As experiences of two first graders show, learning occurs in split-second initiatives that children take with others as they try to attend, engage, interact, communicate, and reason. Before children can learn reading, writing, and arithmetic, they must know how to learn. Children cannot learn two-way communication with gestures, words, or symbols…

Although learning to read well is essential for future success, many children are neither proficient nor avid readers. There is no single "right" approach to reading instruction; teachers should abandon the phonics/whole-language debate and adapt strategies to children's preferred reading styles. Principals should model reading behavior…

The whole language approach to reading instruction emphasizes a literature-based program rather than the traditional skills-related approach. The principles and practices of whole language have engendered both educational and political debate for the following reasons: whole language challenges the traditional educational power arrangement, giving…