Learning to Read: Psychology in the Classrooom

Learning to Read: Psychology in the Classroom is an informative and stimulating book for all those involved in the study of reading and teaching of reading skills. This lively book links the study of cogntive processes involved in reading with the reading skills acquired by the learning child, with the practical needs of the teachers. Throughout, the importance of applying a scientific approach to the study and teaching of reading is emphasised.
Early chapters appraise current educational practices in the teaching of reading and relate these to our present understanding of what it is that children learn when they begin to read. As a central theme, the normal pattern of reading development is compared with disturbed reading development. Later chapters discuss methods of assessing reading ability in individual children and report a well-designed and successful treatment programme carried out in the classroom with groups of poor readers. Finally the book addresses the problems of children who may master the mechanics of reading but fail to understand what they read.
Chapters are written in a readable style by internationally known academic researchers, and the editors have provided introductory and linking pieces for each chapter.