This paper summarizes the successes and failures of the Plato Elementary Reading Curriculum Project, a computer-assisted instructional system funded by the National Science Foundation from 1971 to 1976. The paper discusses what the project did, the types of hardware that were used, how lessons were designed, the two approaches that were taken toward managing the curriculum, implementation in the classroom, and general observations on the accomplishments of the project and on the role of the computer in beginning reading instruction. (Author/AA)