If you want kids to read, they have to start with lots of listening. The cornerstone of language ability is hearing lots and lots of varied speech, and the easi

If you want kids to read, they have to start with lots of listening. The cornerstone of language ability is hearing lots and lots of varied speech, and the easiest way to get it is by hearing books read aloud. Reading in English (i.e. decoding written symbols into pronounced words) is not that hard a skill for typical kids to learn at age 5 if they have done a few years of listening to books read aloud every day, but it does require direct focus for like 15 minutes per day for 6–12 months, and one-on-one help from an adult makes that a lot easier.