Thinking Thursdays: Learning to read

Now that he's almost 2.5 years old, Junior J has finally shown an interest in learning how to read!  Previously he would be content to look at the pictures in the books that we read to him, and would not bother to look at the words themselves.  I've read that some kids actually start mastering how to read from before the age of 2, but we did not want to push him since he didn't seem ready.  So it was just letting him enjoy stories being read aloud, and I avoided starting any of those flashcards/worksheets/drilling activities.

Then as time progressed, he showed some interest in learning how to recognize the alphabet, and we played various "spontaneous" games with him, such as getting him to help write the shopping list before we visited the market, pointing out the letters in signs whenever we were out, as well as getting him to match his animals with the alphabet (in upper and lower case):

Since there seems to be two components to learning to read (recognizing common sight words, as well as using phonics), I started the boy on a little of both some time ago.  We would sometimes point out common words in books as we read (such as "the", "and" etc), and the boy started being able to recognize these words when we came across them in books.  He also loved singing songs involving phonics, such as this one (we would change the lyrics to cover whatever we saw in our walks). 

Then recently, we started reading Bob Books during our morning walks together.  Little boy would usually get some time at the playground in the morning, and we would plop down on bench together and read a book or two (these come in a handy size, so they are easy to bring along).  I must admit I initially found the books terribly boring, since they were just simple short sentences with loads of repetition.  The boy also had some trouble focusing on these books, after being used to all the action and adventures he'd get with Curious George and the like (hence reading them outdoors helped somewhat, since there were less distractions like toys!).

But I think the simplicity of the sentences help, and having just very simple illustrations in black, white and red allow young readers to focus on learning how to read the words.  After a week or so being stuck on book 1 and 2 of the first set of Bob Books, imagine my surprise when suddenly, he started reading both entire books aloud on his own!  I think he probably memorized some of it, but he's also been able to point out the words he's encountered in other books, so I guess there has been some learning there. ;)  And a big bonus point is he's now alot more interested in reading these books, and trying to master the words in them.  He proudly declares "I can read the Bob Book on my own!".  

Our reading journey has been rather "unstructured", but I found this mum's post on reading resources/tips very helpful.  How about you?  Do you have any tips on how to teach kids to read?