What are some easy ways to help teach my 4 year old son how to read?

He is probably not developmentally ready to read. This is not a bad thing. Children develop and learn at their own pace, and that's ok. It's best not to try to force it. Here are some things to do to help him build a good foundation for reading. Read, read, read to him. Take him to the library and let him choose some of the books he wants you to read to him. There are a lot of great, fun books for kids his age. You can ask the librarian for some guidance. Does he know a lot of his letters? He needs to know upper and lower case letters and the sounds they make. If he doesn't already know them, begin with the letters in his name, starting with the first letter, and do teach upper and lower case as appropriate. Make it a fun game! Find his first letter everywhere: on cereal boxes, signs, in the newspaper, and in books. You can say, Look Matthew, I found your M here on this box! And when you think he knows it, say Oh I see your M on this page, see if you can find it too! When you're sure he knows that first letter go on to the second. Give him plenty of opportunity to write but don't force it. Get out blank paper and crayons and sit and draw and write with him. Be sure you are writing letters on your paper so you can say Look I wrote your name/my name/daddy's name/etc. Encourage him to try to write his name, but remember that scribbling is the first stage of writing so don't discourage his efforts. Provide different writing tools, such as crayons, pencils, pens, chalk, markers, etc. Trying to write the letters is good fine motor exercise and will help him learn them. For a really fun change, you can spray shaving cream on the table (don't worry, it's just soap!) and write and draw in that. Haven't met a kid yet who didn't enjoy that one! When you are reading to him, follow the print with your finger sometimes. He will be learning that print carries a message, that print (in English) flows from left to right and top to bottom. These are foundational reading skills that he needs to make it easy to learn to read when he is ready!

Ask him to point out the individual words to you. Point to a letter on the page and see if he can find another letter just like it on the page.

Start by teaching him the alphabet. Get some flash cards, and explain that each letter has a sound, and that some letters have more than one sound, like C, G, and vowels. Just do one or two letters a week. That's the first step.

Also, you could send him to pre-school, or you could get a pre-school curriculum to do at home. It's not that hard, but it will tell you what to cover next so you won't have to figure out what letter to do next. It will give you more ideas, and a direction to go.

He's 4 years old. Wait until he's six. Then try teaching him to read. I have a nephew who absolutely hatred school in grades one and two.. His older sisters used to play school with him. Everything he was supposed to learn, they'd already taught him.

Let the teachers teach at the appropriate age.

Oh, right now nephew is a Petty Officer in the Canadian Navy. He's 48.