Beginning readers and proficient readers can be characterized by using research found in professional journal articles and other educational sources. Learning to read requires numerous abilities, several of which are acquired before a child begins school; this time period between birth and when a child begins school is called the "emergent literacy" stage. Reading instruction starts in the "beginning reading" stage, which includes grades K-1. A balanced approach to reading instruction is one that combines the best strategies from the whole language approach and explicit phonics instruction. A writer's workshop is essential to any reading program, since students are intrinsically motivated to read their own writing. A stage of "growing independence" includes grades 2-3 and marks the beginning of a child's venture into becoming a proficient reader. The main characteristic of this stage is children's evolving fluency. The "reading to learn" stage includes grades 4-6 and is marked by the wide application of word-attack and comprehension skills. Readers in the last stage, "abstract reading," employ a complex set of mental strategies that readers need in order to coordinate cues from different information sources, evaluate their progress, and shift between comprehension and word recognition processes. (Contains nine references.) (RS)