Read every day! Visit the library and have your child pick books that interest him/her. Read aloud to your child often, and point to the words as you go. Have a reward system, such as 25 books read aloud = a treat or special privilege. Play "I Spy" with words in a book: can you find ________ word on this page? Praise, encourage, and model reading. Don't forget that magazines count too.

Read to and with him--every day for 10-20 minutes.  Make it fun!

I agree with the first answer, the more reading, the better! I am a second grade teacher and I think this is the number one thing to help a child learn to read. Unless a learning disability is suspected, your child probably needs more exposure to books. Your child will pick up sight words (the, at, is, want, etc.) as he/she is read aloud to and this is a good foundation. Then, he/she should be able to blend letters to make words with short vowel sounds: /c/ /a/ /t/... cat.  The more they read the more they will acquire vowel patterns and letter blends that they can apply to learn new words. Keep reading with you child and exposing them to text. This can be through books, magazines, comics or anything they are into!