What are sight words?  Sight words are words that we see and use often in print.  Only 100 words make up half of the words used in print.   This small set of high-frequency words is the foundation of our language.  Knowledge of high-frequency words  is necessary for fluent reading.  Good readers should be able to recognize and read them instantly.  Learning sight words helps children become better readers & writers.

Sight words are often “tricky words” or words words that do not sound like their spellings, therefore sounding them out would be unproductive.  Therefore children need to learn these words by sight, rather than by the traditional method of “sounding out.”

When helping your child with sight words, it is best to help your child identify all letters in the word, identify familiar letter patterns and chunks, and PRACTICE!  Students will become familiar with more words each week.  Developing a large sight word vocabulary helps a student become a better reader by increasing reading fluency, speed and accuracy.