Start teaching your children about literacy as soon as you can. Reading needs to be taught. Although children start learning about the alphabet when they are in their first years of public education, it's better to start it in the years leading up to this age. You can begin teaching them the alphabet as soon as they start speaking. Keep books and magazines around your home and children's books laid out in your child's room. If they are surrounded by words, they will have an easier time acclimating to reading as they get older.
Make a point to spend as much of your time reading aloud to your family as possible. Every night, read aloud from a children's book to your child before bed. Choose books that interest your child so he can become as immersed in the story as possible. Even better, include a family reading night once a week. In these times, involve the entire family, including both parents and older children. Read aloud to the family and pass around the book so that anyone who can read can contribute to the storytelling. The more you add reading to your family life, the more literacy will become an important part of everyone's life.
Join local reading programs whenever possible. Public libraries host activities for different age groups. For instance, many will provide children's reading programs where the child will get a gold star or similar prize for every book that she reads in a given time period. Public libraries and community education programs also have book clubs for teenagers and adults, so community involvement with reading can still be a part of your life as you get older. These activities foster literacy for everyone in the family.