This volume brings together the sciences of psycholinguistics and developmental psychology with the practical knowledge of classroom practice in literacy education to create a unique but accessible explanation of how children learn to read. It explains the necessary educational and pedagogical steps that parents and teachers both can take in assisting the child to make a smooth transition from infant babbler to eight-year-old fluent reader. It also points to the possible developmental as well as educational danger signals that tell us that things are not going as they should, and suggests what we can do to help children overcome their problems, slowdowns, and difficulties learning to read and write. Included here is a discussion of such important issues as emergent literacy or reading readiness: phonics and slow reading; fluent reading and the "reading system"; the dangers of the first-grade Rubicon; reading problems of unique children; the dangers and benefits of "Whole Language" reading programs; Reading Recovery" for endangered young readers; the role of writing; parents; TV; and the school program. The book is clearly written, uses nontechnical terminology, and should provide teachers and parents a guide to evaluating the progress of youngsters from the time they approach child-care and pre-school stages of socialization to that point where they should be reading independently for pleasure as well as searching for information and subject-matter competency.

Once upon a time, reading didn't matter that much. To a family of good intelligence living on the frontier, the challenges of raw nature were complex enough. Even in recent generations, a farmer, woodcutter, auto mechanic, or neighborhood fixer-upper might get along without being able to read, or need to read only at a rudimentary level, enough to sign his or her name or decipher basic road, street, or other signs. Those days are gone forever. A new world beckons-- has beckoned for several decades.

In the old days, teachers were taught in their professional courses to be sensitive to their students' emotional and confidence levels. Parent-child relationships were scrutinized for any signs that the tensions that could often be observed in dysfunctional families were having any impact on the learning abilities of the child.

Reading problems were viewed as sure signs that all was not right with the emotional health of the child. However, more study, observation, and sophistication in understanding the nature of learning, and, in particular, reading, began to reveal something new.