How To Teach Sight Words The Easy Way

It cannot be overstated how important sight words are and the importance of your children understanding them. Without this, your child will have a hard time to properly learn how to read. There are numerous methods for teaching sight words, which include traditional methods like using flashcards or a whiteboard. However, why not change things up and have a little fun?

You might discover that your child is able to learn sight words better through other ways apart from saying them aloud and tracing letters. All children learn in a different way, and at times, you may need to do some thinking outside of the box. One great way of keeping a child interested and also excited to learn in numerous cases is to use innovative lessons. Here are five refreshing, fun ways of teaching sight words that your child will have so much fun doing.

1Hide And Seek With Words

If you want to practice the sight word "they," then write the word on several cards and then hide them all over the room. Then have your child look for the card and then show it to you, say the word out loud, spell it out, and use their fingers to write the word into the air. The tricky part of this word can be focused on as well - for example, the "ey" is the tricky part of "they" since it makes a long "a" sound. Hide the word's "ey" part in the room and then have your child look for it and then put it on the board in the right spelling order of this word.

2Fun Daily Testing

Avoid putting your children through a stressful test. Try different and fun ways for assessing their sight word spelling. That way, they won't even be aware that you are "testing" them.

A fun alternative way of assessing is to use rainbow-colored sight word cards that kids can use and look at during the week. Have your children read through the cards so that you can see what they are doing. Another good option is sticker books for sight words that reward your children with stickers after they have read all of their words out.

3Word Walls Or Portable Word Walls

A word wall is something that every primary classroom should have. A portable word wall is even better so that the child has a handheld, small version of the sight words that he can use on a daily basis or can practice every day. The portable word wall comes in handy all day long and gives the child quick and easy access to the proper spelling of words that are used the most frequently.

Think of things that words can be written on other than a big chart pad or a whiteboard. Children love to hold things. Textures that are crunchy, rough, slimy, or smooth are great for them. Find objects that your children will like to hold and then write sight words onto them. Have them hold it into their hands and repeat the words.

4Simple And Fun Ways To Write Sight Words

Sight words definitely should be written. When you write words, it helps with solidifying phonemes in the same way that writing words physically helps a child remember the words better. It might sound simple, but there are a lot of fun and exciting ways that are not that simple to write the words.

Allow your child to carve letters into their playdough or into shaving cream with their fingers. Chalkboards and erase boards can be used to practice writing words, while invisible ink can also be used. Anything other than a pencil and paper can help make the chore more exciting.

5Board Games Adapted For Sight Words

Board games like Sorry and Tic-tac-toe where you take turns can be adapted quite easily to use in your sight word lessons. Your child can write or read a sight word before taking his turn in the game. The game is the reward for getting a word right. At SightWords, you can also find online games to play.

From testing your kids without them knowing about it to playing hide and seek with the words, we have given you some fun options on how to teach sight words to your children. Your children will not only be more interested in their lessons, but the playful nature of the activities will also encourage them to want to seek out new knowledge on their own. Traditional teaching methods always are an option, but anytime a boring task can be turned into something exciting, you should do it.