Early Reading Together: A Practical, Proven Literacy Programme for ECE Services
Early Reading Together® is a research‑based, workshop‑style programme that gives ECE teachers and service providers a practical way to strengthen early language and literacy alongside families.
Developed in New Zealand and used both nationally and internationally, it has a long track record of helping adults support young children’s communication, confidence, and love of reading.
Why ECE Services Choose Early Reading Together®
Centres and home‑based services offer Early Reading Together® because it works. The programme is practical, enjoyable, and easy to run, making it manageable for teachers and welcoming for parents, caregivers, and children. Its hands‑on approach helps families feel confident and supported, while giving teachers a structured, evidence‑informed framework to guide early literacy learning.
What the Programme Aims to Achieve
The heart of Early Reading Together® is simple: to help children develop a lifelong love of language and reading, and the literacy abilities they need to participate confidently in their communities and wider society.
To achieve this, the programme supports the adults in children’s lives (ECE staff, parents, and whānau) to:
- Understand how talking and reading with babies and young children builds strong foundations for language and literacy.
- Explore practical ways to support early reading, including using stories, rhymes, songs, and everyday conversations.
- Learn which books, songs, and rhymes are most suitable and enjoyable for young children at different ages and stages.
Why It Matters
When ECE services run Early Reading Together®, they strengthen the partnership between home and centre, empower families with simple strategies that make a real difference, and help children build the early literacy skills that shape later learning success. It’s a programme that is easy to deliver and powerful in its impact.
Workshops
The Early Reading Together® workshops are designed to strengthen the support parents and whānau give to their children’s language and literacy at home. The programme provides guidance for running three short workshops over three weeks, with each session lasting no more than 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Workshop Overview
- Workshop 1: Getting Started: Helping young children with language and reading at home.
- Workshop 2: Building on Early Skills: More ideas and ways to support children’s language and reading as they grow.
- Workshop 3: Sharing and Exploring Resources: Sharing ideas, giving feedback, and (where possible) visiting the community library to discover more resources.
Many services also choose to invite junior school teachers or local librarians to enrich the workshops and strengthen community connections.
Early Reading Together®: Workshop Leader’s Handbook
The programme includes a Workshop Leader’s Handbook which is a practical guide for ECE teachers and leaders. It provides step‑by‑step support for running the workshops and engaging groups of parents in meaningful, enjoyable learning.
Rhymes and Songs
Each programme set includes six sheets of rhymes and songs. Parents receive two sheets at each workshop and are encouraged to enjoy them with their children at home.
Services can also purchase additional sets (minimum order of 10) for teachers, parents, or playgroups who want their own copies.
Booklet of Suggestions for Parents
This booklet is for parents and contains suggestions for enhancing children’s language and literacy learning at home.
Boz: A ‘reading book’ for adults
This is one of the activities within the workshop programme.
Boz has a special alphabet which has been invented to help adults gain some understanding of what children experience as they are learning to read.
Learn more about Early Reading Together – the resources and programme
