Just on the social side of things... my DS was a complete dud too... but when he turned 3 it was like a switch was flicked. Not that he's a social butterfly now.. but he at least isn't terrified of other children being on play equipment or anything! LOL. I do think it could be a developmental thing, and I have read that it's around the age of 3 that they actually start to play with other kids, whereas before that it's more parallel play.

I've found the replies in this thread interesting. We are doing the Reading Eggs program as I said, and it does follow what others are saying about rhyming words etc. DS is learning the 'at' family, the 'ug' family etc. So it's not just sounding out individual letters, they are recognising sounds. I must admit I haven't been watching his lessons on there of late, and I watched him today just to make sure he's not guessing his way through.. but he is actually reading the sentences they present so he can choose the picture that goes with it. I must say I was pretty impressed! LOL.