Reading Sight Words

Sight words are words you have to read by sight. You cannot sound these words out. As your child becomes more familiar with sight words, he will be able to 

So just how do you teach your child to read sight words?

First, start by reading to your child regularly--daily for at least 20 minutes. Do this no matter the age of your child (that means from young to old). 

Second, run your finger along the words as you read. As your child starts to become interested in reading, he/she will follow along and might just start to pick up on some commonly read words.

But you can't simply read. It does take more.

A common approach is flash cards or word lists. This is one method that has its place. Above, you can see the sight-word flash cards I made for Brayden. They are simply notecards with the words written on the back.

My favorite approach is the Bob Books Sight Words books. These are new. I did a review on these books on one of my other blogs. The great thing about these books is that the child is reading the words in context, and reading the new sight word over and over again. This means the child really gets to know that sight word well by the end of the book. It is read capitalized, lowercase, at the beginning of sentences, in the middle of sentences, at the end of sentences....it is more than memorizing a list. It is learning a word in the purpose it was intended--to read it. Bob Books sight words do include some words that can be sounded out. The Bob Books Sight Words set also comes with pre-made flash cards for extra practice. These flash cards have the word on one side and a sentence with the sight word in it along with a picture on the other side.

So there you have a few simple ways to teach sight words. Need help knowing what sight words are? Here are some lists:

Saxons Phonics Sight Words for Kindergarteners (15)

• My
• You
• Into
• From
• One
• Said
• Have
• Four
• Love
• What
• The
• To
• Of
• Do
• Was

Bob Books Sight Words for Kindergarteners (30)

• Ran
• Saw
• To
• Can
• Jump
• On
• A
• Fly
• Has
• Is
• Look
• Who
• As
• Had 
• Was
• In 
• Not
• Some
• Did
• Do 
• She
• Get 
• Go
• Off
• Over
• They
• Went
• Goes
• Down
• Home