Frequently Asked Questions

 

Question Category

About WordWorks

Can I still register for programme training in 2019?

Training for the Wordworks Ready Steady Read Write and Home-School Partnerships Programmes is fully subscribed for 2019 in the Cape Metro.

If you are interested in training in 2020, your school or organisation’s management will need to attend a Wordworks information session which will be held in October this year. To go on a waiting list to attend this session, please send your details to info@wordworks.org.za.

Do you run programmes in all the South African provinces?

Currently, our training is currently mostly available in the Western and Eastern Cape, and to a lesser extent in KZN.  As we would need to translate materials, in order to consider training in other provinces, we would need to know there were a substantial number of people/ schools/ organisations interested in this work.  We encourage you to engage your professional networks about this possibility and to email us at info@wordworks.org.za.

We will not be doing Stellar or Every Word Counts training in the first half of 2019.  You may be interested in attending one or more of our Workshops on Resources in the meanwhile: https://www.wordworks.org.za/workshops-on-resources-2/

Question Category

About Early Literacy

Can you recommend good South African reading books for young children?
How do children learn and how can adults support them?

This article looks at the ‘how to’ of language and literacy learning in the pre-school years. As well as considering the question of how children learn, this article also looks at the vital role of adults, the specific activities that support early literacy, and the key features of an effective learning environment.

https://www.wordworks.org.za/early-literacy/

I bought my child colouring in books for Christmas but he doesn’t colour in neatly, he draws all over the page and makes a mess. What shall I do? He is five.

It’s lovely that you are thinking about what resources to give your child to help him build important skills.  Colouring in activities can provide helpful practice for children from about 4 years when they are focussed on developing fine motor skills needed for handwriting and drawing. 

Some children enjoy it and find it a soothing activity.

Next time he sits to colour in, notice the following – does he enjoy it and find it satisfying or is he just doing it because you want him to? Do you think he is trying to colour neatly but just can’t quite get it in the lines? Try not to be critical but rather talk about the picture together – talk about the different colours and name them, give names to the animals or people in the picture, you could also make some speech bubbles to make it more fun. Children respond to positive encouragement far more than criticism.

More suggestions:

 Your child may be a bit young to enjoy or benefit from colouring in activities, as his fine motor control is still developing.  Also, it seems he has lots of his own ideas of where and what he wants to draw!  This is wonderful!  Maybe you could give him a book of blank pages for him to draw in and encourage him to draw anything he likes.  When he has finished his drawing ask him to tell you all about it and if he agrees, you could label parts of the picture, or write a sentence or two under his picture using his own words.  Read it back to him so he can see that he has created something important.

Maybe he will be inspired to ‘write’ himself – he may scribble arbitrary symbols, some scribbles that look like letters or parts of words.  Praise him for taking this important step towards writing and ask him to read it to you – you may be surprised! 

Free drawing and ‘having a go’ writing is so important for encouraging creativity and the development of children’s own ideas.  He is learning through drawing, labelling and sentence writing that ideas can be put on paper and that they can be understood by others.  All this is building a strong foundation for writing when he gets older.

Still need help? 

Contact us

Phone no: 021 788 9233/3069
Fax no: 086 775 7930
Email: info@wordworks.org.za
Address: 2 Jacobs Ladder,
St James, 7945, Cape Town

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