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I made a set of cards to play "Go Fish" with that had her sight words for the year on them. I made 4 cards for each word, using different colors (red, blue, green, purple). We played those at least once a week (mostly more) and she is now doing the sight word list for 3rd grade (though she's only in 1st).
I also got on the computer and made sheets with three columns. The first is to trace it (I used a light gray font), the second column is to close your eyes and spell it (I put a check mark there) and the third is to write it down from memory (I cover the first column).
Repetition is the key for everything. And once you get the initial recognition down, you just have to point out when you see the word again in books, magazines, on tv, on a store sign, etc.
What you are talking about with the flash cards is plain old memorization. While this is ok with many kids, there are better ways to teach kids to read. First, he needs to be read to 30 minutes to an hour a day. Second, he needs to learn a process that will make it easier for him to read words later besides sight words. If you only memorize the sight words, you haven’t learned to read because memorization does not teach how to read other words besides them. Here are the steps to help him learn to read in record speed, and I’m talking within couple weeks if you are consistent, he is cooperative, you do it every single day, and you work at least one hour or longer if the child is interested.. The longest kid I ever actually taught took 11days before he could read well, moving him up more then a grade. In fact, he could read all the Dolch sight words through 3rd grade when we were done. Just keep it fun with loads of praise and little fun rewards. Put him in a position of power to take ownership of the learning such as getting him excited to beat you at a game. (I did that the first time at 15 when my brother was entering kindergarten and needed to know how to count to 20. One game, 15 minutes once a day over two days and he had it done pat without mistakes.)
The child needs to be able to say the alphabet (singing of course and I’ll bet he’s already past that)
The child needs to be able to recognize all the letters big and small by sight (may already know but could still be working on this but if you make up a game with lots of praise and rewards, he can have it down in as little as a day if he knows some already.)
He needs to learn the first primary sound that every letter makes. A very easy way to do that actually is one of two, but really the same, ways. You can get Leap Pad’s letter factory DVD or you can simply sing the song from it with flash cards which goes…”The A say ah, the A says ah, every letter has a sound the A says….Ah.” Encourage him to sing along and let him say the last ah alone.) When DD was only barely three, she had learned some of the sounds on her own but when she got this DVD on a Monday, she had it down pat on Wed. Can’t imagine a 6 year old having issues with the DVD. Again he may learn this which makes your job super easy.)
Here is a step that is usually skipped and deemed unnecessary but it is my secret to quick success. You would think at this point he is ready to sound out words but refrain from letting him try as he could very easily develop some bad habits that could become hard to break if trying when he is alone. You can either make flash cards or pick up some phonic tiles. I found ours at walmart. I liked them because each blend type were a different color. Teach each and every sound. Start with the most simple blends as to keep up his confidence and gradually add in new colors as he gets them. Treat these blends just like more letters of the alphabet with different sounds. I got this idea back in the 9th grade when I first started taking Spanish and naturally began to see the double l as a single letter. I thought that it would be easier to teach kids to read if the blends were taught just as single as all the letters are.
You’ll never actually have to teach him to read words because he will see the blends and he will get it naturally. You may have to tell him once or twice to sound it out but after a couple reminders, he will be a pro. Not only that, he will move from kindergarten level or below to the end of first grade immediately once he masters all the different sounds.
I am sorry I do not have any references to back this up as this is a program I developed myself. It was actually unusual circumstances that led me to do develop it. I had a friend with a child behind in reading and thought since my kids were reading atages 3, 4 and 3 probably 2 (I discovered he could read just after his birthday and have no idea how long he could). She thought that I had taught them and wanted help with her child. I was just thinking….ok…I‘ve never done this before but I'll give it a try. Her child was the first I ever actually taught how to read. He was reading independently on day six but he already learned the primary sound of the letters when we started so half the work was already done for me. I worked with a child that was really far behind and it the problem was a differently shaped jaw so he had spent his time in speech therapy during reading time and really needed help and a confident boost. He was the 11 day kid.
I mention above #1 about the game I played with my brother. We played with little counters and we first counted to three until he had that memorized and then we moved to five counters and then added just one or two counters after that. If he got them right, he got to put them in a cup. If I got mine right, I did the same but I would make sure to get some of the ones he’d memorized wrong so that he could catch my mistake and show me how it was done and add my counters to his cup as well. The one with the most counters at the end won. The reason I am explaining this is because you could do the same with phonics tiles.
