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Don't read "to" the child, read "with" the child. One of the things I loved most was sitting on the couch with my daughter reading a book. We would take large books loaded with short stories, such as fairy tale collections, and she would follow along as I read the words. In the beginning it was mostly me reading and her admiring the full color pictures, but that changes eventually. The thing to remember is to not make it a chore for the child. You want the child to enjoy the time as much as you do.
Also, early on, we found a great series of books about one of her favorite cartoons. Each sentence contained a small picture in place of a word. I would start reading, pointing out each word and saying it and when I got to the picture, she would say that part. (One day [picture of Scooby Doo] and [picture of Shaggy] went for a walk.) In a very short time, she was actually saying the words she recognized along with the pictures.
Side note: In our area a child entering Kindergarten should know how to write their name and is expected to be able to recognize numbers and letters but not necessarily be able to do any major counting or to properly recite the alphabet all the way through.
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