“That is how learning to read begins—first people read to you, then they read with you, and finally they give up because you have taken control of your own reading and don’t want anyone else to interfere. Usually it happens remarkably quickly, so smoothly that it is rarely noticed. Of course, you don’t learn to read all at once. You learn one word at a time—and no one can predict each successive word that you learn will be. It’s not easy to learn new words from word lists, where there is no meaningful context. But new words are learned with remarkable facility, especially in stories, when you are reading something that makes sense to you.” p. 40

Reading FAQ: Expert Answers to Frequently Asked Questions,

by Frank Smith