Sight word smart

Will the fish win this fight?
Artist: Kuniyoshi Kitagawa

Sight words are confusing for nearly every child to learn because so many look alike (were, we're, where). Plus, sight words do not have clear, concrete meanings.

Your child can make a mental image for lion, frog, etc.

Example: The 2nd sight word of has no clear meaning. Of can be confused with for (sight word # 13) and or (# 24).  My tutor kids have proven this sad lesson to me.

Practicing sight words in sentences and stories is much faster than flashcards because a child needs context to grasp the difference between look-alike words.  All sight word lists are the same and in the same order. Download it; or, all of my books include a list of the first 300.

Today's tip: buy any book at a used book store. Any book will be full of the tricky sight words: there, their, they're; this, these, those, then, were, whether; are, our, hour, etc.  

Assigned your child the Treasure Hunt of finding and circling words you know are tricky.

National Institutes of Health tells us only six out of fifty kids who get a slow start in 1st Grade ever catch up. Do not panic; my blog has 160 free lessons. 

My work with struggling older readers has shown me that rarely is a child a slow learner. When a child has trouble it is because specific early lessons were not clearly instructed. 

My books make it easy. The mother of a struggling 2nd Grader wrote back to tell me she could see immediately which words were holding back her daughter. I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help plus your child's grade level. Instant Reading Help Kindergarten. Instant Reading Help 3rd Grade, etc.

Have fun reading! Mary Maisner