Owen has been what most would call a "beginning reader" for a few months now. When I realized he was sounding out simple words, I got the first set of Bob books from the library, and he buzzed through them easily, and with great delight. (This was a surprise to me, as Levi hated them.) Isaac happened to mention this to a long-time homeschooling mom, who promptly lent us her entire nearly-complete collection of Bob books!
Owen read two or three of these a week for most of the fall, and it really wasn't until the twenty-fourth book that he came upon some sight words that he didn't recognize at all. (Twenty-four might sound like a lot, but remember these are almost 100% three-letter words.) So, as of last week, we've started working more diligently (but still pretty relaxed, if you can be both) on sight words. I'm using this list of the Dolch sight words, but there are several lists out there. (Read about Dolch sight words here.)
In my usual interest of keeping things simple, I made a quick chart on notebook paper and promised him a sticker whenever he read a word five times without help. Once or twice a day we pull out the paper and make tally marks. I love the joy on his face when he realizes he remembers the word without any prompting!
Owen read two or three of these a week for most of the fall, and it really wasn't until the twenty-fourth book that he came upon some sight words that he didn't recognize at all. (Twenty-four might sound like a lot, but remember these are almost 100% three-letter words.) So, as of last week, we've started working more diligently (but still pretty relaxed, if you can be both) on sight words. I'm using this list of the Dolch sight words, but there are several lists out there. (Read about Dolch sight words here.)
In my usual interest of keeping things simple, I made a quick chart on notebook paper and promised him a sticker whenever he read a word five times without help. Once or twice a day we pull out the paper and make tally marks. I love the joy on his face when he realizes he remembers the word without any prompting!
Choosing stickers for the first few words he mastered.
He's just a few tally marks away from having mastered the "preprimer" list of Dolch words.
A few days after I made the chart, I remembered having played sight-word Bingo with Levi, also a homemade version. While I was digging that out of the cupboard, I happened upon some sight word flash cards I must have picked up at a dollar store at some point. Then, we spotted the sight word collection of Bob books at Costco last weekend and decided to go ahead and round out the (borrowed) collection. At this point, we have a myriad of ways to practice!
The old sight word Bingo. I think we used pennies to mark the words.
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