i taught three of my children to read before starting school. cathy got a 2.1 in psychology at cambridge. becky is now a freelance journalist and paul is studying english at queen mary university and getting all a's in his first year. i always found that taking the words, breaking them down and making a game of them worked. such as listing similar sounds eg. moon,soon,noon,boo,moo. take the oo sound and make it sound really long such as oooooooooooooooo then add the the other letters or take for instance cow,wow,now,sow,row.bow. accentuate the ow sound then add the other letter. you can also make up your own songs such as
a T and an E an L and an E a V (make a V with your hands) an I (point to your eye) an S (make an S shape with your arm) an I (point to your eye) and on (put your fist onto the back of your hand). part song,part letter association. obviously television is a big word to expect of a three year old, it was just an example. learning to read is the best game in the world to a three year old. also point out signs they see every day like stop signs shop signs, coffee,tea,sugar,milk. use flashcards. why have you only got half an hour a week. sorry. too nosy as always. everything around you can be used for reading but especially yourself. making funny sounds when reading to them helps them remember the words too.