I think one of the reasons my son could decode words that were spelled out for him starting at age 2 1/2 was because he watched shows like Between the Lions and Sesame Street. I also remember watching old Electric Company reruns with him at about 2:00 a.m. when he could not sleep. We also read together a lot.
I am not sorry I let him watch educational television which I think might have contributed to his ability to spell and to read at a 5th grade level in kindergarten, but then he also played educational video games like Reader Rabbit First Grade at age 3. I think it was probably a combination of all of these things and he really enjoyed doing them.
