Listening, speaking, reading, writing and thinking skills are essential for learning and interacting in our world, a world of language. Literacy develops in an interactive environment through involvement in purposeful actions. The process of enhancing literacy should center on the learner and reflect current knowledge about language development and learning theory. We believe that children gain literacy through guided experience with text. A balanced language arts program provides rich experiences in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Children at all stages of growth have opportunities to develop appropriate skills, read, think, comprehend and develop fluency. They learn to love language, reading and writing. In the beginning stages of reading, students must have instruction that helps them develop a successful way to recognize words as they read for meaning. This instruction includes recognizing, analyzing and manipulating letter-sound relationships such as phonics, phonemic awareness and spelling and using context, structural analysis and syntax (the flow of language). Because most students leave the early literacy stages by the end of second grade, the instructional focus should shift to the development of fluency, enriched vocabulary, critical comprehension, refinement of writing skills, and developing breadth and depth of reading and writing experiences. We believe that all children can learn, and that appropriate instruction will lead to the development of literacy for learning and interacting in our world.