From the time my kids were born, we read to them each night. During the preschool years, I began teaching them to read by teaching them to read sight words. These are words you see often in sentences such as “and,” “but” and “one.” In the whole language approach to teaching a child to read, you start out with a set of sight words. Learning sight words helps your child read since they do not have to decode each word in a sentence, but know the word automatically. Look for your younger children to bring these types of words home from school or you can also find these words in several resources online like Sightword’s Dolch Word List. To help your child learn his/her sight words, try one of the following:
- Search for sight words in the book you are reading together. Read the word together and then ask your child to see if they can find the same word on another page.
- Make a set of flash cards for your child with the sight words. Play a game with the sight words like “Find It” where your child has to find the word you call out or have your child play a matching game to match the sight words.
- Use flash cards to make sentences out of the sight words. Have your child read the sentences.
- Get a sight word app for your tablet or phone such as Innovative Mobile Apps Sight Words List or CFC s.r.o.’s Sight Words Learning Games & Reading Flash Cards.
- Use printable booklets and have your child read to you. Some good web resources are Hubbard’ Cupboard or DLTK’s Educational Printables for Kids.
- You can also make your own printable books by using a word processor and pictures of your family and places you frequently go together.
- Use tactical tools and have your child spell out their sight word. You can use like modeling clay and a toothpick to have them spell out their sight word in the clay.
- Play some online games at resources such as Education.com or SightWords