Reading words for preschool


Preschool Spelling Words & Vocabulary

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Time4Learning is an online student-paced learning system popular as a preschool homeschool curriculum, as an after school tutorial and skill sharpening during the summer break.

This page is a summary of curriculum topics, foundational skills and resources related to preschool spelling including information about:

  • Preschool Spelling Curriculum
  • Foundational Spelling Skills
  • Preschool Spelling Words List
  • Preschool Spelling Resources
  • Additional Helpful Parent Tools & Resources

In preschool, spelling words start with basic two-letter words. For example, a good starting point for preschoolers would be: AT, ME, BE, and IT.

Children then start to expand the list by working through “word families”. From AT, in preschool spelling, the curriculum, worksheets, and then spelling tests would cover BAT, CAT, HAT, and SAT. Also, they might vary the vowel and go to HOT. A list of preschool spelling words might start with MAD and include MAN, MAP, and MAT as well as DAD and SAD.

These very young children learn through spelling activities including many creative methods that make the preschool spelling program fun for them. Remember, every child learns at a different rate, so what works for some students may not be the best approach for your child. This is why so many parents enjoy Time4Learning’s student-paced curriculum.. You can skip lessons that teach concepts your child has already mastered and repeat those he or she has not. The choice is yours.

Foundational Spelling Skills

Spelling skills should develop as part of an overall language arts phonemic awareness, phonics, reading comprehension, vocabulary and reading fluency, grammar, reading and writing program. Children should (with help from their parents) develop their foundational spelling skills through an interest in words, regular writing, constant reading, a study of spelling rules, and playing of spelling games

With help from their parents, children can develop and reinforce foundational spelling skills through the following activities:

  1. Regular writing for a head start on spelling, punctuation, and other concepts
  2. Constant reading or use of reading workbooks
  3. Frequent study of spelling rules like the relationships between letters and sounds
  4. Spelling bees for a fun way for your child to practice their spelling
  5. Playing of spelling games, quizzes or word games to help develop their spelling skills
  6. Structured computer spelling programs
  7. Personalized tutoring and assistance to boost confidence
  8. Setting daily blocks of time for spelling and reading activities
  9. Instruction through guided spelling activities like word sorts or word boxes
  10. Creating a rich language environment at home based on the quantity and quality of words spoken

Time4Learning teaches a comprehensive preschool spelling curriculum using fun activities to build a solid spelling foundation. Help your child excel in spelling by trying out our PreK demos.

Preschool Spelling Words List

What spelling words should your preschooler know? Here is a list of 50+ words that are great for use in spelling games, tests, or practice for an upcoming spelling bee. To add more value, download our PreK spelling list printable worksheet with +100 words!

  • one
  • two
  • three
  • at
  • bat
  • cat
  • mat
  • pat
  • rat
  • sat
  • an
  • can
  • fan
  • man
  • are
  • ask
  • as
  • or
  • mom
  • and
  • us
  • pad
  • sad
  • an
  • can
  • fan
  • pan
  • ran
  • big
  • dig
  • fig
  • pig
  • wig
  • fin
  • in
  • pin
  • win
  • bid
  • did
  • hid
  • rid
  • if
  • her
  • hi
  • bye
  • bee
  • see
  • cow
  • how
  • now
  • bun
  • fun
  • run
  • sun
  • but
  • cut
  • gut

Preschool Spelling Resources

If you’re interested in preschool spelling lists or vocabulary words, you might also be interested in:

  • PreK curriculum overview with a summary of key preschool learning objectives
  • Detailed list of PreK language arts lesson plans
  • Our lesson planning worksheet can help you estimate how many lessons to have your child do each day

Additional Helpful Parent Tools & Resources

Welcome to Homeschooling Guide – Are you new to homeschooling? This guide was written by seasoned homeschoolers to answer some of the difficult questions new families often struggle with.

Curriculum Lesson PlansAn overview of the number of lessons that are included for each grade and subject. All students have access to at least 2 (and in most cases 3) grade levels of curriculum for each subject, so they can move ahead or review at their own pace.

Lesson Planning Worksheet Wondering how many lessons to have your child do each day? Estimate the number of activities per day using this easy to use, printable worksheet.

8 Easy Ways to Teach Sight Words to Preschoolers

Learning sight words is a critical skill for kids to learn how to read!

 

Teaching children how to learn sight words can be a challenge.

 

Why?

 

Because it all comes down to memorization. There is not a way to sound out these words. In case you are unfamiliar, sight words are words like that don’t follow the traditional rules of spelling or can’t be sounded out phonetically. Some examples of sight words are who, does, and come.

