ABSTRACT

John's mother was interviewed towards the end of his second year in school and it might first be helpful to draw on her account together with information given by the school. With a growing understanding of the nature of the art of reading when he entered school, John was set fair to learn to read. John sensed that it was up to the reader to make something of written material, and was familiar with written signs and messages of various kinds in the environment at home, in school and in his urban world. Wilma settled very well into school in the sense that she seemed to observe and grasp what was going on and suited her behaviour to the teacher's requirements. Wilma probably started school with less exposure to English spelling than John, but she soon gained experience of words.