Should I teach my child sight words

What a beautiful world!

Yes, teaching sight words plus the ABC letter names and basic letter sounds gives your child the strongest tools for success. Aa apple, Bb bear are examples of basic sounds.

Being instant gives your child a huge boost - being slow will slow a child's advancement.

 

Do not panic, start today and build. Sit down with any story and your child. Start with the, put your child's finger under the. Help your child read the as you read the story. 

Once your child sees and reads the without your help, target the word of. Now you are asking your child to read the and of.

(First ten sight words: the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it.) 

All sight word lists are the same, no matter the name: instant words, high frequency, Dolch, Fry, etc.  Words are listed by frequency seen in print - not level of difficulty. About 300 sight words make up 65% of all print. The more words your child knows "on sight" the better.

Words like lion, cat, dog have easy meanings and can be sounded out. Kids learn them rapidly. They are not sight words. Sight words are service words which have vague meanings and look alike to children: these, those, there, their, they're, why, who, which, where, etc.  Parents have to help. Learning them in stories is the fastest way to build a strong collection.

The brain likes to have its search and find actions accomplished in 1 / 1000th of one second.   

One full second is a lot of brain time. Your child's working memory will soar when you help your child love sight words -- not pressure to be fast -- instead the confidence of being sure. Put up a list of your child's sight words on the frig, then add to the list.

Credit for this research goes to educators Thorndike, Fry, and Dolch. Later on, Alan Baddeley did research into how long a thought stays in the mind before it starts to vanish. A thought starts to fade and is gone in one and one-half seconds.  This is why you have to keep repeating a phone number until you use it or write down the number.

I use eBay as my website, people trust it. Search: Instant Reading Help. All my books will pop up. Included are a clear list of the tricky phonics rules, plus a one page collection of the most troublesome look alike sight words. The 300 sight words are practiced in animal stories, and taught in the same order used by schools. 

Help your child have fun reading! Best wishes, Mary Maisner

 

help child read

Boost your child's reading using these two bits of information:

1) how the eye works while reading a line of print

2) connection between short term working memory and long term storage memory

Eye behavior:  Just as our heart and lungs are doing their jobs in their own way without any direction from us, the eye is performing magic, unbeknown to us.

As we look along a line of print, the eye is hopping forward a few letters. The eye's magical work is telling the brain what letters and words are coming up next. 

The brain instantly searches long term storage memory to supply the required information before your child arrives at the upcoming letters and words. 

The child whose letters and sight words are strongly stored in long term storage memory is going to soar along the line of print.   But,  if the brain searches for letters and words that are weak or not there, the child gets confused, flustered. Troubles quickly pile up. Luckily, it is easy for parents to step in with the right help. 

There is not enough time at school for the practice required to truly learn the basic lessons that need to be solidly stored in your child's storage memory. This is why so many of our children cannot read at grade level by 3rd Grade. The troubles started in 1st Grade but parents do not see it because reading is an invisible activity. 

Tip: do not stop to sound out - tell your child any unknown words, have your child to keep reading onward. Kindergarten: 1) ignore the printing of backward letters, rarely dyslexia and will self-correct by mid-2nd Grade. Instead, be sure your child can instantly see / say all ABCs and can print and identify b / d and g / p / q. Confusing those five letters when starting to reading in 1st Grade will cause a cascade of bad. Also, teach the 1st 10 to 15 sight words. 1st Grade: instant identification of b / d and g / p /q within words is crucial. Review and extend sight word mastery every night. Read to your child and have your child read to you every day.

Use my search box - top left corner- put in fix reading problem or backward b or how the brain learns to read or high school reading to get help. 

I now use eBay as my website, people trust it. Seach Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you.

My books give you secrets and tips and all the tricky phonics rules and lessons, plus lots of fun, and include my contact info. Research shows only 6 / 50 kids ever catch up from a slow start in 1st Grade. Waiting is never your friend.      Thank you, Mary Maisner

4th Grade reading skills

Be sure your child is instant with the 1st 300 sight words. (My books or download. All lists are the same.)

