How to teach sight words?

[Phteven]

Play games - make 2 of each and play like you would play fish or memory.
Flash cards.
Get her to test you. So she points to the card and you say the word and she tells you if you ate wrong or right (you don't need to get them all right).
Do you have letter magnets for your fridge? They are useful for learning words and spelling.

[AliBaby]

Agree with Zazou's tips for using them.

Also they are not just for learning to read but also learning to write them so try writing the on a blackboard if you have one or just using texts and paper. If your DS likes computers Or if you have in iPad then get him to type them and then read them.

[Astrolady]

we make up sentences. Sometimes they can get really silly.

He said am in the

The more sight words you get better because then you can go between different lists as they have to remember them all once they know them.

Also lots of repetition. I have also had the boys write them out and say them as they write them.

[ladybird11]

So its not as much going through the sounds?

Its more "here, this word is _____________" sorta thing?

[Phteven]

Yep. That's why they call them sight words.
Sounding out is an important strategy in learning to read but proper reading isn't sounding out. We see words and recognise them because of the shape. That is the aim of sight words.

Usually teachers start with the golden words which are the 12 most common words that make up almost a quarter of the words on a page. After that they move on to the next most popular words until they have the top 100 down.

The golden words are

a, and, be, I, in, is, it, of, that, the, to, was

[AliBaby]

Definitely not based on phonetics/sounds. That is why they are called sight words. They are common words that they need to know how to write/ read sentences, that do not always make the sound the letter makes. I.e. the, friend, saw, etc.

you can use sounds as well to help learn them but they need to become automatic IYKWIM.

[Trillian]

Ladybird, they are called 'sight' words because they can only be learned by sight - they cannot be sounded out. So they need to be taught by rote learning with loads of repetition. And please don't try to sound them out when helping them learn if they look like they are struggling because it just will not work and will only serve to confuse them more (I'm saying this as a teacher, not as a parent ) The others have some good suggestions. Make it fun and maybe even a little competitive by playing games etc.

[ladybird11]

God I'm such a dumb a$$ - I know nothing about this stuff :-(

Thank you all for your quick replies!

x

[Phteven]

Dumb would be not asking.

We all start out not knowing this stuff. I think the first few weeks of school are a huge learning curve for parents as well as children.

[AliBaby]

You are not a dumb a$$

I would not have known before I became a primary school teacher.