UNTIL SUBSTANTIAL MASTERY HAS BEEN ACHIEVED BY THE SLOWER READERS, THE SUB-SKILLS TO LEARNING THE MECHANICS OF READING SHOULD BE MADE THE OBJECTIVES OF INSTRUCTION. FOCUSING ON WORDS, BLENDING, AND HANDLING IRREGULARS ARE THREE OF THE SUB-SKILLS NEEDED. TO TEACH THE CHILD TO FOCUS ON WORDS, THE TEACHER INTRODUCES VERBAL RHYMING AND ALLITERATION TASKS. THE FIVE MAJOR BLENDING STAGES ARE (1) (ORAL) THE CHILD BLENDS TOGETHER TWO PARTS OF A FAMILIAR WORD, (2) (ORAL-VISUAL) THE CHILD BLENDS THE LETTERS IN WRITTEN WORDS BEFORE HE CAN IDENTIFY ALL THE LETTERS IN THESE WORDS, (3) (VISUAL) THE CHILD IDENTIFIES AND BLENDS ALL THE LETTERS IN WRITTEN WORDS, (4) (ORAL) THE CHILD UNBLENDS (SPELLS) A WORD INTO ITS SEPARATE LETTERS, (5) (VISUAL) THE CHILD LEARNS THE WRITTEN EXTENSION OF ORAL SPELLING. THE FINAL STEP IN THE BEGINNING READING PROGRAM IS THE INTRODUCTION OF IRREGULARLY SPELLED WORDS. THE PROGRAM HAS HAD GOOD RESULTS (ONE GROUP OF CULTURALLY DEPRIVED FOUR YEAR OLDS TESTED AT THE 2.6 GRADE LEVEL IN READING AFTER ABOUT 100 HOURS OF INSTRUCTION). THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT AND PUBLISHED BY THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL I.T.A. CONFERENCE, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL, CANADA, AUGUST, 1967. (COD)