Wordworks

Great ideas to support language and early learning in babies and young children.

‘Where do you get information about taking care of babies and young children and supporting them to learn and grow?’ You might get information from family members, the local clinic, your place of worship, the radio and magazines. You might also attend workshops. Now you can get information about supporting young children’s learning from an app!

The app is for parents, caregivers and teachers of babies and young children from birth up to five years of age. The content is split into two modules: content relevant to birth-two years old, and 3-5 years old. It reminds us that babies and young children learn through play, and includes tips for inexpensive games to make. There are creative ideas to support early learning through everyday activities and tips on how to share books with young children and support their drawing and first attempts to write. There are even fun ideas for introducing early maths! The app is available in English, isiXhosa, isiZulu and Afrikaans.

From Monday to Thursday you will receive messages which give examples of activities you can do with your children, and information about why these activities are important for learning and language development.

For the birth - 2 content you will get new messages for 13 weeks from when you download the app. For the 3-5 years content you will get new messages for 38 weeks.

On a Friday you'll receive an Inspirational message to motivate you and positive phrases you can use with your children. We all learn best when we feel supported!

Some activities include short instructional videos and important health messages for pregnant moms, babies and young children. You will also have the option to read Nal’ibali stories, rhymes and songs.

You will be able to track your progress and see how many messages you have read.

The app was developed by The Reach Trust and Wordworks, using content from the Every Word Counts programme. The development of the app was funded by Innovation Edge. Videos have been supplied by The Family Literacy Project, Mikhulu Trust, Bulungula Incubator and Rhodes University Community Engagement.