What It Means
Sight words are words a reader recognizes right away, without stopping to sound them out. Reading Rockets points out that any word can become a sight word once a reader knows it well, while high-frequency words are a different idea: the words that turn up most often in print. Schools also use the term for the lists of common words they send home, which the IES reading guide for kindergarten through 3rd grade calls high-frequency words and recommends teaching so children recognize them quickly.
Try It: Track the Words Your Child Reads at a Glance
Tick each word your child read instantly this week, without sounding it out. The words are our examples; use the list your child's school sends home if it has one.
All eight at a glance. Swap in new words from the school's list.
Practice the unticked words in short bursts, and point out their letters and sounds as you go.
How Parents Say It
- "We're doing sight words every night this week."
- "She knows 'the' but keeps sounding out 'said.'"
- "His teacher sent home a new sight word list."
The Breakdown
Where sight words fit as children grow
| Stage | What it looks like | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Before school | Hearing books read aloudReading aloudReading a book out loud with a child, from birth on. The AAP advises it because shared reading builds language, early literacy skills and the parent-child bond. See more, which builds toward reading | Buhata's page on early literacyEarly literacyThe language, sound and book skills a child builds from birth, well before reading, that later support learning to read and write. See more |
| Kindergarten to grade 3 | Being taught common words, both regular and irregular, so they're recognized quickly, alongside learning to decode | IES practice guide, 2016 |
| Early books | Meeting a word that can't be sounded out yet but matters to the storyUser storyA short description of something a product should do, written from the point of view of the person who needs it, often in the form "As a, I want, so that." See more, taught as a whole word | IES practice guide, 2016 |
| As reading grows | More and more words become instant, since any word read well enough becomes a sight word | Reading Rockets |
Sight words and high-frequency words. A high-frequency word is common in print. A sight word is any word one particular reader knows instantly. "The" is both for most second graders; "dinosaur" can be a sight word for a child who loves dinosaurs.
Practice at home (Buhata's suggestion)
- Pick three to five words from the school's list.
- Read each one together, pointing to the letters as you say its sounds.
- Spot the words in a book you're reading together.
- Move a word off the practice pile once your child reads it instantly on two different days.
When to talk to the teacher. If your child keeps forgetting words they've practiced for weeks, ask the teacher how decoding is going too.
Good to Know
The IES practice guide puts high-frequency words inside its recommendation on decoding and word recognition, so practice with common words belongs alongside phonicsPhonicsTeaching children how letters and letter groups stand for the sounds in spoken words, so they can sound out words to read them and spell them. See more. It recommends teaching non-decodable words that matter to a text's meaning as whole words. Ask the teacher which list your child's class uses rather than buying a different one, so home and school practice the same words.
FAQ
What's the difference between sight words and high-frequency words?
High-frequency words are the words that show up most often in print. Sight words are any words a reader recognizes instantly, so they can include high-frequency words and many others.
Should sight words just be memorized?
The IES practice guide places learning common words inside its recommendation on decoding, so it's usual to look at a word's letters and sounds while learning it. Ask the teacher how your child's class practices them.
When do kids learn sight words?
The IES practice guide covers kindergarten through 3rd grade and includes teaching common regular and irregular words in that span. Your child's school sets its own lists and pace.
Do It in Buhata
Reminders
Set a Reminder in Buhata for a few minutes of sight word practice before the evening book, with this week's words in the reminder text.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Phonics
Teaching children how letters and letter groups stand for the sounds in spoken words, so they can sound out words to read them and spell them.
- Decodable books
Simple books for beginning readers written mostly with the letter-sound patterns a child has already been taught, so most words can be sounded out.
- Phonemic awareness
The ability to hear, pick out and play with the single sounds (phonemes) in spoken words, like hearing that "cat" is made of three sounds.
- Early literacy
The language, sound and book skills a child builds from birth, well before reading, that later support learning to read and write.
- Reading log
A simple record, often sent home by a teacher, where a child notes what they read, for how long or how many pages, sometimes with a parent's signature.
- Reading aloud
Reading a book out loud with a child, from birth on. The AAP advises it because shared reading builds language, early literacy skills and the parent-child bond.
Sources
Reading Rockets (WETA), "Basics: Sight Words and Orthographic Mapping"; Reading Rockets, "A New Model for Teaching High-Frequency Words"; What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade" (practice guide, 2016)
- www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/sight-words-and-orthographic-mapping
- www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonics-and-decoding/articles/new-model-teaching-high-frequency-words
- ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/docs/practiceguide/wwc_foundationalreading_070516.pdf
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