Bringing together practice in the areas of multisensory teaching, whole language and phonological awareness training, this text offers a structured programme that integrates skills teaching into real reading and writing. Although it is intended as a teacher-friendly "hands on" approach, it is rooted in recent research into the development of reading and writing, and the causes of literacy difficulties. The authors use the model of reading set out by Marilyn Jager Adams in her book "Beginning to Read" as the framework for their integrated approach. They also draw from work that connects literacy and language difficulties, and that seeks common ground with communication therapists and speech scientists.