Help your child remember how to add word endings, called suffixes (ed, ing, er, est, etc) and bits on the front of a word, called prefixes (in, re, un, mis, dis, etc.)   

4th Grade is the year for learning the complex vowels: ous, ious, eous, uous, tion, cion, cian, sion, tian, tient, cient, tiate, ciate. 

Let's review how to add a prefix. A prefix is always hooked onto the front of any word without change: re > reenter,  mis > misspell,   un > unneeded,   dis > disservice, reuse, unused, misused, unreliable, etc.

Let's review how to add a suffix: You must know the vowels a, e, i, o, u, y.  All other ABC letters are called consonants. These suffixes start with a vowel: ed, er, est, en, ing, y, able. These suffixes start with a consonant: s, ly, ful, less, ness, ment.

1st basic skill: add an ending (suffix) to words that end with e:  use, escape, scare   

When a suffix starts with a vowel - just trade one vowel for another vowel: use > used, using, 

unusable, reusable, user      and    escape > escaped, escaping, inescapable, 

inescapably  (trade e for y: able > ably)   and scare > scared, scaring, scary (Look: scar does 

not end with e, scar is a short vowel word, double the r: scar >scarred, scarring, scars.)

When a suffix starts with a consonant, just hook it on: uses, useful, usefully, usefulness, useless, uselessly, careful, carefully, careless, carelessly

Heads up: words ending with ce and ge can trade i and y (spacing, spacy, edging, edgy) but keep ce and ge for other vowels (traceable, noticeable, knowledgeable).

2nd basic skill: Add a suffix to words that end with y: boy, buy, play   or    candy, hurry, sky.  1st look to see whether a vowel comes before y (boy)    or    a consonant (hurry).

Rule: When a vowel comes before y, just hook on any ending: boy > boys, buy > buys, buyer, buying.     When a consonant comes before y:

add ing without change: hurrying, worrying, trying, denying, relying, testifying

change y to i for all other suffixes: hurried, tried, rely > reliable, deny > undeniable

s always becomes es: hurries, buries, worries, tries,      sky > skies, spy > spies, 

berry > berries, candy > candies, deny > denies, testify > testifies 

3rd basic skill: Add a suffix to a short vowel word: stop, hop, scar, plan   and pack, stick

Rule: When adding a suffix that starts with a vowel, double the last consonant of a short vowel word: stop > stopped, stopping, unstoppable  Look: stops ( s is not a vowel)

**pack and stick are short vowel words but they already end with two consonants so there is no danger of changing the short vowel sound, thus no need to double the last consonant: pack > packed, packing, package, packs    and stick > sticking, sticker, sticky, sticks

Or, add a suffix to a long vowel word: share, dream

share: remember the rule for words that end with e, trade one vowel for another vowel:  share > sharing, shared, sharable   Look: shares (s is not a vowel, just hook it on.)

dream - two vowels side-by-side means vowel e is already long so add any ending: dreaming, dreamer, dreamed, dreams, dreamy  (dreamy > dreamiest change y to i for consonant + y)

I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. Look for your child's grade level or change y to i   or add ed, ing     or tion, tious, tient, ciate.  This book covers all complex vowel combinations ous, uous, ious, eous, cial, tial, cious, tious, tient, cient, etc. It is actually fun. All books are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help. Help your child have fun reading. Thank you, Mary  Maisner

3rd Grade reading skills

My rabbit hopped up here from the lake.

By 3rd Grade, be sure your child is instant with the 1st 300 sight words. (In my books or download.)

Also, help your child get control of adding endings called suffixes: ed, ing, able, en, er  // s, ly, ful, less, ness.

(This page explains how to add suffixes but for a quick book search eBay: Instant Reading Help.)

Step One: A child must see the difference between short vowel words and long vowel words.  

The vowels each have a short sound and a long sound. The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, y.   All other letters in the ABCs are called consonants.          

Short vowel rules: when a word has only one vowel, that vowel will say its short sound: bat, bet, bit, bot, but, myth.  And, when there is more than one consonant between vowels: father, catcher, better, little, whisper, bother, monster, cluster. 

