosted a full-day Little Stars Programme training in Makhanda for officials from the Eastern Cape Department of Education, Nelson Mandela District, and ECD partners. The session provided hands-on strategies to support early childhood education, language development activities, and early literacy programmes.
Programme research and results
Insights from the British Academy study on Little Stars, 2023-2024
This report and series of research briefs presents findings from a British Academy-funded study showing that the Little Stars programme enhanced early literacy outcomes, boosted teacher confidence, and improved classroom practices in Western Cape ECD centres, demonstrating the programme’s effectiveness in under-resourced settings.
Little Stars: A language and early literacy programme
This brief focuses on key elements of the Little Stars programme, and on the design of the British Academy study exploring the the impact of Little Stars on language and early literacy in 4- and 5-year-olds.
Home-School Partnerships
A Wordworks parent education programme (6-9)
This early literacy programme is for parent educators working with parents and caregivers of children in the Foundation Phase. Parent educators are often teachers, social workers or community organisers.
The programme is designed to facilitate a space for parents in which to share ideas and resources, build confidence and skills to support and stimulate informal learning at home.
The programme promotes the understanding of the important role that parents and caregivers have to play in their child’s education. It develops stronger relationships between homes and schools, as well as between parents and caregivers and their children.
How is the programme structured?
8 parent workshops
The programme is offered through a series of activity-based workshops that
- allow opportunity for self-reflection,
- develop caregivers’ understanding of how young children learn,
- share activities and resources, and
- build practical skills.
Programme resources
For the parent educator
- HSP guide for parent educators
This equips parent educators to organise and run workshops for a group of parents and caregivers. - HSP training booklet
This contains resources to use during workshops.
For parents and caregivers
- HSP workbook for parents & caregivers
Ideally each parent receives a workbook as it is packed with early literacy development ideas, activities and games to support children’s learning.
Programme training and support
We encourage programme training!
Parent educators can use the resources without attending a course. But, training is:
- Fun and fulfilling!
- Free!
- SACE endorsed.
- Effective. After training parent educators feel confident and inspired to run workshops.
And, remember, programme resources are free to download for course graduates!
We offer HSP parent educators ongoing support!
After you complete training as a parent educator, you will become a member of the HSP programme network
- Have free and easy access to online programme resources
- Enjoy free access to online programme messages and support sessions,
- Renew your free membership annually on submission of a short report.
Invitation to partner
Programme impact
In the field
Mayikhule partners teachers and parents
21/05/2025
Earlier in 2025, Wordworks trained teachers on the Home-School Partnerships (HSP) and TIME (Together in My Education) programmes. Through the Mayikhule Project, these teachers are now empowering parents with practical tools to support their children’s early learning at home.
Celebrating Learning at Lundi Primary School 2025
There was excitement at Lundi Primary School recently, where 18 parents graduated.
Programme research and results
An outcome evaluation of the Home-School Partnerships Programme (2018)
This dissertation presents an outcomes evaluation of the Wordworks Home-School Partnership (HSP) programme. The results of the study found improvements in children’s literacy and confidence, increased parental involvement, and strong support from schools, indicating the programme’s relevance and potential for sustainability.
The role of family literacy programmes to support emergent literacy in young learners (2016)
This study evaluated a modified version of the HSP programme, showing how family literacy initiatives can strengthen parent-child interactions, build parental confidence, and foster school-family collaboration to support young children’s emergent literacy in a South African school context.
Read Write Shine
A Wordworks English Language tutor programme
(6-9)
This early literacy programme is for tutors working with 6-9 year old children. Tutors can be community workers, library staff, teachers, teacher assistants or anyone else who wants to support children in developing their literacy skills.
The programme is a product of Wordworks Ready Steady Read Write programme and the Shine Literacy Hour. This collaboration has made it possible to extend our tutor programme to support Foundation Phase children
- For whom English is a home language and who find reading and writing in English a challenge,
- for whom English is an additional language.
How is the programme structured?
Getting started
- Where there is a team of tutors, we recommend someone take the role of a coordinator.
- Children are assessed and then paired or grouped according to the similar levels of reading and writing support needed.
- Tutors work with the same pair or small group of children for at least 6 months. Each lesson provides children with individual attention and support tailored to their needs.
Four-step lesson structure
The programme is structured around a weekly hour- long lesson which follows the same four steps.
- Play games
- Talk about a book
- Read a book
- Draw and write
Three levels of literacy development
The programme differentiates between three levels of early reading and writing development: emergent, beginner and fluent. The programme materials and activities have been designed to support children at each of these levels.
Programme resources
A Guide for Coordinators
This equips coordinators to manage a Read Write Shine tutor programme. Coordinators are responsible for
- recruiting, training and supporting a team of tutors,
- approving the selection of the children for the programme,
- liaising with class teachers,
- keeping parents and caregivers informed.
A Guide for Tutors
This equips tutors to
- understand how to work with young children
- determine the levels (emergent, beginner or fluent) at which to begin the lessons
- follow the four-step lesson structure
A Resource pack
The Resource pack contains levelled reading books and levelled games to be used in the lessons.
The books and games are arranged in three levels which match the levels of the programme and suit the reading and writing levels of the children on the programme.
Wordworks early literacy assessment (WELA)
This equips tutors to assess the level of children’s early literacy skills. It consists of
- instructions for assessing the children,
- scoring guidelines to help tutors score the children’s responses,
- answer sheets to be photocopied for each child.
Programme training and support
We encourage programme training!
Tutors have the option of using the programme resources without attending a course. But, training is:
- Fun and fulfilling!
- Free!
- Effective. After training tutors feel confident to support children to develop their literacy skills and coordinators feel equipped to manage a tutoring programme.
And, remember, programme resources are free to download for course graduates!
We offer tutors and coordinators ongoing support!
After completing training, tutors and coordinators become members of the Read Write Shine programme network and as such
- have free and easy access to online programme resources,
- enjoy free access to online programme messages and support sessions,
- can renew their free membership annually on submission of a short report.
Invitation to partner
Programme impact
In the field
Our Ready Steady Read Write (RSRW) tutoring program embarks on a new model of training online! 2023
Early in 2023, our tutor program coordinator training welcomed 70 participants, including Foundation Phase teachers, Learning Support teachers, advisors and program managers, from schools and organisations across the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal for a dynamic and engaging early literacy training experience.
Programme research and results
Strengthening Foundational Literacy: A process and outcome evaluation of the Wordworks Early Literacy Programme (2016)
This evaluation examines the impact of Wordworks’ early literacy tutor programme for Grade 1 learners in the Western Cape, and assesses improvements in children’s literacy and psychosocial development.
