Sight Words in Kindergarden

Geez, I can't believe they use flash cards in K! Whatever happened to learning by play in early childhood? Whatever happen to early childhood?!

I guess I would look around the house for books containing a few sight words. I would then highlight or circle each sight word in the book. Read the SAME book to him a few nights in a row, running my finger along the words while I'm reading them so he can follow when a sight word is coming up. THen he can say the sight word, instead of you when you get to them. And he'll have an association with each different story, an easier way to remember then just flash cards.

:)

google "easy way to learn sight words" and tons of websites come up. I did this when my daughter had to learn all the states and capitals and it really helped her. Good luck!

I don't have a child that age any more (mine are 10 and 13), but what I would suggest you do, since your grandson knows how to sound the words out, is simply let him practice. That is how they learn to recognize them quickly---practice.

If you have the list of 120 words that he is (I am guessing?) supposed to know 70 of, then type up a story using mostly those words. Think of all the Dick and Jane books we read way back when..... See Dick run. See Jane run. Dick and Jane can run. Run, Dick! Run, Jane! After your grandson reads that "short story" a few times, he will KNOW "run", don't you think?

So take a half hour and sit down at your computer with the list, write up some silly short sentences/stories for him, and print them out. Then ask him to read the stories to you. :)

hth

ETA: Not to stir the pot (I know reading can be a controversial subject)... but I followed the advice of one of your posters and googled "easy ways to learn sight words" and the first sight I clicked on was a discussion of how learning sight words too early and without phonectics/sounding out training, contributes (at least that is what they claimed to have seen studies showing) to dyslexia, because, supposedly it interrupts the learning of the brain on how to read (which should be left to right). It uses the "picture" side of the brain, which is a different area of the brain than we use when we are reading left to right. It was quite interesting, and if I had smaller kids I would research it further. We never used sight reading. I taught both my kids to read phonetically (sounding out) through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" when they were 3 and 4 yrs old. So they were already reading fluently BEFORE they even started kindergarten. Having read that page, so glad that I did.

They knew all the sight words when they got to K5 because they had been using them while reading. It comes with practice, naturally. :)

None - my son's Montessori doesn't use sight words. They don't help you learn to read other words. They are not an approach to learning. They seem to be rote memorization - a step on the road to hating school. We are not doing them. The more your son reads with you and to you, the more familiar these words will become and he will learn them. Just like we all did - we did NOT have sight words when I learned to read.

wow! Thanks for posting this question. In my daycare, I am prepping a 4yo for KG. We are working on basic family words...the names of her siblings & parents + seasonal words. I am soooo thankful to know about this!

& here I thought I was doing great at keeping up to date ....because we do sing the ABCs to "Mary had a Little Lamb"....instead of the traditional version. Time to talk to one of our district's KG teachers & ask for updates!

It doesn't count to sound them out because that's not actually how we read. As adults we read words as sight words -- collections of letters that we recognize nearly instantly as that word. Only rarely do we sound out a word. Practice and practice and more practice is what they need to learn these words by sight. Pick 5-6 each week and really look for them in every area of his life. At the store. In the books he wants to read. In your magazines. On any of his homework. Billboards, sides of trucks and buses. Make reading fun and a part of his life. My son is in 1st grade now and the kids that didn't know their sightwords at the end of kindergarten are really struggling now. Have fun with it!

I teach students sight words and your last response hit the nail. Only do a handful at a time. For some kids, it is 2-3 words and others up to 5 or more. Make flashcards (cut an index card in half) and color code each chunk of words. The first 3 or so in green, the next in blue, etc. (I like the idea of adding the symbol...as long as they can identify it in print later.)

Always include the ones in the pile that he knows with immediate recall (because that is what you're aiming for). That will help fluency, frequency, and confidence.

Then as he knows them, have him find them in print (magazines, newspapers, and books). Maybe give him a highlighter or just point them out to you.

Also have him read short books that have these words. BOB books are great for this. And as another person suggested, make a short book or stories. He can also help with this.

When I work with the kiddos, I run them through the flashcards about 3 - 4 times and then have them read or do an activity. Then I flashcard them again 2-3 times. We do it everyday.

I haven't heard of using a timer. That might add to frustration and anxiety. The goal is immediate recall regardless. Hmmmm.

You can also use this techique (flashcards with a few new ones at a time in the big pile of known ones) for math facts too.

Way to go Grandma!

My daughter goes to private school and I haven't been told that they have a requirement like this (she is in K too). But all the kids in her class are at an early first grade level academically, I think that is because there are only 6 kids and it is easier for them to get one on one time.

