Are you familiar with Dolch sight words? It’s a list of words, broken up by age/reading level, that children should know at a glance. These words are difficult or impossible to sound out or replace with pictures and knowing them will dramatically increase the pace of a child’s reading. When kids gain confidence in reading they’re more likely to continue to put the effort into learning more. Tools like these DIY Sight Word Flashcards can help.
A quick note. Keep in mind that the groups are based on grade level, not age. In some places kindergarten doesn’t start until 5 or 6 and in others it’s 4. Don’t worry about these levels when you’re first starting, go from pre-premier and work your way up. It’s also very important for kids to learn at their own pace, do not push too hard.
Homemade Sight Word Flashcards
There is a wonderful printable over a Happy and Blessed Home with a huge selection of sight words that you can sort by level. You can also make your own to print in word or just write them onto cardstock.
I printed mine and then backed them on heavy scrapbook paper so they had some colour to them. It took me about an hour to cut out and back 500 or words. I have kids of different ages so I went ahead and made them all but you can just make the ones you want to practice too.
This is the basic flashcard study method we use:
- First of all, start with a small group (10-15) of the easiest words. If you child knows some words make sure to include them.
- As your child gets the words correct flip them over, adding new words to replace them.
- Revisit the learned words again spacing them out with each session so first you may review them the next time, then not for another 3 times, and so on, eventually taking them out of rotation when you’re confident they’ve mastered them.
- Try not to have more than 20-30 cards at a time, 10-15 fresh ones and 10-15 revisits.
Do you use DIY sight word flashcards or another method with your kids?
Personally, I love how easy DIY flashcards make it to target anything we’re working on. Besides sight words, you can also make custom cards for anything your kids need to practice and study. I’ve even taught my older kids the flash card method to help them study for tests; it really works!
I also think that customizing flashcards, like with these DIY sight word cards, can help make learning more fun. Have your kids pick out the paper or use white backs and get kids to create their own art.
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