Mari Payne
A baby hears a familiar voice and turns towards it. A toddler points through a taxi window while an adult teaches the child the names of what they can see. A three-year-old insists on hearing the same song again (and again) or a young child makes up an elaborate story while two spoons become people and a box becomes a house.
Long before children can read words on a page, they learn the foundations of literacy: how to listen, respond, recognise sounds, build vocabulary, follow meaning and use language to connect with others. Growing minds make these connections through the loving voices and everyday routines around them. On the surface, these moments may not look like reading, but every cuddle, song, conversation and story helps build the brain pathways that later support reading and learning.
As we observe Literacy Month in September, let’s consider that literacy begins before we reach the bookshelf, enter the classroom or complete a reading assessment. If South Africa wants more children to become confident readers, we should widen our understanding of the natural learning journey.
Parents and caregivers are a child’s first and most important teachers.
Families do not need expensive toys or formal lessons to support early literacy, but access to books, stories and print-rich environments still matters deeply. What matters most is consistency, affection and interaction: making language, sound, gesture and meaning part of everyday life in ways that children can understand, enjoy and repeat.
In the South African context, the Department of Basic Education’s Funda Uphumelele National Survey found that only 31% of Grade 1 learners achieved the home-language reading benchmark, with just over 30% meeting the respective benchmarks in Grades 2 and 3.3 The 2024 Thrive by Five Index found that only 42% of four-year-olds enrolled in early learning programmes were on track in early learning.4
These figures do not mean that the answer is to push formal reading instruction further and further down into early childhood. They tell us that the foundations deserve attention much earlier. Young children learn language through connection. Ordinary, seemingly insignificant moments strengthen vocabulary, listening, memory, attention and comprehension. Some of the most powerful learning happens during bath time, mealtimes, rides or walks to school and play at home.
Of course, books are enormously valuable. Reading aloud introduces children to language they may not hear in ordinary conversation and creates opportunities to talk about pictures, characters, feelings and abstract ideas. UNICEF encourages reading from infancy and notes that babies learn language from adults who repeat and read words to them.5 But the bigger point is that literacy development cannot depend only on whether there is a bookshelf in the home. Language is everywhere.
“School readiness” should not be an invitation to make the first five years of the child’s life look like school. Early learning happens organically. A baby does not need a worksheet, and a toddler shouldn’t necessarily be drilled on letters. Early literacy grows through experience, not by squeezing childhood into a miniature classroom.
Ultimately, learning should not be a chore. Takalani Sesame, the South African co-production of Sesame Street, for example, has made learning through play widely available to children. It promotes early childhood development by combining playful learning with mother-tongue education.
A child’s home language needn’t be set aside until a “more useful” language is learned. UNESCO’s work on multilingual education in the early years highlights the value of mother-tongue learning as the foundation for later bilingual and multilingual development.6 A familiar language gives children a strong base for meaning, expression and confidence.
However, this does not mean placing the responsibility for South Africa’s literacy outcomes on parents alone. Families are raising children while managing work, transport, financial pressure and many other demands. Telling caregivers to simply “read more” without making books, stories, guidance and supportive early learning environments more accessible risks turning a shared social responsibility into another private burden.
Depending on a child’s environment or circumstances, ECD (Early Childhood Development) practitioners, educators and communities can play vital roles in the learning pathway. Early learning spaces can surround children with the stimulation they need and real-world opportunities to speak. Libraries, playgroups, reading corners and community programmes can also bring books and storytelling closer to families.
Ultimately, if literacy becomes a priority only when formal reading begins, we will continue responding after gaps are already visible. Early literacy belongs in how we think about ECD quality, caregiver support, access to books and stories, home-language development and community services.7
This Literacy Month, Sesame Workshop South Africa calls on every parent, caregiver, educator, community leader and policymaker to make early literacy everyone’s business. Speak, sing, read, tell stories and play with young children every day; in their home languages, in familiar places and with love.
By investing in children’s earliest years, we can help build a South Africa where every child has the confidence, curiosity and support they need to thrive.
Literacy begins from birth. Our response to the literacy crisis should too.
References
1. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Serve and Return: Back-and-forth exchanges. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/serve-and-return/
2. UNICEF. Early childhood development. https://www.unicef.org/early-childhood-development
3. Department of Basic Education. Funda Uphumelele National Survey. https://www.education.gov.za/ArchivedDocuments/ArchivedArticles/FundaUphumeleleNationalSurvey.aspx
4. Thrive by Five Index 2024. Summary of key findings for enrolled children. https://thrivebyfive.co.za/thrive-by-five-index-2024-summary-of-key-findings-for-enrolled-children/
5. UNICEF South Africa. How to teach your child to love reading. https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/unicef-parenting/child-care/teach-your-child-to-love-reading
6. UNESCO. Enhancing learning of children from diverse language backgrounds: mother tongue-based bilingual or multilingual education in the early years. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/enhancing-learning-children-diverse-language-backgrounds-mother-tongue-based-bilingual-or
7. UNICEF South Africa and Department of Basic Education. Let’s play, learn and grow together – Series 1: Me! https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/reports/lets-play-learn-and-grow-together-series-1-me
About Sesame Workshop South Africa
Sesame Workshop South Africa is the impact nonprofit whose mission is to help children everywhere to be stronger, smarter, and kinder. For over 25 years, we have worked at the intersection of education, media, and research, creating joyful experiences that enrich minds and expand hearts, all in the service of empowering each generation to build a better world.
Our beloved characters, iconic shows, direct services, and outreach in communities bring playful early learning to children in the context of all the ecosystem partners (families, parents, ECD Centers, educational institutions etc.) that enable them to be the best they can be. Takalani Sesame, the South African adaptation of Sesame Street, launched in 2000 and has impacted millions of young lives to date.
Follow Sesame Workshop South Africa and Takalani Sesame on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and via the website.
Mari Payne, Deputy Managing Director and Senior Director, Education and Programmes at Sesame Workshop, South Africa.
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