Start early.  It is never too early to start reading to your child (baby).  Your child’s development, including his ability to read, begins at birth.

Talk to your child.  The number one indicator of later school success is how much you talk to your child.  Have conversations with your child – even through songs, rhymes, games, or playtime.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.  Repetition builds permanent pathways.  Your child needs to see, hear, and experience things over and over again in order to foster brain development.  Read her favorite book again and again; sing the same songs; develop routines.

Read in new ways.  You can make many activities out of the same book.  Talk about the cover, stop in the middle of the book and guess what will happen next, pretend you are one of the characters in the book and act out the story, make up new endings to the book, make a song out of the story, or let your child “read” the story to you just using the pictures.

Read together.  Find a cozy place and time to read, and read to each other.  This not only fosters your child’s emotional development, but helps him build a positive attitude about reading.

Recognize that becoming literate comes from a variety of activities.  Almost any meaningful time you spend with your child can be a literacy activity – whether its playing peek-a-boo, naming the groceries you’re putting away, playing “I spy” in line at the DMV, making crafts together, or flipping through family photos.

Other Resources:

"Talking and Reading Together" - From PBS Parents
http://www.pbs.org/parents/issuesadvice/talkingandreading/

Reading Rockets:
www.readingrockets.org

Great shows that encourage reading:
http://pbskids.org/lions/ 
http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/