As a toddler my son never read books; he never even looked over my shoulder when I read to him. He loved signs, road signs, signs at the airport, warning signs, signs in the store. He started reading signs at 23 months and just kept asking what everything said (very annoying when you're running late and trying to get to your plane in a busy airport). By 4, he would ask "why does that sign say, 'danger corrosive materials?;' what are corrosive materials?; why do some signs say 'danger' and others 'warning'"? But he didn't read books. Then suddenly, at 5, he read "homer Price" (5th grade level, I think) along with newspaper articles; he skipped the early readers and easy chapter books altogether--no Magic Tree Houses here. There were a couple things that made him follow this path to reading--he hated sitting still and he got very bored with the easy stories that were at his reading level. By 5 he could sit still better and he could read books that he found intersting so it just clicked.
Anyway, I guess my point is that we can just follow their lead, answer questions, and expose them to ideas. We don't really need to teach them--it will gel when it's ready.
And keep reading to him!!!