Spend time reading with him and sounding out the words, I have found this works well for us.

I think my son needs to know 70 at the end of kindergarten but I'm not sure exactly because he went into kindergarten a fluent reader.

The thing about sight words is that they are the words he can read AUTOMATICALLY on the page. Readers sound out NEW words, but we don't sound out EACH word we see, that's why it's important that he read them quickly without sounding them out. It's too hard to make MEANING of text if you're spending several seconds on EACH word.

That being said... relax. If he knows 29 he's well on his way! Stop quizzing him and let him READ. Kindergarten sight words are words that show up FREQUENTLY in text... (that's why they shouldn't sound them out). Get out the books and read together. Have HIM read the words he knows on the page when you get to them. They'll be automatic in no time!

Hope this helps.
T.

Hi. My son has 100 to learn. I read your question before taking him to school and began to panic. Like your grandson, he sounds some of them out, others he knows instantly. It's a process and think he is progressing well, but I worried that they may hold him back. I asked his teacher this morning and although they will test him on them in the spring, and he cannot sound them out, they won't hold him back. He knows about 60 of them right now and like other mothers suggested, I use "Flash cards" to practice w/him everyday. He really likes the flash cards( index cards). He picks them up and practices by himself and we use them to help him form and read sentences. Perhaps you can suggest this to your daughter. Also I use a website called readingeggs.com. He loves it and they work w/the same sight words he gets at school. I think the list is the same everywhere. The site is not free, but is reasonably priced and you can print worksheets and they sell books. They offer a free trial, so it's worth checking it out. With 29 down he is almost half way there and they are half way through the school year. I think he will probably do fine. There may be children who know more, some who know less, as long as he continues to make strides he will be fine. Good Luck!

My niece and nephew had 100 sight words to get iNTO Kindergarten
My son needed to know 20 LETTERS to GRADUATE from kindergarten

Same state. Same county. Different school districts.

My daughter has to know 70 words too, so far she knows about 50. She also has to be able to count to 100 but recognise 1-30.

My daughters list is 200. They already did their assessment and she was at 78 of that list, however they have 3 different lists going. It was not mandatory she know all 200, but they did ask them to study them.

I find it easier to teach her a group of 5 - 6 at a time. As well, a little mark near the word will help them remember. So a bracket ended up in front of the word picture so it was [picture. The bracket helped her learn the word.

25 sight words by the end of kindergarten. able to read write adn spell correctly.

ours had to know them all to go to first grade. the 120 that is .
Sight words are just that , words you know by just looking at them ,not sounding them out.

Your grandson has several months to learn them. At this age, several months is a loooonnnngggg time. He will be fine.

It wasn't a requirement to pass to 1st grade, but there were 125 words on "the list". My son knew all but a few (one of the words he struggled with was 'about'). Just keep working! There are many months left in Kindergarten!

My son is in Kinder.
I don't know how many sight words they have to know.
But per my son's class, they get 5 seconds to read a word per the list.

In my son's class, some are at his level, which is average, and some are higher. Which per the teacher, is unusual this year.

And yes, they sound out the words. But not all words can be sounded out nor are the words phonetic.
So then that is just memorizing words too.

My son, is allowed to sound out words... per his sight words list.
Unlike your Grandson.

My kindergartner has 300 sight words! They've never put a number on how many he needs to know (or what certain color level he needs to pass -that's how they're divided up) in order to move to first grade, but his report cards are fine. I have to go back and check, but at this point we're well over 100. However, there are a number of boys in his class who are not. I don't think they're "failing" kindergarten. They have them divided up into reading groups and my son is in the next to highest with three below him.

The way they look at it is that of course kids progress at different levels, and some of these kids came into kindergarten already reading and knowing a number of words, having been to a full-time prek and preschools -all sorts of variables. Some came in barely knowing their ABCs, so of course they have a lot of catching up to do.

I will try to remember to ask his teacher, but I think they probably expect each kid to know at least 100 sight words by the end of kindergarten. I don't know if they would hold them back on that alone though. Do you or his parents practice them with him most nights? We do flash cards and reading books.

My son is in kindergarten also. He gets 7-10 sight words to learn per week. They come home on Tuesday in a list. He is supposed to write the word on an index card in crayon using a red letter for the first letter of the word and black for the rest. Then he practices - essentially they are flash cards. He knows all of them so far and his reading is amazing because he just knows those words and then can sound out new words. It isn't too hard if this is something that you work on for a few minutes per day. We usually do it in the car since we have a 30 minute commute each day!

C.