Read & Play Club
The Read & Play Club program adapts Tandem’s literacy programming to best support home-based programs, such as family child care and home visiting programs in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco. Through this program, Tandem provides over 1,300 children and families with high-quality, multilingual children’s books and accompanying activity guides, quarterly play-and-learn sessions, and learning opportunities for both parents and educators/family support staff.
Once enrolled in the Read & Play Club program, participants receive:
- 10 high-quality multilingual children’s books per child
- A copy of each book for the family child care classroom or home visitor
- Multilingual activity guides (available in English, Spanish, and Chinese)
Tandem’s book collection focuses on high-quality stories, available in English, Spanish, and Chinese. Our curated collection focus titles featuring diverse presentations of children, families, and communities. At Tandem, we know that high-quality children’s books spark important conversations and build children’s early language, literacy, math, and social-emotional development.
Throughout the program year, Tandem hosts four play-and-learn sessions for participating families and children. These playgroups are designed to foster a sense of community among caregivers and model effective early literacy practices that can be incorporated into daily interactions with young children.
Through these sessions, families connect and build community with each other while learning more simple strategies for enhancing children’s early learning experiences through play. Each session includes an interactive read aloud modeled by Tandem staff, that can be provided in English, Spanish, and/or Chinese. Following the read aloud, Tandem staff host a guided, skill-building activity aligned to the California Preschool Learning Foundations.
Throughout the program year, Tandem hosts virtual Professonial Learning Community (PLC) meetings for participating family child care providers and home visiting staff.
In these community sessions, educators and home visiting staff come together to connect, collaborate, and participate in professional development workshops led by early learning and family-support experts—including Tandem’s own staff and guest presenters—to deepen their skills as family-serving professionals.
This balanced approach is designed to foster meaningul connections while supporting ongoing professional growth.
Read & Play Club in Action
TANDEM TIP
Sharing the same story over and over builds self-confidence and reading skills.
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