I read to my kids from the time they were infants. I took picture books with us to church, and my little one would sit on my lap while I took their finger and pointed or traced images or letters - not so much to get them to read early as to get them to sit quietly still for an hour. We didn't have a tv, so reading books together was a favorite of my kids. We literally checked out 20-25 new picture books a week. I would read to them, then they eventually took my finger and wanted me to p oint to the words as I read. They loved their books on tape (yeah, they're THAT old) and listened to stories for hours with their tapes. They also loved the Living Books series that used to be available for PC's. The little one would listen repetitively in Japanese and Spanish rather than the English version. (drove me insane)
My oldest was reading her first words before she was two and was a fluent reader by about 4. The middle was reading fluently by about the same age. The youngest just memorized entire books - including sounds effects - from the Living Books series. I now know he has dysgraphia, but I didn't push him when he was little.
So I didn't go about to tech any of them to read early. I made it a part of our everyday life, and they decided when they wanted to read.
