With the Apprentice Readers

How does one begin reading? By reading to learn to read—and not the other way around,likewise, one writes free texts for, and before, learning to write. This is the fundamental principle of Célestin Freinet’s natural learning methods. It cannot be mandated or improvised: it is an art to allow the young pupil, in their own eyes, to embark on one of the most important conquests of their young life. This “little text” is one of the valuable technical chapters of the Institutional Pedagogy Handbook, where the key is to transmit know-how while preserving the freedom essential to any true pedagogy.