 

To give your preschooler a great jump start to reading, I have come up with 8 EASY ways that you can teach your preschooler sight words!

 


#1. Start With TWO Letter Sight Words

 

Does anyone have a toddler that says no to absolutely everything?

 

You’ll be hearing it all over again when you start teaching sight words because the word “no” is one of the easiest ones to recognize!

 

When you start out teaching a child sight words, it’s important to start small and build up to longer words. Starting with TWO letter words for them to memorize is going to be a lot easier than FOUR letter words.

 

Here are some two-letter sight words that you can start with: of, to, is, in, it, he, on, as, at, be, or, by, we, an, do, if, up, so, no, go

 

Once your little one has mastered the two-letter words, you can move onto three or more letter words!

 

While some of the words on this list can be sounded out and others can not, I think it’s easier to have your child just memorize the words so they can say it at a glance.

 

Here is a  list of sight words for each age/grade level?

 

I use the above sight word checklist when I am deciding what new words to teach my daughter!

 


#2. Choose Sight Words In Your Child’s Favorite Books

 

I have a quiz for you.

 

How many sight words can you find in this sentence below from the book, Where the Wild Things Are?

 

“His mother called him “WILD THING!” and Max said “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” so he was sent to bed without eating anything.”

 

I found 12 sight words in that one sentence!
  • (his, him, wild, and, said, eat, you, up, so, he, was, to)

 

Sight words are referred to as high-frequency words because some of them are the most common words in the English language! 

 

When you are reading to a child, and they are starting to learn sight words, make sure to point out the words in their favorite books. They will be more interested in learning the sight words if it’s in a context they enjoy! We have a subscription to Highlights Magazine, and my daughter loves pointing out which words she recognizes.

 

Your kids will feel so proud when they can read a few words in their favorite stories. It will encourage them to want to learn more!

 


#3. Practice Daily

Just like teaching your kids the alphabet, numbers, and shapes, it takes repetition for them to understand the material!

 

At least a few minutes of work on sight words each day will help them immensely when it comes to memorizing sight words.

Here is what works best for my daughter:

 

I write the sight words that we have previously learned on a small dry erase board, which I limit to about 25 max.

 

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We take some time and review those words plus add one or two new words depending on how well she does during the review.

 

Check out this short video of how I review the sight words with my daughter!

 

 

To ensure that she remembers the sight words we learned, I make sure to include ones that we learned in the past.

 


Tip#4: Make Reading Fun!

 

If I just focused on the above activity over and over again, I think I would struggle badly getting my kids to learn how to read.

 

It’s essential to come up with EXCITING ways to teach your kids how to read!

 

Here are FOUR ways to make learning sight words engaging!

 

Activity #1. Shaving Cream Sight Words

 

Shaving cream is such an amazing sensory activity! Your kids will be so excited to use shaving cream for a learning activity, it won’t even feel like they are learning!

 

I use men’s foaming shaving cream because I think it works the best! But other types can be used as well.

 

 

How to do this activity:

 

1. Spray foam shaving cream on an art tray.

 

2. Spread it out so the shaving cream is all over the tray!

 

3. Write a sight word that you are working on in the shaving cream and ask your child if they know what it is.

 

4. Repeat this process over and over again! Let your child erase the words so they get a chance to play in the shaving cream!

 


Activity #2. Do-A-Dot Painting Activity

 

Do-A-Dot painters are one of my MUST-HAVE supplies to have on hand at your house.

 

They are so much fun to play with and they are pretty much MESS FREE! Can’t beat that right?

 

 

Do-A-Dot markers can be used for so many fun and learning activities. This specific activity was great because it worked recognizing a specific sight word while getting to paint!

 

GRAB YOUR FREE Pre-K Sight Word Do-A-Dot WORKSHEETS HERE!

(Each grade level coming soon!)

 

 

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Want to check out my other MUST-HAVE Supplies? Take a look at my list HERE!

 


Activity#3. Play Sight Word Games

 

My new thing is trying to turn games into a learning activity!

 

My kids love to play board games, so why not add a little bit of learning into the mix while getting to play?

 

 

How to do this activity:

 

1. Materials you need- Don’t Break the Ice Game, dot stickers, and a marker.

 

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2. On white dot stickers, write some sight words that you are working on with your little one. I wrote one that my daughter already knew so she could play the game and be successful!

 

3. Explain to your kids that they have to tap lightly on the ice with the hammer instead of trying to hit it as hard as they can because a lot falls at once that way. Tell them they can play the regular way after you practice the sight words. 🙂

 

4. Ask them to find a specific word and tap on it with the hammer or they can tap on a word of their choice and tell you what it says!

