Sight Word Fun!

Hello Families!

The Peeps are bringing home sight word lists and flash cards for "Level 1." These are the most basic sight words that we see most often! If your child attended preschool, he/she may already know some of these words. Please practice them at home when you can. Here are some suggestions:

**If your child is a new reader, please just stick with the pace that we're on in class, or even work a little bit behind us. We've learned the words "the" and "my." You could just practice those. We'll add 1-2 new words each week, so by the end of the first quarter, the kids will have seen the whole list for level 1. I'll list the words we've learned on the blog each week.

**If your child can already recognize some words, you can work at your child's pace. When your child knows all of the words on the list, you can get a bonus word list. You could also practice spelling the words. 

**Every time you practice with flash cards, have your child color in one star. The stars on the flash cards help your child learn that it's important to practice the words on lots of different days. We need to know sight words "in a snap."

Why learn sight words at all?

When we are learning to read beginning level books, we start by looking at the pictures and thinking about what would make sense on the page. We don't use letter sounds or "sound it out." So few words actually sound out, that is one of the very last reading strategies that we teach. First, we use the pictures. Then we look for words we know. When children know sight words, they can focus on just the unknown words on the page. They aren't stuck on every word. 

There are so many fun ways to practice sight words...I'll put more ideas in the blog on Friday. Please just work at your child's pace, so that he/she is not frustrated or feels like they can't read. I told the Peeps today that it's OK just to practice "the" and "my." We know those!

Thanks and have a great night!

Kelley