Many educators believe that these 'high frequency' words must be memorized for anyone to be able to read fluently. It's a group of words that make up a big chunk of the printed text we see in English. The term 'sight word' is so commonly used and thrown around, that it is used interchangeably with 'high frequency words', or words that readers will encounter often in reading. Now, let me explain how and why the teaching of sight words can cause serious reading struggles in children. I can usually speed them through my entire program of 65 lessons in about 10 to 12 weeks, and we see amazing transformations in these children that are all of a sudden caught up to grade level, can read just as well as their friends and classmates, or even better, and many even begin reading chapter books! Typically within just 2 to 4 weeks of starting my lessons, we start seeing huge improvements in all these struggling readers. not to mention the incredible stress the parents are put under because of it! It pains me to see these bright and intelligent children struggle with reading, and that's just not how it should be. When I first get these struggling readers join my classes, I can see self-doubt, self-blame, and I can feel the complete lack of confidence in these kids. This, combined with ineffective school taught 'strategies' of guessing and skipping over unknown (unfamiliar) words is what causes so many of our children to struggle with reading. because without explicit phonics instructions and with out developing phonemic awareness, so many words all start to look the same to these children, and everything becomes a big, jumbled mess, causing confusion, frustration, and stress! because they are taught to 'read' with sight words, and. These are amazing kids that are perfectly bright and intelligent!

In over a decade of teaching children to read, I've taught children of all ages, and a special group of kids are particularly dear to me - the 6 to 9 year old struggling readers. Why The Teaching Of Sight Words Is One Of The Primary Causes Of Reading Struggles In Children

Define sight words