Long vowel rules: when there are two vowels side-by-side (dream)   or   with only one consonant between the vowels (ripe) the 1st vowel says its letter name. Hear the e in dream? Hear the i in ripe?  Long y sounds like long i: type.

When you hear the vowel say its letter name, we say the vowel is making its long sound.  

The 1st vowel says its long sound, the 2nd vowel of the pattern is usually silent or short: dial, chaos.

Look: ed, ing, er, y, en, able start with a vowel. When you add vowel suffix to a short vowel word, protect the short vowel from changing into a long vowel by doubling the final consonant.

hop: vowel o is short, to protect short o, double the consonant p > hopped, hopper, hopping.

See the difference:  1) The rabbit hopped over the fence.   2) The rabbit hoped over the fence.

But, when the suffix does not start with a vowel, there is no need to protect the short vowel, just add the ending > hops  My rabbit often hops over to see me.

Short vowel words like stick,  ask, luck already end with two consonants, so just hook on any ending:  sticky, sticking, sticks     asked, asking, asks   lucky, unlucky  (un is called a prefix. 

Always just hook on the prefix at the front of the word, so easy, never a problem: unneeded, reenter, disservice, misspell and misuse, unused, recharged, etc.

When adding an ending to a long vowel word, trade one vowel for another vowel:

escape > escaped > escaping > inescapable > inescapably (trade vowel e for vowel y)

escapes (s is not a vowel, just hook it on)  Look: care, caring, cares, careful, carefully

Or, two vowels side-by-side, just hook it on: rain > rained > raining > rainy > rains

Or, the word ends with two vowels: stay > staying > stayed > stays    

If you would like a book, I now use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help. All of my books will pop up for you. All are brand new and full of help. Books include my contact info. so you can email or call me.

Help your child have fun reading. Best wishes, Mary Maisner

 

2nd Grade reading skills

My goose is on the loose.

Vowel lessons are the job of 2nd Grade. The ABCs have two kinds of letters: consonants which keep a constant sound and vowels whose sounds are variable.

The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, and y. 
Each vowel has both a short sound and a long sound. 

Short Rule: when a word has only one vowel, that vowel will say its short sound: bat, bet, bit, bot, but, myth (short y sounds the same as short i. ) 

Long Rule: when two vowels are side-by-side or have only one consonant in between, the 1st vowel says its long sound: bait, beat, bite, boat, brute, byte (long y sounds the same as long i). The 2nd vowel in the pattern will usually be short or silent.

In addition to short and long vowels, 2nd Grade also targets the several vowel team patterns: 

au, aw (saw, caught)     and oi, oy (noise, toy)       and ou (ouch, pouch)      and oo (zoo, goose, choose  or book, cook, look). 

Important warning: Vowel work requires your child to really focus and connect with tiny details. The chance to get this kind of deep focus is made much easier for the "sight word smart child."    Parents have no idea until it is too late. 

My blog offers 150 free lessons but for quick help with sight words and vowel lessons, I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help Vowels or Instant Reading Help plus your child's grade level. I include my contact information, you can call or write with questions.

I am retired and now teach struggling readers. Please be aware, teachers believe children can catch up from a slow start but NIH research shows only 6 out of 50 kids ever catch up. 

Write me with questions. Mary Maisner

1st Grade reading skills

Is this little turtle lost?

Success in 1st grade requires being instant with sight words (1st 100 by Christmas) and, crucially: instant with b, d, g, p, q within words. 

There are brain reasons why this is true and your child will soar. All the stars will be shining just for your child! 

Teachers will not tell you this but I now tutor struggling middle school students, so blunt will serve you better. 1st Grade is critical. Spend big time now - then the later years will be less stress.

 

For a book, consider my Instant Reading Help kindergarten, early 1st Grade at eBay, which is my website. 

Time and energy are limited; ignore backward letters, they will not slow your child, are rarely dyslexia, self-correct by mid 2nd Grade. 