 

5. After they say or find all the words, then you can play the normal way!

 


Activity #4. FUN Worksheets

 

My daughter loves to color, so I created this Popsicle themed Color by Sight Word Worksheet for her to do.

 

 

Here are some excellent workbooks available on Amazon that have activities ready to go!

  • 100 Write and Learn Sight Word Practice Pages
  • Wipe Clean: Learning Sight Words
  • The Best Sight Word Book Ever!

 

Don’t want to buy an entire workbook? I am constantly working on new FREE resources to make available for you.

 

Click here to grab your FREE Popsicle Color by Sight Word WORKSHEET!

 

Also, take a look at the other FREE RESOURCES that I have while you are there!

 


#5. Build Sentences with Sight Words

 

Building sentences using sight words is a GREAT way to show your child how the specific word is used in real life.

 

You can do this by verbally saying sentences or you can also do it in an interactive way.

 

 

We have a bunch of Thomas the Train, train tracks at home, so I thought it would be fun to work on sentence building with sight words with them!

 

How to do this activity:

 

1. Materials you need- Thomas the Train tracks, labels, and a marker.

 

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2. On labels, write some sight words that make sense in a sentence that you kids know or you want them to learn!

 

3. Spread them all apart so they have to work on building the sentence so it makes sense. They will have to read each word then create the sentence!

 


#6. Add A New Word Each Day

 

Once your child can recognize words, you can start introducing at least one new sight word each day. In the beginning, you want to start slow.

 

Since sight words are based on memorization, that’s why learning one word a day is perfect for this age level.

 

While you should introduce one new word a day, remember to review past sight words that you practiced with them before. It’s crucial to go over these sight words so they won’t forget them.

 

Remember they are still preschoolers, repetition is key! 

 


#7. Stay Positive!

 

You never want to rush the learning process.

 

Forcing preschoolers to sit and complete work when they are not ready may cause the child to think negatively about learning.

 

You want your child to be EXCITED to learn.

 

Don’t get frustrated if they don’t catch on right away or if it takes them a few days to master a word. It will happen with time, and they will feel successful if you encourage them!

 

There are times that my daughter can just not grasp on to a word.

 

For example, she had trouble memorizing the word “find. ” I asked her every day for TWO weeks about this word, and she still wasn’t getting it. I decided I was going to take a break and come back to it later. I introduced the word to her again after about a month, and now she has no problem with it!

 

As parents, we have to be patient with our children while they are learning.

 

We are supposed to be their biggest cheerleaders! Tell your child how proud you are when they learn a new word. They will feel your excitement and, in return, be more excited to keep on learning new material!

 


#8. Join An Online Learning Program

 

One great website that works on early reading skills is Kickstart Reading.

 

Kickstart ReadingThis is such a fantastic reading program! I also have a promo code that you can use to get some money off of your subscription! You will receive a FOREVER plan for $39.00(normally $57.00). This is a program that focuses solely on reading, which I think is better than anything else out there. Your little ones will learn about phonetics, sight words, vowel sounds, digraphs and MORE!

 

PROMO CODE: ABCDEE

 

Here is a short demonstration of just one of the segments included on Kickstart Reading. This is my 5-year-old daughter working on word blends.

 

 


Final Thoughts and Conclusion

 

Deciding when to start your preschooler’s journey into reading is a fun but challenging adventure!

 

It’s important to start slow, begin with two letter sight words, and stay positive with them! Try to mix up the activities that you do with them to learn sight words to keep them engaged and excited to learn!

 

I would love to help you on your journey to teaching your preschooler sight words. Whether you need some creative ideas or you need more helpful suggestions, please leave a comment below.

 

If you have any great ideas that you would like to share as well on what helped you teach sight words to a preschooler, please share them with us!

Teaching Reading - A set of games and tasks to develop reading skills

In the "Teaching Reading" section you will find a lot of interesting educational materials for children of preschool and primary school age. Here are a variety of printable educational materials designed to teach preschoolers to read, as well as to test the child's level of knowledge in the humanities. These tasks are suitable for regular homework with the child, developing his speech and intellectual abilities, as well as fully preparing him for the school curriculum.

Also in this section you will find classes to develop reading skills and verbal-logical thinking. This category contains printable tasks that educators can use as didactic material for working with a group of children. Teaching reading to preschoolers is always faster and more effective when it sparks a child's interest. So do not neglect the variety of materials presented to make classes with your child more fun and interesting.

Making a word from letters - Reading task

In this section you will find many tasks, in each of which you need to make a word from letters. In some tasks, you need to compose words from given letters, and in some you need to learn the letters yourself (by the first letter of each word-picture). There are also tasks in which you need to make words from mixed letters or find hidden words.

