This is where we really fell down during Henry’s first grade year. Though I’m sure I would have made it boring and dry, so maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t focus on sight words. In the first few weeks of second grade, we’ve had remarkable success with Heidi Songs. Each song teaches a new word, how it’s spelled, and lyrics and actions that help your child remember it all. The songs are really catchy! There are 175 sight word videos that are broken down into playlists (Dolch, Fry, etc.). Access is $5.99 per month.
We wrote the words we had already learned on index cards, attached paperclips, and then “fished” for them with a magnet attached to a string. I was amazed at how long this activity held my children’s attention. AMAZED. There are many other fun games you can play with sight words like BINGO, memory matching, hit the words with the fly swatter, etc. (See more ideas here.) I wish I’d known about all this stuff sooner. As a naturally un-fun person, these strategies didn’t even occur to me. It turns out that fun matters. A lot.