What you are talking about with the flash cards is plain old memorization. While this is ok with many kids, there are better ways to teach kids to read. First, he needs to be read to 30 minutes to an hour a day. Second, he needs to learn a process that will make it easier for him to read words later besides sight words. If you only memorize the sight words, you haven’t learned to read because memorization does not teach how to read other words besides them. Here are the steps to help him learn to read in record speed, and I’m talking within couple weeks if you are consistent, he is cooperative, you do it every single day, and you work at least one hour or longer if the child is interested.. The longest kid I ever actually taught took 11days before he could read well, moving him up more then a grade. In fact, he could read all the Dolch sight words through 3rd grade when we were done. Just keep it fun with loads of praise and little fun rewards. Put him in a position of power to take ownership of the learning such as getting him excited to beat you at a game. (I did that the first time at 15 when my brother was entering kindergarten and needed to know how to count to 20. One game, 15 minutes once a day over two days and he had it done pat without mistakes.)
The child needs to be able to say the alphabet (singing of course and I’ll bet he’s already past that)
The child needs to be able to recognize all the letters big and small by sight (may already know but could still be working on this but if you make up a game with lots of praise and rewards, he can have it down in as little as a day if he knows some already.)
He needs to learn the first primary sound that every letter makes. A very easy way to do that actually is one of two, but really the same, ways. You can get Leap Pad’s letter factory DVD or you can simply sing the song from it with flash cards which goes…”The A say ah, the A says ah, every letter has a sound the A says….Ah.” Encourage him to sing along and let him say the last ah alone.) When DD was only barely three, she had learned some of the sounds on her own but when she got this DVD on a Monday, she had it down pat on Wed. Can’t imagine a 6 year old having issues with the DVD. Again he may learn this which makes your job super easy.)
Here is a step that is usually skipped and deemed unnecessary but it is my secret to quick success. You would think at this point he is ready to sound out words but refrain from letting him try as he could very easily develop some bad habits that could become hard to break if trying when he is alone. You can either make flash cards or pick up some phonic tiles. I found ours at walmart. I liked them because each blend type were a different color. Teach each and every sound. Start with the most simple blends as to keep up his confidence and gradually add in new colors as he gets them. Treat these blends just like more letters of the alphabet with different sounds. I got this idea back in the 9th grade when I first started taking Spanish and naturally began to see the double l as a single letter. I thought that it would be easier to teach kids to read if the blends were taught just as single as all the letters are.
You’ll never actually have to teach him to read words because he will see the blends and he will get it naturally. You may have to tell him once or twice to sound it out but after a couple reminders, he will be a pro. Not only that, he will move from kindergarten level or below to the end of first grade immediately once he masters all the different sounds.
I am sorry I do not have any references to back this up as this is a program I developed myself. It was actually unusual circumstances that led me to do develop it. I had a friend with a child behind in reading and thought since my kids were reading atages 3, 4 and 3 probably 2 (I discovered he could read just after his birthday and have no idea how long he could). She thought that I had taught them and wanted help with her child. I was just thinking….ok…I‘ve never done this before but I'll give it a try. Her child was the first I ever actually taught how to read. He was reading independently on day six but he already learned the primary sound of the letters when we started so half the work was already done for me. I worked with a child that was really far behind and it the problem was a differently shaped jaw so he had spent his time in speech therapy during reading time and really needed help and a confident boost. He was the 11 day kid.
I mention above #1 about the game I played with my brother. We played with little counters and we first counted to three until he had that memorized and then we moved to five counters and then added just one or two counters after that. If he got them right, he got to put them in a cup. If I got mine right, I did the same but I would make sure to get some of the ones he’d memorized wrong so that he could catch my mistake and show me how it was done and add my counters to his cup as well. The one with the most counters at the end won. The reason I am explaining this is because you could do the same with phonics tiles.
Becky offers wonderful advice and as for a program, you might want to try the book "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" At the end of the book they will be reading at a third grade level and it teaches exactly as Becky said, phonics with blends as basically seperate letters(and 2 different "e"s and "a"s etc.). Great way to learn to read, 15 minutes a day, be consistent and he will be reading in no time...my son was reading basic words in a week or so.
My son could never learn sight words. Some kids can't, it was only recently that schools/teachers started expecting all kids to learn the same way.
A good website that my school district recommends is Learn to Read with phonics. My first grader really loved it when he was in K, and still enjoys it. It also helped my 4 yo learn her letters.
Label things with stickies... Like bed, door, water, box, toys, etc etc...In addition to flash cards...We also got books from the library that specifically worked on sight words. There is also a sight word bingo game at Barnes and Noble that my dd loves to play.
There are books out there (can't remember name or how many in the series but you shouldn't have trouble finding them), that are full of sight words. Each page has a simple sentence that contains one or two sight words. And these words are continuously repeated on each page. The books get a little harder as you go on to each new book. Our son seems to be picking them up pretty quick.
Simple stuff. I see a brown bear. I see a green frog etc.
Do you mean Bob Books by any chance?
My kids love(d) them. My 2 year old is wearing out the pages on the first volume. He's not reading yet, but still adores the books. My now 6-year old was able to read them after learning basic phonics (those leap frog videos were a great help with learning phonics), and he was so proud and excited.
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