sight words – Mummy To Twins Plus One

Do your children grumble and complain when you want them to practice their sight words?

Mine do!

With school reading starting this week I’m sure you will be practicing with your little ones so that they can progress with their home readers.

It got me thinking…. Why not make it fun?

If it was a game the kids would be more inclined to want to practice. Maybe they would not even realise they are practicing their sight words, and just think it’s a game.

What is Sight Word Bingo?

Sight word bingo is like regular bingo but without numbers, it uses words. The words you select are aligned to your child’s level at school and reading.

How to play Sight Word Bingo

Each child gets a different bingo card. (When you print out your cards on Sight Word Bingo Creator you can tell it how many cards you need. It automatically creates each card differently for you.)
If the child/children are not familiar with the words take a moment and read them with the children. Let them get familiar and know the words before playing. If any child needs any help with the words make sure to give them an extra hand. This game is all about getting to know the words.
It is recommended that the adult/parent use the word in a sentence so that the child understands the word and how it is used. For example: “Mummy had to think about where she put her keys.” (This happens a lot, yes I know I should find a place and keep them there.)
You can play this game as many times as you like until your child/children know the words. Once they are confident with these words you can then move onto other words.
The parent or adult calls out the words one at a time. Once the child hears each word, they cover the word that appears on their bingo card with a marker. (If you don’t have markers how about buttons or bottle tops – cheap and easy to get a hold of)
Remember: Not every word is on every card. If every word was on all cards everyone would get bingo.

The words to read out for Sight Word Bingo! Let the games begin.

When the child has a whole row of words completed whether horizontal, vertical or diagonal they have won. To win you need to yell, “BINGO!”

The other bingo card for my other lovely girl

How do you create your own Sight Word Bingo?

To create your own Sight Word Bingo game, you need to go to the Sight Word Bingo Creator (see below image)

I selected two cards to be created as I have two children. You can select more if you need more.

I selected the Dolch Sight words and ticked the box for 1st Grade. As you can see there are more grades to choose from and different selections of sight words.

Once all selected and confirmed a PDF is generated that allowed me to save and to print.

I would recommend printing on thicker paper so that the Bingo Card lasts a bit longer and maybe laminating it so that it can be used again and again.

Have fun with your Sight Words Bingo and I hope this will help your little one learn more words.

Disclaimer: I was looking online and found the SightWords website. I was so taken with their free resources to help children read, and making these tools accessible is fabulous. I have not been paid to promote SightWords and had to share this great website as helping your little one read is very important.

Do you practice sight words with your child/children at home? Help at school for reading?

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Do you read to your kids? Do your children love books and want to know how to read? The twins have been desperate to learn ever since they understood what a book was. Hubby and I of course have read to them since birth and we make sure we impart the love of books and what reading well can do for you in life.

In a recent study it has shown that if you grow up with a lot of books, get read to and of course love books it will have a big impact on a child starting school and their performance at school. I know this might not be a surprise to some but of course if you are surrounded by books and your parents love reading it might flow onto your children. Mostly it does. Of course you might say that people who have more time or more money can do more for their kids and that might be so.

Sam and Bingo. Level 3 reader. Story by Jenny Giles and Illustrations by Pat Reynolds.

However this is not so…. according to Professor Walker it does not matter if you are well off or not. As long as you read to your child and show an appreciation for books it is all good. (Well that is good to know. I am still working on getting the mansion, the yacht and the city abode. I still have time…. but not liking my chances)

“Professor Walker said that if a parent placed a high value on literacy, as shown by the number of books they had, they would read to their child regardless of their socio-economic status.” (Essential Baby, 1st June, 2014)

The girls have come on with their reading very well. It might have something to do with of course being surrounded by books. We have a bookshelf just for them and they take books out and pretend to read them but mostly look at the pictures and play. I end up coming in and finding piles of books that need to be put back into the bookcase.

Since the twins started kindy they have now progressed to level 3 readers. Some kids are on that level, some not, and some on higher levels. All fine and doing well for them. It is great that the school sees how well the individual child is doing and progresses them so that they keep learning and don’t get bored.

We have had issues of one child doing well and upsetting the other. This has caused an issue on her confidence with reading. I have made sure that I have told the child in question that she is reading very well and there is nothing wrong. All she needs to do is to just practice and it will all work itself out.

If you have twins have you found that one twin was excelling at something and the other twin was upset with the success? How did you cope? All I have done is make sure to say that both are doing an excellent job, and find ways to give big praise to good work for the kid that is doing well and the other that is doing well also. It is hard. Especially when you are faced with very competitive children. They always have to be doing well and get upset when they don’t. Are your twins like this?

According to the Essential Baby article:

“Being read to often increases a child’s vocabulary and enjoyment, and requires them to pay attention and remain engaged.” (Essential Baby, 1st June, 2014)

So make sure that you are reading to your child every day. It does not need to be at night time. Just make some time for you and your little one to have some time together and read a book. The kids are at the stage now for me to show them more words in books that I am reading. I put my finger on the words like they do with their school readers. This way they know what word is what. Hopefully next time they will reconigse it and it will be easier to read it on their own.

The kids learn to read differently than I did. It is all about sight words. Knowing these sight words by heart so that they are able to read simple books. The sight words are common words like, and, this, I, me and so on. Once the child understands these words reading a simple book and starting at stage 1 these books are very basic but that is fine. You gotta start somewhere. I am also teaching the kids to sound things out, phonetically like the way I learnt to read. Yes I know it is not like the sight words way.

Sounding out words is helpful as it allows the child to figure out a word themselves. I have done it a bit now and have noticed that the twins are doing it more and more.

I also volunteer to do school reading at the school. When the kids read their readers they put their fingers on each word and the text is aligned to their sight words. They have been told to look at the picture to help them understand the story and it is a good idea to look at the book before you read it so they have an idea of what it is about. I hear a group of kids read and make sure that all is correct and they are doing well. In my group I of course have the twins but other kids as well. All of the kids are doing very well and are all at different levels.

Having a chat to the teacher is also a good move if you are worried or think that all is good and the child in question just needs some motivation. I was saying all great things but as soon as it came from the teacher it meant more. Give it a go and see!

Do your kids pile up books in their beds like mine? Do they leave their night lights on wanting to read all night? Mine do. I suppose that is a good sign. Although it is hard to turn off a light when it is on the top bunk. To do this I need to climb up and over a kid to turn off the light.

I suppose it is just good they love books and are doing well. Let us know how it is in your household.