Only b, d, g, p, q require rigorous attention. These five must be correctly printed and instant within words when your child starts reading words in 1st Grade.  A child will fall behind if he or she wonders, is it: olb or old?

Slowly move through consonant blends: bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, and  br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, sr, tr, and sn, sm, sp, spl, scr, st, str (late1st Grade and 2nd Grade).  

And the digraph teams ch, sh, wh, th, as well as rhyming word families, and the tricky phonics in 2nd Grade gh, ph, ce, ci, cy, ge, gi, gy.  Note: digraph letters drop their basic sound and melt together to make a special sound: ch chair, sh shoe, wh whale, th thorn. In blends, letters keep their basic sound and blend with the other consonants: bl blue, cl clip, fl flip, etc.

Until I researched how our brains store and retrieve information, then started tutoring struggling middle school readers, I did not understand that sight words and kindergarten lessons were so critical. 1st Grade is a parent's best chance to be sure your child is in control of name, sound, shape of b, d, g, p, q -- confusing the shapes of b / d and p / q / g when your child starts reading words in 1st Grade is the road to misery. Why? New lessons never stop coming, plus the brain has embedded something even if it is wrong. That incorrectly embedded something will be very hard to fix.   

This is a fatal flaw in our teaching system. NIH shows only 6 out of 50 ever catch up. It is not because the child is not smart enough. Research says it is because lessons are not clearly presented.   I would add - that these vital lessons need to be tracked.  All of my books help the parent keep track of what has been mastered, and what has not yet been mastered. 

 

Feel welcome to write with questions. Have fun reading with your child! Mary Maisner

Ready for Kindergarten

Ignore backward letters. They will self-correct by mid-2nd Grade, is rarely dyslexia, and will not slow your child's reading advancement. But, b, d, g, p, q are critical. You will see rules for b, d, g, p, q below. Start with:

1) Get instant recognizing each of the ABCs and its sound: A apple, B bear, etc.

2) Ask your child to run his or her finger under each word while you are reading stories together. One at a time, start teaching the 1st ten sight words: the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, it, he. (All sight word lists are the same and in the same order. The more sight words, the better. Motto: the rich get richer.)

3) When a child starts reading words in 1st Grade the problem of confusing b / d and p / q / g within words is the major reason children fall behind. You are going to prevent that problem:

My Bb rule: letter b is the 2nd letter in my ABCs and its little round face always looks the way words go in a story >>>>.

Help your child draw a lot of giant letter b's. Help your child draw eyes looking the way words go in a story >>. Draw a smile. You say: "b likes to see if b knows any of the words."  

Take turns saying things that start with b: boy, box, bus, bird, baby, bear, etc. Ask your child  to point to letter b in the words of stories you read together: start boy; middle cabin; end crab. 

Dd Rule: d's straight line blocks d's round face from seeing the way words go. Dd is sad.

Draw lots of giant d's, draw sad eyes, draw a sad mouth, make a big point of blocking d's round face with d's straight line. 

While reading stories watch for d at the start, middle, and end of words. Say the words, be clear about the d sound. Get instant identifying d within words.

Gg rule: letter g has a fancy tail that tries to reach up to tickle g's round face. Draw giant g's, make eyes looking down at g's fancy tail. (Handwritten q has hooked tail - the opposite of g.)

Pp Rule: the round face of p looks the way words go in a story, just like b >. Make giant p's with a smile and eyes looking the way words go >. Look for p in words when reading together.

Qq Rule: the round face of q is blocked by q's straight line. Make giant q's, draw sad eyes and a sad mouth. Make a big point of blocking q's round face with q's straight line. Online and machine-printed q has a straight line - exact mirror of p. 

Handprinted q is made at school with a small hook looking away from the round face. Get instant seeing q within words. When reading stories together, watch for q at the start and middle of words. Qq says kw.

160 lessons can be seen on this blog. And, all of my books teach these rules and list all sight words and everything else your reader needs. I now use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help. Have fun reading with your child. Best wishes, Mary Maisner