Engaging parents as partners in an at-home technology-assisted early childhood learning program

Less than half of South African four- and five-year-olds are on track to be ready to start for Grade 1; this number decreases to about 40% for boys and children in the poorest two-thirds of households (Giese et al., 2022). Whilst access to Early Learning Programmes for this age group is around 70%, the quality of care and stimulation in many early learning centers is low (Moses, 2021, Van der Berg, 2023). Involving parents in their children’s early learning is one option to bridge this gap. Whilst parenting programmes in both developed and developing contexts are highly effective and often cost-effective when well implemented and sensitive to local contexts and needs. Local programs in South Africa have struggled to get parent buy-in and maintain parent involvement. This research seeks to establish the most effective ways to get parents to sign-up and remain involved in a program in a physical and digital play-based learning program.