Read to your child as often as possible. Not only will this help build a love of reading in your child, but it can also aid in early reading skills. As your child gets older, you can start pointing to the words in books as you read them, helping your child to make the association between print and verbal language.
Teach your child "phonemic awareness." The National Reading Panel found that phonemic awareness is important to developing reading skills. To do this, break down words into the basic sounds that make them up and help your child associate the phoneme with the corresponding letter or letters.
Play games to make learning phonemic awareness fun. One easy way to do this is through the use of "tongue twisters." Choose a phoneme -- the "S" sound, for instance -- and help your child make up a sentence in which most of the words begin with "S." Write out the sentence, focusing on the "S" at the beginning of each word.
Ask your child to read to you. Once she has the basic skills in place, practice will be the best way to encourage the development of more advanced reading abilities. Let her choose a book to read to you before bed, or read a book together, taking a page each.
Find ways to include reading practice into your daily life. Help your child read street signs while you are on a walk, or ask him to find a certain brand of cereal at the grocery store by reading the boxes.