Learning to Read

Collin mastered his letters and their sounds ages ago and has shown interest in sounding some words out so we're going with it. It's given us a whole new appreciation for just how difficult it must be to learn the English language. It really hit me as Tim was trying to sound out the word "food" with Collin. Collin's choice of words, not Tim's, but that's beside the point. Tim was explaining that two o's together makes the "oooo" sound (I'm not even sure how to write that, but if you can read this you know what I mean). By that logic I realized it should be "fooot" (rhyme with food) not "fut" (like it sounds). Try explaining that to a 3 year old or writing it for that matter. I guess that's why we take English every single year in school and stuff like math is optional after you have enough credits. It also gives me a new appreciation for spoken vs. written language and makes me really glad that I'm not an English teacher. I don't want to push reading on Collin before he's ready but he seems to really enjoy sounding out words. He proudly points out letters he see's all over the place and asks me how to spell stuff all the time. I just want to encourage his love of learning and especially of reading because its something I enjoy tremedously. Any hints for making it easier for him?