Ministry funding for Reading Recovery & Early Literacy Support will no longer be available from 2025.
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Teachers know that from children's loved ones comes the love of stories, poetry, songs and rhymes. These home literacy activities and involvement of whānau are key to the success of Reading Recovery & Early Literacy Support.
Parents and family involvement increases children's positive feelings about literacy, which in turn improves their literacy performance. Children can be celebrated for what they already know.
During your child’s first six months of school, they will be introduced to literacy in the classroom, starting to learn the basics of reading and writing.
Some children need more support. Schools and classroom teachers who are familiar with Early Literacy Support, and who work with Reading Recovery teachers, know how to identify those children and give them extra support, early on.
If your child is not yet progressing in their literacy learning, they may move to work in a small group in the classroom, where they and 1 to 3 classmates will be given targeted and personalised support. This involves a Reading Recovery teacher working alongside your child’s class teacher to co-design and co-teach literacy lessons for your child and their group.
To help the teachers co-plan the group learning sessions, you’ll be asked for your advice about your child’s strengths. This helps the teachers to design unique lessons that are a good fit for your child.
With the feedback you give, the class teacher and Reading Recovery teacher can build a rich profile of your child, bringing a wide variety of information and knowledge together.
This means teachers and Reading Recovery teachers can think about the best ways to engage with your child’s specific interests, strengths and needs to grow their literacy skills.
We started Early Literacy Support in 2021. Parents whose children took part reported that their children were:
If you are keen to hear more about how Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Support can help your child, please contact your child's school to find out what they offer.
Below are some credible online resources and practical strategies to help your child's literacy development at home.