This position paper on teaching children to read explains with several examples exactly what "quagmires" are and how they hamper children as they learn the elements of reading basics. The paper takes a multidisciplinary approach to attacking stumbling blocks to learning most often experienced by child learners. To explain the concept of quagmire, the paper gives as an example the tying of a shoe lace--a problem that offers immense difficulty at the onset, one which must be solved, and one, which if conquered, offers immense gratification and value. The paper states that the quagmire of the reading process is not nearly as complicated as the learned process of feeding oneself. According to the paper, reading is a quagmire which differs from feeding oneself in four fundamental ways: reading is subject to mandatory disciplined behavior even at home; reading is a victim of free play in tolerance; accomplishment is not always immediate gratification; and "values" are obscured and mingled with the "value" systems of others, i.e., teachers, librarians, etc. The suggestion in the paper is to begin with the knowledge that reading is a survival tool. The paper concludes that here then is the key: Reading and learning go hand in hand--there must be physical separation of home and school but authentic education is the best way to go. It finds that accepting legitimate learning quagmires is how to get there. (NKA)