Stories with pictures instead of words for children

Here you can download short stories for children with pictures instead of words for children of preschool and primary school age. When reading the presented stories, you need to insert the right words instead of pictures. This kind of learning to read is very interesting for children who are learning to read.

Russian alphabet in order for preschoolers

Here we will study the Russian alphabet in order, from the letter A to the letter Z. Two letters are given on each worksheet. Each letter corresponds to several pictures. You need to circle only those picture words that begin with a given letter.

Learning the Russian alphabet

In this section you can download materials that will help you learn the Russian alphabet easily and simply. Here are special tasks for teaching the Russian alphabet, and cards with letters for printing, and much more ...

Find a word by spelling in a square

In these colorful tasks for learning to read, the child needs, guided by pictures, to find a word by spelling in a special square, where the letters are arranged in a chaotic order. Each search word corresponds to one picture outside the square. The order of letters in words can be horizontal, vertical and diagonal. Here you need not only to be able to read words, but also to be very careful to find them...0008

Read by syllables are activities and printables that teach children how to form words from syllables. Here you can download various tasks, print on a printer and work with your child following the instructions for each task.

Semantic reading - Working with text for children

Here you have to complete tasks for semantic reading. Working with text is a very important stage in teaching children to read. In these tasks, the child will practice finding synonyms and antonyms for words, understand and interpret the meaning and meaning of words and sentences, summarize and name the signs of objects, analyze the read text and answer questions asked about it, learn to compose sentences and stories, write dictations and much more other...

Reading for preschoolers

In this section learning to read for preschoolers is presented in the form of interesting game tasks that you need to download and print on your computer. Here a child can train his ability to hear words and find their visual representation on paper, learn tongue twisters and tongue twisters, guess words, recognize words from pictures and much more...

20 reading texts for children 5-6-7-8 years old

A child who has learned to put sounds into syllables, syllables into words, and words into sentences needs to improve his reading skills through systematic training. But reading is a rather laborious and monotonous activity, and many children lose interest in it. Therefore, we offer texts of small size , the words in them are divided into syllables.

First read the work to the child yourself, and if it is long, you can read its beginning. This will interest the child. Then invite him to read the text. After each work, questions are given that help the child to understand what they have read and comprehend the basic information that they have learned from the text. After discussing the text, suggest reading it again.

Mo-lo-dets Vo-va

Ma-ma and Vo-va gu-la-li.
In-va ran and fell.
It hurts no-ha, but Vo-va does not cry.
Wow!
B. Korsunskaya

Answer questions .
1. What happened to Vova?
2. What made him sick?
3. Why is Vova doing well?


Clever Bo-beak

Co-nya and co-ba-ka Bo-beak gu-la-li.
So-nya played-ra-la with a doll.
That's why So-nya in-be-zha-la to-my, and the doll for-would-la.
Bo-beek found a doll-lu and brought it to So-ne.
B. Korsunskaya

Answer the questions.
1. Who did Sonya walk with?
2. Where did Sonya leave the doll?
3. Who brought the doll home?


The bird made a nest on a bush. De-ti our nest-up and took off on the ground.
- Look, Vasya, three birds!
In the morning, de-ti came, and the nest-before it was empty. It would be a pity.
L. Tolstoy

Answer questions.
1. What did the children do with the nest?
2. Why was the nest empty in the morning?
3. Did the children do well? How would you do?
4. Do you think this work is a fairy tale, a story or a poem?


Pete and Mi-shi had a horse. They began to argue: whose horse. Did they tear each other apart.
- Give me - my horse.
- No, you give me - the horse is not yours, but mine.
Mother came, took a horse, and nobody's horse became.
L. Tolstoy

Answer the questions.
1. Why did Petya and Misha quarrel?
2. What did mother do?
3. Did the children play horse well? Why do you think so
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FILVOVORDA for Reading, View here.

It will be interesting for children to read selected texts, they affect the emotional world of the child, develop his moral feelings and imagination . Children will get acquainted with the works of L. Tolstoy, K. Ushinsky, A. Barto, S. Mikhalkov, E. Blaginina, V. Bianchi, E. Charushin, A. Usachyov, E. Uspensky, G. Snegiryov, G. Oster, R. Rozhdestvensky, as well as fairy tales of different nations.

It is advisable to show children the genre features of poems, stories and fairy tales using the example of these works.

Fairy tale is a genre of oral fiction containing events unusual in the everyday sense (fantastic, wonderful or worldly) and distinguished by a special compositional and stylistic construction. In fairy tales there are fairy-tale characters, talking animals, unprecedented miracles happen.

Poem is a short poetic work in verse. The verses are read smoothly and musically, they have rhythm, meter and rhyme.


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