ABSTRACT
In the United States of America during recent years considerable attention has been given to the use of pre-reading schemes of instruction. The preparatory period does not consist solely of familiarization with language and its loose association with sounds, words and phrases. The stage of generalization is roughly the point at which the child uses what he has learnt. It may take the form of practice or the accomplishment of some feat. The safest way of dealing with this problem is for each teacher to examine carefully the style and language structure of the reading books that she is using and, where changes occur, to prepare the children by introducing them to these variations independently of the books. The formation of letters by both finger and by pencil should be encouraged from the earliest days in the infants school. Many opportunities arise in the informal infants’ classroom for using spoken language and introducing isolated words and phrases in several situations.
