Beginning ideas for teaching sight words
Teaching sight words is a critical
part of teaching
reading. When
beginning to teach sight
words start with the child’s name.
It is
very exciting for children to learn to read their own name. After the child has
learned his or her name,
introduce other names that are important to the child.
(Mom, Dad, brothers,
sisters, or friends) The following are some tips for teaching sight words and name recognition.
- Point out the child’s name in different places.
- Write your child’s name and post it around your house.
- Label some of your child’s personal belongings with his or her name.
- Make “business cards” of your child’s name and names of others in your family or friends. Have the children exchange the cards and read each others names.
- Label placemats for dinner and have the child set the table.
After children learn their name and other words that are important to them (Dora, Tyrannosaurus Rex), they need to start learning high frequency words. These will be very useful as children learn to read and write.
Starting to learn high frequency words can be very difficult for children. Typically the first ten words take an extraordinary amount of effort to learn. After that it gets easier. When children know approximately forty words, they generally have developed a system for learning them and it is much easier from that point on
Here are some ideas for teaching sight words:
- Play my pile your pile. (See video below)
- Play matching and sorting games.
- Find high frequency words in books.
- Write high frequency words in a salt tray.
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