This paper analyzes the 19 primers approved by MEC/PNLD for use in public schools from 2010 onwards. The purpose of the paper is to assess the extent to which the authors of the primers complied with two requirements established in the Terms of Reference concerning the central aspects of learning to read: decoding and reading fluency. The paper compares the conceptual basis proposed by MEC and the references used by the authors with the paradigm of the Cognitive Science of Reading. The analysis of the primers reveals that less than 1% of the activities are related to decoding and there are no activities to promote reading fluency. The paper suggests a hypothesis to explain why the authors did not comply with the requirements and why the MEC authorities did not enforce these requirements. The paper also suggests that the underlying ideas of teaching and reading in the books approved by MEC, when compared with the paradigm of the Cognitive Science of Reading may explain the author's interpretation of the Terms of Reference but does not explain the explicit violation of its requirements.
Literacy; Primers; Cognitive science of reading; Decoding; Reading fluency
