Teach the sounds of the letters of the alphabet. Find the letter in magazines, books and any print available. Sing the ABC song. Make a chart or booklet that has each letter in upper and lower case on one page and a corresponding picture that starts with the sound of the letter on the opposite page. For the vowel letters, start with the short sound. Read the alphabet book to your child until he is ready to read it. Pointing to the letter, say the name, the sound and then the picture: "A, /a/, apple. B, /b/, ball," etc.
Play rhyming games with simple words like cat, dad and hop. Play with words and sounds by singing rhymes and stretching words to hear all of the sounds.
Read picture books to your child and talk about the story. Ask your child to predict what may happen next and to find letters or words that he knows.
Teach simple sight words from the Fry Word List or the Dolch Word List and show the words in text. Practice reading and writing the words. Connect the words to text whenever possible.
Write simple stories with short sentences about your child, incorporating some of the sight words he can recognize. Read the story and allow him to read the words he knows. Create stories together and plant a few sight words in the story. Find easy books that have the sight words and read them together.
When your child begins to read, help him with unknown words. Use the prompt that applies: "Say the first sound. Say more. Say the first sound and think about the story. What would make sense?"
Use one of the following prompts when a word is read incorrectly: "Try that again. You said _____, does that look right? You said _____________. Does that make sense? Check that word again." Do not interrupt the reading to prompt. Wait until he has finished reading the sentence or has paused.