Seeking Suggestions for Encouraging My Kindergartener to Learn Sight Words

Updated on February 29, 2008
N.S. asks from Stanton, CA
4 answers

I am having the worst time getting my son to settle down and learn the sightwords his teacher sends home each month. They get 10 new word a month and his class 1/2 way through the 2 month of words. He only know 4 out of 20. I do have a Special Circumstance with him. I enrolled him in our local elementary and had to transfer him to a different school by the 6th week due to the fact that his class was 99% spanish speaking and he was lonly and made fun of. his new school is 99% english speaking and he fit in right away and has many friends but now he is about 6 weeks behind everyone else in class. He is still trying to learn what they learned at the start of school and the current lessons. Please help I dont want him to end up repeating Kindergarten. Especially since its my fault that he stayed in the other school so long i thought it was behavior related until open house. What do you do to encourage/reward learning? all suggestions are welcome.

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

A great trick with learning spelling (which would also enforce knowing the sight words) is purchasing a nice size white/chalk board. Give him a word and have him in BIG writing, write each letter as he says it. Ex: "what" W-H-A-T (in big letters). Our brains memorizes things like this easier when we do simultaneous large kinetic movement. I also like the others' ideas about making games. I recommend this with math flashcards but you could try it with his words: Take a stack of sight word flashcards. If your son recognizes and says the word immediately when you show it to him, he gets to "keep" the card. If it takes him a minute you say, "almost" or "a little faster" (something encouraging) and put it in your pile. Then you repeat with your pile until he has all of them. :o) These are some of the techniques I tell my students' parents for homework help. We are phonics based but I know the first game has helped my students with their spelling words (which have sight words). Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

Make it fun. Perhaps have the words on different kinds of material...flash cards with visual pictures to connect the words with the pictures. Also, have him copy the words into a plate of salt using a pencil to get him tactile sensitive "into the word." Print out the words in different fonts onto flash cards and review them at dinner as a game. Ask the teacher for other suggestions. Good luck!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

My sons loves the Sink My Sight Words game, it is similar to Battleships. We bought it at Lakeshore Learning Center in F.V. www.lakeshorelearning.com ($15 I think)

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

Sounds like you have an active little boy who would rather be playing outside than learning boring sight words. I suggest you make it fun. Write them on large pieces of paper and put them around the yard - make them visible. Then call out a sight word and he can run to it. Or, you can do something with chalk on the sidewalk. I highly recommend a trip to Lakeshore learning because they have a ton of interactive, learning games that they created. I recently bought my daughter the Math Mat at Lakeshore. She loves to jump to the numbers to answer the problems. It is also helping her with speed drills at school. You might want to set up some sort of reward system with plastic gold coins. You can give him a certain amount after 10 minutes of working on sight words. He can then use these coins to buy computer time, tv time or a special outing. Hope these suggestions help. Good luck.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions