Many striving readers struggle with sight words. Reading expert Linda Farrell suggests this teaching sequence: first, be sure your child knows all the letter names, then all the letter sounds—and then you can introduce a few short high-frequency words such as was. Choose words that don’t have regular phonetic spelling. Words that do have phonetic spelling, such as in, did, and on can be folded into phonics lessons.
This video is part of our special series, Reading SOS, where parents ask the experts their questions about reading and how to support their kids at home.