Sight Words in Kindergarten, help me...

[Jumping In Puddles]

talk to my dd's teacher.

 

I am afterschooling dd for kindergarten. She is doing very well with phonics but her kindergarten teacher sent me a note home saying:

 

This is the material we are working on please help her on word recognition. Thank You!

 

a, the, at can, I, am, like, is big, in, it but, look, see, my we, little, have, do, not, what, one, two, three, red, yellow, blue, here, to, up, get, where, and, you, that, go.

 

The blue highlights are the words dd already knows from phonics.

 

Should I send a note back saying that dd is progressing in phonics very well at home and has trouble with sight words, or should I actually try to teach her these words?

 

TIA!

 

BTW, she is in public K and she started in January because she was begging to go and try it, and I figured it was 2.5 hours a day so what harm could they do in just 5 mornings a week. :001_huh:

Edited January 29, 2010 by Jumping In Puddles

[hornblower]

I won't wade into the phonics & sight words debate again but I only wanted to say that I'd be sorely tempted to correct the run on sentence in the teacher's note :D

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

I would probably try to find a way to teach her the words. Make flash cards, practice writing them, talk about the reasons they are spelled the way they are, or even make up little ditties to sing. Y-O-U spells you! Keep it non-stressful

 

There isn't a deadline, or some kind of "problem" if she doesn't learn them, is there?

[smevavold]

I am in a similar situation. My son also goes to public school kindergarten for 2.5 hours a day. I am also afterschooling, and work at home with him on phonics. Although I am not fond of teaching sight words in isolation, I just made flash cards out of the sight words from school and has him work on memorizing them. I just told him that his teacher at school wants him to learn the sight words.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I highly recommend ElizabethB's site:) This page is very informative and helpful on how to teach sight words in a phonetic way:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

 

This page also from ElizabethB has most of the sight words arranged phonetically:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/Resources/sight%20words%20by%20sound.pdf

[FO4UR]

I would teach the sight words phonetically, as much as possible.

[Jumping In Puddles]

Ok, thank you all! I will delete the email that I was going to send to the teacher. :tongue_smilie:

 

I will teach her the sight words as phonetically as I can and continue on with phonics at home. :)

[Pamela H in Texas]

Though I agree with teaching words by phonics, in time, almost all words become sight words. In school, certain words need to become so even sooner. Such is life.

 

You might look at http://www.wholebrainteaching.com In the downloads, you can see a "game" called SuperSpeed. It is a program that helps kiddo get the words from figuring them out to down pat. It's fun and simply beating your own record.

 

We don't have to like how PS does stuff; but if your kiddo is there, it helps to jump through certain hoops. Schools aren't going to stop doing sight words for common words, especially those that are helpful to learn before they have enough phonics. Keep giving kiddo phonics, but help her learn the sight words needed for school also.

[ElizabethB]

Teach them phonetically quickly before she starts learning them by sight and developing guessing habits that will take you hours each day to remediate.

 

Easy ones to teach first:

 

me do we go my, long vowels say name (y acting as i) when at end of word or syllable. You can add in more...be, she, he, so, no, by, sky, hi, etc.

 

Then, three and see (and any other ee words you choose to add into the mix.)

 

For the rest, my sight word page has examples, Priscilla linked to it. (Thanks, Priscilla!)

 

I would also watch my linked sight word movie for some ideas...you may eventually want to talk to the teacher, she may not realize how many of the sight words are totally phonetically regular (70%) and that all but 5 of the remaining 30% of the words can be taught phonetically after learning a few rules and patterns.

[Ellie]

I'd ignore the note and keep doing phonics at home. All the words on that list can be sounded out phonetically, and your dc will learn them soon enough.

[Sputterduck]

Teach them phonetically quickly before she starts learning them by sight and developing guessing habits that will take you hours each day to remediate.

 

Easy ones to teach first:

 

me do we go my, long vowels say name (y acting as i) when at end of word or syllable. You can add in more...be, she, he, so, no, by, sky, hi, etc.

 

Then, three and see (and any other ee words you choose to add into the mix.)

 

For the rest, my sight word page has examples, Priscilla linked to it. (Thanks, Priscilla!)

 

I would also watch my linked sight word movie for some ideas...you may eventually want to talk to the teacher, she may not realize how many of the sight words are totally phonetically regular (70%) and that all but 5 of the remaining 30% of the words can be taught phonetically after learning a few rules and patterns.

 

 

Can you explain do and go? They are not pronounced at all alike, so what is the phonics rule here?

[kmacnchs]

I know this is horrible but can you just keep doing what you are doing and not worry about it? You will come to it eventually in phonics and if she already knows them from school, okay, if she doesn't, you will teach her phonetically. You know there are tons of letters the teacher sent out that are not heeded - unless she speaks to you privately - I would just ignore it. If she speaks to you privately, I would just explain the program you are using with your child but chances are, because you are teaching your child to read, she will be reading sooner than the other children and notes home may start to turn into how your child is bored b/c she knows everything already!

[duckens]

Here is what I am using to teach dd and C3 their sight words:

 

http://www.buyteachercreated.com/estore/product/3174

 

and

 

http://www.buyteachercreated.com/estore/product/3225

 

So far, the kids are doing great!

