I was a little surprised when my kids got to kindergarten and they handed us a list of SIGHT WORDS. They told us they will need to start remembering these words and will be evaluated on their reading level based on how many they know by sight!
As a young mother, I wish there had been some parenting brochure or school age manual somewhere (don’t we all) that told me to be practicing sight words all along. We had been focusing on learning ABC’s and shapes, but I never knew about sight words until it seemed like it was too late, like they should already have known them.
I have never been a fan of being forced to memorize things. It takes me back to college days when we were forced to remember vocab words and definitions for biology. I could memorize those words and meanings only up until the test and then I never thought about them again and completely forgot everything.
Now, I understand sight words are different. If we use them everyday, we will never forget them obviously. But I do feel like often times when you are told to memorize something, it takes the fun out of it.
I have been tutoring children in both math and reading for several years. I have noticed that for my young reading students, they got most excited when they LIKED the book they were trying to read and if we played a GAME with it or tried to read them differently. But just regular flash cards for sight words memorization… I could NEVER motivate them to get excited about this.
I started to think about creating fun simple books that included a bunch of sight words. Most of the short early reading books I found focused on rhyming words and phonics. So I wanted to create videos and books that made it fun and new to learn and practice sight words!
Llama Friends was born! I don’t know if your kids are as obsessed with llamas as my kids? Llamas are everywhere in our house, in stores, and online.
My daughter named Billy and Sprinkles out of the blue one day. She loves watching their cute faces dance across the screen in the videos.
She also loves to read along in the books. Something about llamas puts both my kids at ease and reaches them in their hearts. I think llamas are furry and just look innocent and sweet so that they resonate with the little ones.
I’m on a mission to create sight word books that make it fun to practice sight words! Follow along as we journey through developing fun relatable characters that continue to resonate with young readers so that learning doesn’t feel like a chore… so that reading brings them joy for a lifetime.
I’d love to hear from you and what sight word books or tools you have used that your kids love. Comment below.