Strategies for Learning Sight Words

• Gone Fishing - An adult holds a stack of flash cards, displaying one card at a time.  If the child knows the word, he/she "catches" it, and the adult gives the card to the child.  See how many words your child can "catch" every day.  Until your child knows all of the sight words on the list, the goal is to "catch" at least one more word than he/she did the day before.

•  Point out the words in bedtime stories

• Sit with your child and look at a newspaper to see just how often sight words pop up in print.  Ask your child to choose a sight word from the list and an article from the paper.  Look for the word together.  Highlight and count the word each time it appears.  Try the same thing with a second sight word.  Which word appears more often?

• Use coins, beans, rice, or pasta to form the words.

• Have your child read the words on flashcards or pieces of paper posted around the house where they can be read (refrigerator, doors, dishwasher, etc...).