Une lecture suffisamment bonne

In primary school, repeating a year is a polemical issue which comes regularly into debate and ends up, most frequently, in ideological positions. Repeating a year, as a whole, is considered by some as essential, by others as inefficient and costly. This paper, takes some distance from these two extreme positions, and tries to analyse the issue in the light of a case study, particularly this of the apprenticeship in reading and writing. The case study, based on a sound psychological assessment, shows the progress of a child presenting severe learning disabilities in reading and writing. The author insists on the fact that good enough reading abilities are decisive for the continuation of the academic development.