Here at Candy Lemon Books, we really like to focus on sight words. The reason for this is that I felt such immense stress when my kids were in kindergarten. It was the first time I had ever heard that sight words had to be memorized in order to pass their grade.
I am a planner and thought I had read all the right parenting books, taught them their ABCs and 123s, gotten a few veggies in them and read to them every day… I thought I had done everything RIGHT! I thought we were on the right track to prepare them for school or even get them ahead a little so that there was less stress. Sight words hit me like a slap in the face and it was too little too late… we were all the sudden behind.
I even wrote my first Llama Friends book with one of my tutoring students in mind. He was approaching the end of 1st grade and had a little trouble with some of his sight words. There was talk of holding him back based on these sight words. His mom and I discussed at length and she was worried. I worked with him diligently and tried many different methods to make it fun and motivate him to remember them. He passed the 1st grade, but I’ll never forget the fear and panic of not passing a grade based on sight word memorization.
Based on my research and a few tried and tested methods of my own, here is my easy list of quick things you can do to teach sight words to kids.
- Say Spell Say, Repeat – Whether you are starting with traditional flashcards or just spotting sight words on road signs as you drive around town, saying and SPELLING the words out loud along with your kids is helpful to them. There is something different in our brains when we hear it, spell it, and speak it. Using all the senses can help memorize and recognize sight words faster. “Having the child spell and say the word focuses the child’s attention on the word and the way it is constructed, helping them form the memory of the sight word.” (from Technique Two: Spell Reading)
2. Play Tic Tac Toe – I love that you don’t need any special tools or materials. You can draw a tic tac toe chart anywhere; waiting at the doctor’s office or sitting by the pool. Instead of X’s and O’s, each player picks a new sight word for each round. Mark your space by writing your sight word for that round. WRITING sight words helps to memorize them. “So, when you write by hand, you actually give your brain’s encoding process a boost…If you write something by hand, all that complex sensory information increases the chances the knowledge will be stored for later.” (from Here’s Why You Remember Things Better When You Write Them Down)
3. Make a Sight Word Board Game – One of my student’s favorite ways to practice sight words was by making up a board game. He not only loved creating and designing the game board, he loved playing it too. He mostly liked adding in penalty spaces that only applied to me and reward spaces that only applied to him! Use this FREE printable as a guide to let your kids create their own Sight Word Board Game. All you need are some dice (one die is probably plenty). You can use the pdf to print and play as is, or use the powerpoint to edit and make your own.
4. Learn to Type – It’s no surprise that if my kids were behind in kindergarten, they’re still behind in the 4th grade. That is not to say that we are behind in everything, but typing is one thing for sure. I wish my kids had learned to type the minute they were asked to use computers in school (Kindergarten or First grade). We are proud to now offer a 5 book set of TYPING LLAMAS that teaches the whole keyboard and the first 100 sight words at the same time. FREE downloadable typing practice sheet available.
5. Read a Sight Word Book – We have made sight words the focus of each and every book we publish. Every book contains a list of all the sight words contained in that book. It’s a great way to work on certain sight words and learn a bunch at one time in a FUN way!
There you have it! 5 Quick (and Easy) Ways to Teach Sight Words to Kids! I hope you can easily incorporate these into your daily routine to help your little ones learn those ever important sight word faster.
What tools worked the best for your kids to learn sight words and learn to read? Did you start learning sight words before kindergarten?