 

Although I think that your child will be fine and eventually learn the sight words on her own whether you teach her them at this moment or not, I think of two things:

 

1)Are all of child's classmates learning these words at home, too? Is your child lagging them, which may cause her stress or frustration in the classroom during lessons? We want her to have a good learning experience.

 

2)Is the teacher expecting parents to participate and help their children to learn these lessons? I've met far too many parents over the years who refuse to help their children at home with lessons because "it is the teacher's job to do everything". This extends to educated parents who won't even read to their children at night. (I've seen a lot of crazy things as a babysitter/nanny).

 

I'm not implying that you are like this in any way, shape, or form. After all: you're afterschooling because you love your child so much.

 

I'm just saying that children do best in an educational system when the teacher does his/her job, the child does his/her job, and the parents do their job. The paradigm has shifted to add this as an expectation for parents because kids do best if lessons are reinforced at home.

 

--Laura in Iowa

who is hoping to not offend anyone or create controversy with these comments

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Here is what I am using to teach dd and C3 their sight words:

 

http://www.buyteachercreated.com/estore/product/3174

 

and

 

http://www.buyteachercreated.com/estore/product/3225

 

So far, the kids are doing great!

 

Although I think that your child will be fine and eventually learn the sight words on her own whether you teach her them at this moment or not, I think of two things:

 

1)Are all of child's classmates learning these words at home, too? Is your child lagging them, which may cause her stress or frustration in the classroom during lessons? We want her to have a good learning experience.

 

2)Is the teacher expecting parents to participate and help their children to learn these lessons? I've met far too many parents over the years who refuse to help their children at home with lessons because "it is the teacher's job to do everything". This extends to educated parents who won't even read to their children at night. (I've seen a lot of crazy things as a babysitter/nanny).

 

I'm not implying that you are like this in any way, shape, or form. After all: you're afterschooling because you love your child so much.

 

I'm just saying that children do best in an educational system when the teacher does his/her job, the child does his/her job, and the parents do their job. The paradigm has shifted to add this as an expectation for parents because kids do best if lessons are reinforced at home.

 

--Laura in Iowa

who is hoping to not offend anyone or create controversy with these comments

 

IMHO the OP poster is doing her job in teaching her phonics. From what I understand, she is concerned about teaching the sight words since she is teaching phonics, but I could be wrong.:tongue_smilie: Not everyone agrees with methods that are sometimes used in some schools such as sight words, including me;)

 

To many, not all, sight words are controversial and should not be taught;) I highly recommend ElizabethB's page and Don Potter's web site. They were eye opening for me:) I found it amazing how Webster's Speller was used with great success for teaching reading for quite a long time from what I understand.

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/

 

My 2 cents:)

 

Also my plug for these fantastic, free resources that every homeschooler should consider IMHO.

[ElizabethB]

Can you explain do and go? They are not pronounced at all alike, so what is the phonics rule here?

 

Oh, sorry! I wasn't paying attention to what I was typing.

 

Do is grouped with to and who, it's an exception.

 

Go is the norm, to be taught with no and so and Mo, syllables and words ending in a vowel are long.

Edited January 29, 2010 by ElizabethB

[GnomeyNewt]

I highly recommend ElizabethB's site:) This page is very informative and helpful on how to teach sight words in a phonetic way:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

 

This page also from ElizabethB has most of the sight words arranged phonetically:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/Resources/sight%20words%20by%20sound.pdf

 

Thanks for this!

[Spy Car]

We are in a rather similar situation.

 

And as others have suggested, I've tried to make sure that any of the "sight words" we hadn't already covered phonetically were/are taught (my me) in this fashion* (if possible).

 

There are the odd exceptions like "one" where I've not had a better answer than: "you just gotta learn it kid." But those are the (rare) exceptions.

 

We are succeeding on working well ahead of the kindergarten schedule as far as reading and phonics, and the school uses a mix of phonics too, so having a page of "sight words" that I make "phonic words" hasn't been a hill to die on (for me).

 

We are just going to mush on with our home-phonics (the end of ETC 3 is in sight) and take comfort in watching how well reading and spelling skills are developing due to the good work.

 

The school teacher cares that your child learns the "words", how you teach him or her at home is up to you. You know what to do.

 

Best wishes.

 

Bill

 

*meaning phonetically

Edited January 29, 2010 by Spy Car

[jujsky]

I'd teach her the words. My kids had sight words for K and they have them this year for 1st grade. I draw a line down the back of each index card. They get a sticker for each time they read a word correctly, and a sticker on the other side for each time they spell the word correctly. Once they have 3 stickers in each column they have "mastered" the word. We still review them periodically. I have my kids write them out times every time they miss one, and that really helps the words sink in.

[Tap]

Both my kids learned basic sight words in school until we covered them in phonics at home. It wasn't confusing or problematic to learn them both ways. I just told them that they could memorize the words for now, and then I would explain them later....it wasn't an issue for us.

[Jumping In Puddles]

Thank you all for your input. I'm going to teach the words phonetically and keep plugging along with our regular phonics instruction at home.