Phonics versus sight words?

Asked by kristir33 {153}
4/21/2010 1:02:00 PM

I have a teacher friend who insists that my child needs to learn sight words in order to facilitate reading. My older step-children were taught in this manner and they have trouble sounding out words and figuring out the context of what they are reading. I am teaching my youngest to read by blending letters together and sounding out the words. While he doesn't recognize as many words as are on the sight word list, he is confidently sounding out words and is able to grasp the meaning. Do you think it is better to teach reading by sight words or by phonics?

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Answered by givans1980 {198}
http://whats-your-legacy.blogspot.com
4/21/2010 5:45:39 PM

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Sight words are dangerous. This is why many children in America struggle with upper level reading. If you want a good reading program, check out Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons. This is the program we are using. AWESOME program.

I'm not sure sight words are dangerous. However, I do agree that teaching children to read using phonics is a better idea. My children both learned to read using phonics and they are both now reading far beyond their grade level. - Alexis 4/21/2010 7:59:10 PM | Flag

The reason I made the statement that sight words are dangerous is because they train the child to look at the first letter or two of the word and go by memory. The reason this is bad is that many words start the same such as that, there, than, thus....the child doesn't take the time to READ the word. My second oldest does this and was taught with a mixture of sight and phonics. My youngest school age is learning by phonics (I am teaching him myself) and is ALREADY doing better than my older two did. - givans1980 4/22/2010 10:40:30 PM | Flag

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Answered by cameciob {299}
http://hubpages.com/profile/cameciob
4/22/2010 11:37:16 PM

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English is a hard language for phonics. I learned to speak, read and write on my mother tongue, which is not English. Later on I learned English too the phonic way and after figuring out the sounds, reading was a breeze. I understood that the same letter or groups of letters can make different sounds. I think that phonics can help with learning a foreign language and if I were to choose this would be my first option.

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Answered by smileandlearn {158}
http://www.ICanTeachYou.blogspot.com
4/25/2010 7:01:49 PM

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I was not taught phonics and I read well but my spelling is terrible. I wish I was taught phonics. I have used phonics to teach my children and this was a struggle because of my own struggles. I have used Writing road to Reading,Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons and sing spell read and write. I struggled to use each one. My children are grown now and all read well. I am using a new program, at least to me, called Rocket Phonics and it is easier for me and my grandson is learning also. Find a phonics program that you can understand and your child should do well. There is too much research on how well children do with phonics. Some of the research that claims phonics do not work is because the phonics is mixed with sight words. As I have understood some phonics over the years my spelling has improved. My children also struggle with spelling and I wonder if it is because I did not know how to teach the phonics. Have fun teaching.

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	Comments from Facebook
		Lisa Esposito Children need both. Many words in the English language are unable to be sounded out. I teach first grade and I am a HUGE believer in reading by phonic but some words like: of , the, laugh need to be recognized by sight. Good luck Friday, October 29, 2010

		Sherri Kistler They both are equally important to learn. I teach both in my first grade classroom. You can`t teach one or the other......you HAVE to teach BOTH! Friday, October 29, 2010

		Cheryl Bolin Every child is different and each learns by different methods and at different paces. My oldest daughter was reading by age 2 just by labeling everything in the house and telling her what it said. She then transferesd that into being able to read words on her own. My middle one learned by looking at a book while you read it to her, and my youngest son learned by PBS kids shows and looking at books and remembering what he had seen on the tv. You keep on teaching your child in whichever method wor Friday, October 29, 2010

		Karen Wachenheim Where my son goes to school, they actually do a combination of both because as you know with the english language, many words don`t actually sound like they are pronounced. I think this is workong well. Friday, October 29, 2010

		M Nicole Morrow Both ways work best, together. I bought the your baby can read learning system- despite being super skeptical. It seems to be working wonderfully with my preemie twins and my two year old can read words like giraffe and so many others and know what they mean and what he`s talking about. The twins are only 9 months behind my two year old, they recognize numbers, number words and smaller words. I like using phonic, sight and even writing them out with them, so they can feel what the words look l Friday, October 29, 2010

		Sherri Kistler Sight words can not be sounded out......you need to know them by sight. Phonics will not help with them=( Friday, October 29, 2010

		Maria Coral i had trouble with my son so i put them on the wall so that he sees them all day every time he walks by i ask him and he learned them in a week so i still do it and i love it my 4 year old is learning them too. Friday, October 29, 2010

		Kim Smith I have done a LOT of reading about this. Sight words to need to be learned, but if children learn that first, they associate reading with memorization. If they learn the sounds first and that they come together to make a word they can be successful at sounding out words. Sight words really are the exceptions to the rules. You have to learn the rules first to understand the exceptions, not the other way around. Friday, October 29, 2010