Advocates of phonics approaches believe that the form aspect of print (the sound-letter correspondences) should not only be emphasized in teaching beginning reading, but that it should initially be taught in isolation of meaningful print. Supporters of whole language approaches take the opposite view and suggest that all literacy instruction should take place in a context using print that is meaningful and relevant to children. An alternative view is presented in this article, namely, that meaning and form are both important, but initially they should both be taught separately. Support for this position is provided, and a two-stage model of preliteracy development grounded in research on emergent literacy is offered. The first stage emphasizes the meaning foundation and the second stage emphasizes the form foundation for later literacy development. However, both form and meaning are focused upon separately during both of these stages.