One positive of the lock down period, has been the opportunity it has given me to spend more quality time with my 2-and-a-half-year-old son, Lachlan. Like a lot of dads, I’m normally at work in the daytime so I miss out on a lot of quality time with my children Monday- Friday.
The lockdown period has given me an amazing opportunity to put this right. Lachlan and I have been reading together every day using the Kumon English Programme.
For around 10-15 minutes a day Lachlan and I work through the individually designed programme. You can see a video of me working with Lachlan when he was just two years and 2 months old here.
Even though he is just 2 and a half, he is starting to recognise sight words.
What are sight words?
Sight words are words that occur frequently in written language that your child should know automatically. They sometimes don’t follow the rules of phonics, which means they aren’t spelled the way they sound. Children are encouraged to automatically recognise these words since decoding them can be challenging. That’s why helping your child build a solid foundation of sight words can help them become better readers over time.
To give you a better idea of what exactly a sight word is, some examples include: was, what, the, could, of, much, those, been, to. Oftentimes, these words cannot be illustrated through pictures which makes it even more difficult for children to understand what they mean.
Why are sight words important?
Learning sight words is important because not only do they improve your child’s reading skills, knowing these words can improve their confidence. These words are so common that they are guaranteed to be found in other resources your child sees each day. As your child recognises more sight words, they will be eager to read and understand in other academic subjects and materials found in their day-to-day life.
If your child struggles with sight words, they may become frustrated or unmotivated to continue. This can impact their learning in all subjects as they have a hard time understanding the context of different materials.
Start a notebook to write out sight words and create a story together:
For example, if you use the word “the,” you can help finish the sentence with them. You can get creative with this by establishing a theme, having them draw pictures and build a story with the sentences you write!
Create and sing songs:
Sometimes a catchy song can drastically improve the ability to remember something. To teach five letter sight words, a common song used is B-I-N-G-O. You can find some songs online, sing words to the tunes you already know (like BINGO), or even create your own songs with your child to help them remember new words.
Read books together:
Reading books together is a great way to practice recognising, reading and understanding how sight words are written. If your child is having trouble reading the words, it helps to read aloud to your child, read together, and then have them read it aloud on their own. For a list of books that your child might enjoy, contact me at Kumon for our recommend reading list.
Kumon Reading Program:
The Kumon Reading Program is designed to help your child at their own pace. They will begin at the level they are comfortable with and new material will be introduced each day to build their reading skills. The program builds off the foundation of these words into other topics necessary to truly become a great reader!
Sight words may be a challenge, but do not feel discouraged if your child is struggling. When it comes to learning, each child progresses at their own pace. With extra support and motivation to learn sight words, you can help them build a strong foundation of reading skills. Establishing a solid understanding of sight words will not only improve their reading capabilities but will also increase their confidence to continue learning in school and throughout their day-to-day activities. If you’d like to find out more about how the Kumon English programme can help your child, please click here
Little Lachlan working on his Kumon English programme
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