A Humpty-Dumptian Approach to Early Literacy Instruction is Ineffective

There are two basic approaches to literacy instruction for students in the early grades: a skills-based, Humpty-Dumptian approach and a child-centered, meaning-based approach. Both approaches involve explicit skills instruction. The difference is not in the ‘what’ of explicit skills instruction; rather, it’s the ‘how’, and the ‘how much’ of explicit skills instruction.