![]() Knowing the most frequently encountered words by sight, rather than by "sounding them out", allows fluency in early reading, which makes the learning process more efficient. This will help you understand why traditional flashcards might not be the best for children.Sight Words have been used to decades to facilitate learning to read. Whether you are aiding your child in writing first or the other way around, it is important to know where both phonics and sight words fit into literacy development. While flashcards, when used as a sole method for introducing reading in a formal way, are not ideal, they may have a place for some family's in the sight word vs phonics debate. With a solid phonetic foundation, flash cards can suffice in the stead of nomenclature cards, if you do not have the interest (or ability) to make them, for practice. This is not to say that traditional flash cards, like the ones featured in the section above's photo, can't have their place in a budding reader's repertoire. ![]() A simple CVC word like this should be learned following the steps of: phonemic awareness, tactile work with the letters, then practice with 3-part cards or simple books, such as Bob Books. You would likewise not introduce a word like “red” as a sight word. This poses a problem when learning to read, as the child's brain has become accustom to recognizing words by their shapes, not the phonetic sounds of the letters that compose them. When words that follow a CVC pattern are introduced through flashcards, a child is simply memorizing the shapes involved in the letters/words. This is an important step to being able to read on their own, as each letter sound can be applied to thousands of other words. Introducing the written word “red” with phonics lessons allows a child to become familiar with the individual sound of each letter. It is a standard CVC (consonant/vowel/consonant) word. In addition to overloading your child's brain with stimuli, flashcards alone do not promote well rounded literacy skills. They can even get in the way when trying to help your child form a solid literacy foundation.įlashcard manufacturers make some enticing promises to sell their products. While sight words are important for learning to read, traditional flashcards are not the same thing and do not serve as great a purpose. Photo credit: Crystal Henderson Sight words vs phonics: the problem with flashcards ( Small objects are also used in Montessori to promote phenomic awareness.)įor instructions on how to present sight words with 3-part card sets, also called nomenclature cards, click here. In Montessori environments, small objects are sometimes used, as well. It is sometimes helpful to have a photo accompany a sight word, but it is not a necessity. Becoming familiar with the sight words recommended for the child's individual reading level is also critical for helping them derive the meaning of new word within a given text. Just like phonics, sight words promote reading confidence and comprehension. Whether a program or school uses Fry's sight words or it's a Montessori school using the Pink/Blue/Green words, sight words are important. Sight words are a part of every reading program that teaches the English language. Sight words actually make up around 75% of the words printed in children's literature! This is where sight words become important. Many words do not have a phonetic spelling. This is important because phonics will only take you so far. Strong readers utilize multiple strategies when reading, instead of relying on just one. Being familiar that words are made up of individual sounds (phenomic awareness) is a crucial element to literacy. This is something you can weave throughout the day even with a very young toddler. Phenomic awareness, as with sound games, is promoted orally, prior to the introduction of written letters. Sound games are a great introduction to phonics. The ability to decode words through phonics not only helps with reading fluency and comprehension, but it is important for spelling, as well. Phonics is an important first step to reading because it is needed to decode words. Each letter in the alphabet is assigned a phonetic value, or a certain sound to accompany the written symbol.įor example, the letter B's phonetic sound is “buh”. “The child who has not heard the word pronounced, and who recognizes it when he sees the word composed…and who can tell what it means this child reads.” -Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method Photo credit: Crystal Henderson What are phonics?
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