In this book, we present a way forward. No one is being blamed here, but no one is exempt from responsibility either. Parents need to prepare their children for formal schooling by reading books to them, talking about the letters and having fun illustrating how each letter has a very special sound. Teachers have a sacred responsibility to learn the techniques of reading instruction. Techniques that have been learned from thousands of carefully conducted research studies can be summarized into five essential components of any reading instruction: direct and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, fluency and comprehension.