Learning High Frequency Words

As a concerned parent you want to help your children learn to read. You want them to have a good vocabulary. One important foundation of elementary reading is the high frequency words or Dolch words. The sight words are in 50% to 70% of the books they read and they have to know them. Your children have to learn those words to help them learn to read.

One reason children have to learn the sight words is because they should recognize them by sight. Though the words are encountered frequently in early reading some of them do exhibit exceptions to spelling or phonetic rules. Another reason for learning to know the sight words by sight or memorize them is because some of them don't have a pictorial representation and they are not so easy to describe or define. An additional reason is many of the words are two or three letter words that are easy to learn.

Don't worry there are many learning aids to help children learn the sight words and they are also in the early reading programs and workbooks. Many of the words your children are learning are sight words. Remember your children have plenty of natural curiosity and they want to learn the words. Try to help them with learning materials and practicing the words.

You should afford them plenty of opportunities to see, hear and learn the words. Investing in sight words flash cards would help your children to learn to recognize the words and learn their meanings. The sight words would have to be seen and learned with repetition in many sessions so flash cards would be helpful.

Many of the sight words are only two and three letter words including many prepositions. However they are not so easy to define or show with a visual image. So you will have to help your children learn the words. In learning sight words it is helpful for children to learn to recognize the words and remember them.

Children should be encouraged to practice writing the sight words many ways. Writing the sight words in alphabetical order, with crayons, with markers, with glitter, in different colors and other ways they would like would help them to memorize the words. Using the sight words to make up stories, poems, letters and songs would help them learn the words.

One way to learn sight words is by drilling, a repeated practice method of learning the words. In drilling repetition is important. When drilling the student tries to associate a picture or meaning with a word and repeat the word and meaning several times to learn the word. Then the student tries to remember the meaning of words by looking at lists of words or several flash cards. The student also tries to remember the word by reading the meaning.

Household objects are also sight words that should be memorized for reading. So labeling household objects will help your children learn to read and learn the sight words. Games involving the names of household objects will also help them learn to read.