In the author's experience, a significant source of reading difficulty for many beginning and struggling readers are misconceptions about print concepts so basic teachers assume their students are aware of them. Many children fail to grasp implicit principles of print such as the following: the reader cannot make up the words, the order of letters within a word makes a difference, and each letter in a word must be considered. Using brief vignettes from her work with beginning and struggling readers, the author draws attention to these often-overlooked misconceptions. The author explains how she helped students overcome their faulty understandings by providing "rules" about reading, which enabled them to regulate their own reading.