Introducing Your Child to Sight words

By definition, a sight word is a word that is known 'on sight' without having to phonically decode it. Since many of these words are phonically irregular, sight word recognition and phonic techniques complement each other. In fact, most educators use these two concepts as key elements of their kindergarten curriculum. Depending on the school and student, teachers generally continue to focus on sight word recognition through the third grade. While sight words are not the complete reading solution, the ability to recognize these words instantly is one of the first steps that a child takes towards becoming a fluent reader.

Despite there being over half a million words in the English language, only about two hundred are used with regularity. The credit for compiling these practical high-frequency word lists goes to Dr. Edward W. Dolch and Dr. Edward B. Fry. These sight word lists are still used today by both teachers and parents. Dr. Dolch published a highly acclaimed study and a book called `Problems in Reading,' which found that children who memorized a core group of words on sight learned to read easier and with greater comprehension. Dr. Dolch compiled a list of 220 service words and 95 nouns based on the most commonly used words in children's books during 1930's and 40's.

In the 1990s Dr. Fry augmented Dolch's theory with his book on 1,000 Instant Words, which not only listed the most common words but arranged them in order frequency. He discovered that a mere 25 words comprise a third of all published work and about a hundred make up approximately half of all written material. Fry's lists are grouped into various levels depending on the age and capability of the child. The basic concept underlying this research is that the process of reading is faster if you visually assimilate certain high frequency words rather than having to decode every spelling.

Given the importance of sight words in developing a child's reading skills, kindergarten and elementary school teachers frequently incorporate these words in literacy center activities. Sight words and related games are an excellent way to teach children and are included in virtually all kindergarten curriculums. Most sight word games incorporate techniques such as using flashcards and verbal cues. While there are many games available, the best ones are those that retain a child's attention. Sight word bingo and word searches using sight words are some of the different ways to help children learn sight words in a fun and creative way.

Er-u-di-tion is a popular game, which was developed to provide emergent readers repeated interaction with the letters of the alphabet and their basic phonic sounds as well as sight words and their definitions. The game cards are categorized by reading levels so that children of different reading abilities can play together. The game board's setting is a colorful community which captures an emergent reader's attention. Since each game takes about 15-20 minutes the game also retains the player's interest.