Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Campfires and smores. Some things are better together, and you can’t think of one without the other.
As a reading coach, my winning combination is pairing phonics with sight words. For your child’s academic success, they need a strong foundation in reading, but that doesn’t come naturally to all learners. Teaching your child to read requires practice, patience, and the right strategies to support young learners.
Paired together, teaching both phonics and sight word recognition creates confident, capable readers. Let’s explore seven ways these approaches build early reading skills and how you can support your child along the way.
1. Connect Letters and Sounds
Before practicing with written letters, work on phonemic awareness or helping your child to hear the sounds in words. Once students can hear and break apart the different parts of a word, they are ready to begin learning phonics skills or connecting written letters with their sounds.
For example, by learning that the letter “m” makes the /m/ sound, like in monkeys, and “t” makes the /t/sound, like in tiger, children are beginning to gain the tools to figure out unfamiliar words confidently rather than relying on memorization alone.
Why it Matters:
Although learning to read the English language may feel random, phonics provides a step-by-step approach to decoding, giving children a reliable method for figuring out new words.
Tips for Parents:
- Use flashcards or alphabet charts to reinforce letter-sound connections.
- Play “I Spy” using beginning sounds: “I spy something that starts with /m/.”
- Practice letter-sound matching games with magnetic letters or tiles. “Find the letter that makes the /d/ sound, like in dog.”
- Play “Memory” by matching letter cards with a picture of something that begins with that sound.
By mastering phonics, children can approach reading challenges with confidence.
2. Develop Word Recognition with Sight Words
Sight words are commonly used words like “the,” “they,” or “said” that may not follow phonics rules and usually can’t be sounded out. Recognizing these words instantly reduces frustration in reading and helps children focus on comprehension rather than struggling to sound out each word.
Why it Matters:
Memorizing sight words improves fluency, allowing children to read more smoothly without pausing to decode each word.
Tips for Parents:
- Create colorful flashcards to make sight word practice more engaging. For some words, including a small picture may help them to recall the word. You could also draw a heart or other symbol around the “tricky” part of the sight word or the part that doesn’t follow the normal spelling pattern
- Post sight words around your home—on the fridge, bedroom door, or bathroom mirror.
- Make a treasure hunt with a small prize at the end once your child has found and read all the sight words.
- Play sight word games like Bingo or Go Fish to make learning fun.
- Review sight words regularly as part of your daily routine.
By building a strong bank of sight words, children become more confident and fluent readers.
3. Strengthen Blending and Segmenting Skills
Phonics teaches children how to blend sounds together (“Say /b/ /a/ /t/ together. What’s the word?”) to form words and segment words (“What sound do you hear at the end of ba/t/?”) into individual sounds. These are essential decoding skills that help children read unfamiliar words with ease.
Why it Matters:
Blending and segmenting give children the tools to tackle new words independently, which boosts their confidence.
Tips for Parents:
- During storytime, ask your child to blend sounds: “What word do we get if we blend /f/ /i/ /sh/?”
- Use multisensory tools like magnetic letters, sound tiles, or shaving cream on a flat surface to make blending and segmenting interactive and fun.
- Practice breaking words into individual sounds and putting them back together. “What if we changed the /f/ in fish to /w/? What’s our new word?”
Blending and segmenting aren’t just useful for reading—they also help with spelling and writing.
4. Build Confidence Through Early Success
One of the best ways to keep children motivated is to help them experience early reading success. Phonics gives them a way to decode and recognize patterns, while sight words provide quick wins with familiar words they already know.
Why it Matters:
Success breeds confidence and the desire to keep trying. When children see progress, they’re more likely to stick with reading.
Tips for Parents:
- Celebrate every achievement, no matter how small.
- Provide books at your child’s reading level to ensure success without frustration.
- Use phrases like, “I’m so proud of how hard you have worked learning your letters and sounds!” to reinforce positive growth.
- Model that it’s okay to make mistakes and to keep trying.
When children feel confident, they’re more willing to take on new challenges and develop a love for reading.
5. Improve Reading Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read smoothly, accurately, and with expression. Phonics helps children decode words, and sight words allow them to recognize frequently used words instantly. Together, these skills improve fluency, making reading a more enjoyable experience.
Why it Matters:
Fluent readers can focus on understanding the text instead of struggling to decode every word.
Tips for Parents:
- Encourage your child to reread favorite stories to build fluency. Although you may tire of another round of Green Eggs and Ham, repetitive stories like this strengthen your child’s fluency.
- Model fluent reading by reading aloud with expression and rhythm.
- Take turns “playing” the characters in a story by using fun and silly voices for different characters.
- Use “reader’s theater” scripts, with different assigned roles, to act out a story. Students like to perform and will re-read to practice their role.
- Use timed reading activities to track progress and celebrate improvements. Make it a game to see if your child can “beat” their previous time.
Improved fluency leads to better comprehension and boosts overall reading confidence.
6. Enhance Comprehension
The ultimate goal of reading is comprehension—understanding and making meaning from the text. Phonics helps children decode unfamiliar words, and knowing sight words frees up mental energy so they can focus on comprehension.
Why it Matters:
Strong comprehension skills allow children to answer questions, predict what will happen, and make personal connections to stories.
Tips for Parents:
- Ask open-ended questions during or after reading: “Why do you think the character did that?” or “What do you think will happen next?” or “What would you do if you were that character?”
- Use picture books to support comprehension by pointing out clues in the pictures as you read the text.
- Encourage your child to retell the story in their own words to reinforce understanding.
When children comprehend what they read, they feel more connected to the text, making reading more enjoyable and providing wider background knowledge the next time they read a story.
7. Lay the Foundation for Lifelong Learning
Phonics and sight words build the foundation for more advanced reading skills. These early successes set the stage for future academic achievements and a lifelong love of reading.
Why it Matters:
Children who master these foundational skills are more likely to excel in school and beyond.
Tips for Parents:
- Introduce a variety of texts, including fiction and nonfiction, to broaden your child’s interests.
- Encourage reading for pleasure by letting your child choose books that excite them. Regular trips to a local library provide many opportunities to discover what topics interest your child.
- Share your love of reading by talking about your favorite stories and reading together regularly.
A strong foundation in reading opens doors to new knowledge, exploration, and curiosity.
Final Thoughts
Phonics and sight word recognition are skills best paired together to create confident, capable readers. Phonics teaches children how to decode unfamiliar words, while sight words help them recognize common words instantly. Together, these strategies improve fluency, comprehension, and overall reading success.
By incorporating these methods into your child’s learning routine, you’re giving them tools that will serve them for a lifetime. Whether you’re using flashcards, playing sight word games, or reading aloud together, every small step contributes to their growth as readers.
Ready to support your child’s reading journey? Explore fun phonics activities and sight word games to make learning engaging and effective. If you are looking for an online program that combines strong phonics skills with sight word recognition, consider Savvy Learning to support your efforts. With the right tools and encouragement, your child can become a confident reader who loves to learn!