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.