https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 12 Apr 2026 07:50:48 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574931 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 17:46:26 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2574931@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: you want to keep it positive though...so if he is resistant, I'd hesitate to "teach" then even more. Just read lots of fun books and they will come... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574914 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 17:10:47 +0000 honeybear 2574914@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle: From the books on Montessori that I've read and our stint in Montessori school, their reading instruction method is pretty much the way we're doing it, although we don't have all the neat little wooden letters and boxes and stuff because I'm cheap. ;) Anyhow, I think that picking up words as you read is exactly right for your LO's age. My son is nearly 6, so we're in the more formal stages of reading instruction. He learned to recognize some words from us reading to him and from signs and so on, but it helps now to have some additional framework to build on and the phonetic approach does just that. </p> <p>My point was more that we really only have a handful of sight words so far that LO has to memorize because they don't conform to the (early) phonetic rules. And those come up so frequently in the stuff he reads that extra practice with them seems kind of unnecessary, you know? </p> <p>@cascademom: I think your LO is pretty young too, right? I would not worry about things like this yet. Like I said, my son is nearly 6. I didn't do much beyond teaching him the basic alphabet sounds until this past year. I think if you're going to spend time on something related to reading before age 5 or so, absolutely the most profitable use of your and your child's time is for you to read to them. The phonics/sight words stuff is actually really easy and I suspect it's even easier if your kid has a huge vocabulary to draw on because they've been read to a lot. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574885 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:08:33 +0000 daniellemybelle 2574885@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs Green Grass: That's pretty much exactly what my LO does. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574884 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:07:32 +0000 daniellemybelle 2574884@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: I guess I wasn't using the term sight word in the traditional sense of words that you should learn by sight versus words you should learn phonetically. LO is actually going to be going to Montessori preschool, so their approach is much more phonetic and from my understanding they don't really do sight words. </p> <p>I just meant: she just recognizes the word (and some others) sort of naturally. We don't memorize words because she's 2.5 but she has just picked it up the same way she's picked up letters, shapes, numbers, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574502 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 10:19:51 +0000 cascademom 2574502@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We haven't emphasized it yet. He's still working on recognizing letters and numbers. Man, now I feel that we're behind a bit. I like the idea of a sight word wall. We read every night to him for 20 minutes or more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574459 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 09:44:49 +0000 looch 2574459@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs Green Grass: I wish that would work with my son. He's extrememly stubborn and my goal is really just to get him used to the idea of learning sight words. Right now, he basically shows 0 interest in learning to read and won't repeat in those instances. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574455 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 09:36:58 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2574455@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: you really don't need to be active about it. Just read a lot and it will happen! Gwen in reading with LO, I'll pause for him to fill in a word he know. And he'll read any of the repeated words like "chug chug chug." At the beginning he just remembers them from hearing them but eventually he starts to look at the letters an recognize them as I point to them while he says them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574313 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 06:39:49 +0000 looch 2574313@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>He hasn't, so I am going to take a more active role in it now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574310 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 06:36:38 +0000 honeybear 2574310@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Once we started reading lessons, I started pointing them out whenever we came across them in the text we were using. I feel like it's better to learn words in the context of sentences so it starts to become clear how they're used. </p> <p>But maybe I have a really narrow definition of sight words? Our list isn't nearly 100 words long (actually, I don't have a list up anywhere, but I've told him on occasion that he needs to memorize a particular word in its entirety, like "of" or "the"). For example, @daniellemybelle: I wouldn't have called "happy" a sight word, because it's phonetic. I do expect it to become a sort of sight word eventually through repetition, but I don't say "memorize this word" when we see it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574267 Fri, 24 Jun 2016 02:40:02 +0000 808love 2574267@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think just by spontaneously reading in context. Maybe tv or apps. I didn't do anything there. She went to preschool but they weren't working on reading yet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574051 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 19:51:49 +0000 LilSprinkles 2574051@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Pinterest has lots of different sight word games/activities too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2574046 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 19:47:28 +0000 LilSprinkles 2574046@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a sight word wall in our playroom (I'm a teacher, so I usually make duplicates for DS).</p> <p>Books that are repetitive and poems help. They can memorize it and practice pointing to each word as they read it. Then hunt for sight words in a poem/book. We put highlighter tape on a word when we find it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2573972 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 18:41:25 +0000 daniellemybelle 2573972@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsjazz: @Mrs Green Grass: @erinpye: I was starting to wonder if this was super unusual based on the original post, but it seems like it's not! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2573961 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 18:24:29 +0000 erinpye 2573961@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Spontaneously. When I noticed, I'd write short words and ask her if she knew them, as a sort of reinforcement game. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2573940 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 17:59:05 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2573940@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Reading/natural environment </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2573929 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 17:35:54 +0000 mrsjazz 2573929@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>just through us reading to her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2573873 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 16:47:01 +0000 daniellemybelle 2573873@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO (2.5) has picked up a few sight words just from reading books. I try to point to the words as we read. The one she really knows is "HAPPY" from a book we read and will point it out other places. She also does the Endless Reader app so she got a few from there I'm sure. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2573861 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 16:36:25 +0000 Bao 2573861@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-your-lo-learn-sight-words#post-2573851 Thu, 23 Jun 2016 16:32:54 +0000 mrbee 2573851@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My daughter is learning sight words right now. We have around 100 sight words posted on the wall on a few sheets of paper, and she reviews them regularly - and then she reads simple books with lots of sight words. It's not the fanciest system, but it seems to be doing the trick!</p> <p>The Endless Reader app is also good for sight words, although she hasn't been using that one lately.</p> <p>How did your LO learn sight words? </p>