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Sight Words: Lists, Games and Tips for Early Readers
Sight words are words that children should recognize instantly, without sounding them out. Many are very common (the, and, is), and some do not follow regular phonics rules (said, was, one). Knowing them by sight helps early readers read smoothly, so their energy can go to understanding the story.
Dolch and Fry lists
Two well-known lists are used in schools. The Dolch list has 220 service words plus 95 common nouns, grouped by grade level from pre-primer to grade 3. The Fry list contains the 1,000 most frequent words in English, in order of frequency. Your child's teacher may use either, or a program-specific list, so check what they are sending home.
Starter list: Dolch pre-primer words
These are the 40 words most beginning readers meet first:
a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you
Next step: Dolch primer words
When the first list feels easy, move on to these (about 50 more):
all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes
How many words at a time?
Introduce 3 to 5 new words per week and keep reviewing old ones. A child who masters a few words well progresses faster than one who is shown twenty words at once. Mix new words with already-known words so there is a steady feeling of success.
Fun ways to practice
- Treasure hunt: hide index cards around the room. Your child reads each word as they find it.
- Sticky-note words: label doors, the fridge and the table, then read them whenever you pass.
- Memory match: make two cards for each word, turn them face down, and find pairs.
- Build it: spell words with magnetic letters, playdough or letter tiles, or write them in sand or shaving cream.
- Find it in a book: before reading a picture book, pick a target word and give a high five each time it shows up.
- Read-and-write sentences: "I see the big red ball." Sentences make the words meaningful.
Sight words and phonics work together
Children need both. Phonics (letter-sound knowledge) lets them read new words, and sight words give them instant access to the most common ones. For a word such as said, point out the parts that do follow the rules (the s and the d) and the one tricky part (ai says "eh" here). Calling out the "heart" of the word, the part to learn by heart, helps spelling too.
Practice sentences
Have your child read each sentence, then circle the sight words.
- I can see the big blue boat.
- We go up and down the hill.
- Look at the funny red hat!
- Can you help me find my yellow ball?
- She said that she will come to play.
Notes for grown-ups
Sentences 1–4 are built mostly from pre-primer words (plus easy picture words like boat, hill, hat and ball). Sentence 5 introduces primer words (she, that, will) alongside said, come and play. Notice which words your child stumbles on and add them to this week's review pile.
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