Should We Really Be Teaching Sight Words in Preschool?
- Melissa McCall
- Jul 1
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Sight Words in Preschool? Let's find out!
When I hear that we’re drilling sight words in preschool, I’ll be honest…I cringe a little.
As a former kindergarten teacher, I hated teaching sight words. Rainbow writing, flashcard drills, chanting the letters… ugh. I tried it all. And despite all the effort, so many of my students still struggled to memorize them. It felt like we were working so hard, but getting nowhere.
The truth is, I wasn’t teaching reading based on how the brain actually learns to read. I didn’t know about orthographic mapping or the critical role of phonemic awareness. And the way I was teaching sight words wasn’t grounded in research or developmentally appropriate practices. (Don’t worry—we’ll unpack all of that soon.)
So as preschool teachers, here is what we need to ask ourselves now:If many children struggle with sight words in kindergarten, despite all the effort, visuals and songs, what happens when we push that same expectation down into preschool? What if we are trying to teach sight words and don’t truly know the science?
Are we helping them? Or are we skipping steps that matter far more?
Let’s look at what the science tells us.
“He Already Knows 15 Sight Words!”
I recently had a conversation with a preschool teacher who was so excited about one of her students. “He’s already reading! He knows 15 sight words!” Learning to read is exciting, especially when children begin reading well before their peers. And I believe with the right foundation, many children can read by the end of preschool. But the truth is, in many cases, what looks like early reading is actually something else…an incredible visual memory at work.
Children that begin reading very early on often recognize word shapes or patterns from repetition. They know that the first word on every page is “The,” not because they have decoded it (sounded it out using letter/sound knowledge), but because they’ve memorized what it looks like. It’s impressive, but it’s not yet reading in the true sense of the word.
So what’s really happening when a child seems to be “reading” 20 sight words at age 4? In many cases, they’re using visual memory. These children have seen those words often enough that they recognize their shape. But here’s the catch: when those same words show up in a new font, a new sentence, or out of order, they may no longer be able to recognize them. That’s because they haven’t actually learned to decode.
What the Science of Reading Says
According to the Science of Reading, most sight words are not learned by rote memorization. They are actually learned through a brain process called orthographic mapping (click HERE to learn more). Orthographic mapping is where a child hears the sounds in a word, connects them to letters, and then stores that word in long-term memory. It’s fast, efficient, and much more reliable than memorization. But it only works after the child has developed strong phonemic awareness and understands the connection between letters and sounds.
Let’s break it down:
This is why teaching sight words too early, before these foundational skills are in place, can lead to frustration and fragile reading habits. When we shift our focus to building pre-reading skills first, sight word learning becomes easier, faster, and more meaningful later on.
What Should Come Before Sight Words?
Before children can successfully learn sight words, or any words, really, they need a strong foundation of pre-reading skills. These are the building blocks that prepare the brain to make sense of print. And the good news? They can be built by merging a little intentional instruction with PLAY!
Here are the key pre-reading skills that are developmentally appropriate for preschoolers:
Phonological Awareness
This is the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken language. It includes:
Rhyming (“cat” and “hat” rhyme!)
Syllable clapping (“ba-na-na” is 3 claps)
Beginning sounds (“ball starts with /b/!”)
Phonemic awareness (hearing individual sounds in words /c/ /a/ /t/)
These are oral skills…no letters or print needed yet!
Letter-Sound Knowledge
Children begin connecting letters with the sounds they represent. Not all 26 letters need to be mastered in preschool, but they should start:
Recognizing letters in their name
Identifying common letters like M, S, B, etc.
Understanding that “S says /s/ like in sun”
Our FLASHCARDS will save the day when it comes to this skill!
Print Concepts
These are the “rules” of how print works. Preschoolers should learn:
Books have a front and back
We read from left to right
Words are made up of letters
Spaces separate words
Name Recognition & Environmental Print
Children often recognize their own names first because it is meaningful and personal! They also learn from:
Labels around the classroom
Stop signs, cereal boxes, and logos
Names of friends and family
CLICK HERE FOR A BLOG POST ABOUT READING READINESS!
How to Properly Teach Sight Words (IF Children Have the Foundational Skills Above)
Once children have a strong foundation in phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge, we can begin teaching sight words, but not through memorization alone. Instead, use sound-based strategies that align with the Science of Reading.
Try these steps:
Begin by exploring the sounds in each word using sound boxes.
Have students tap out the sounds they hear, then push chips into each box as they say the sounds aloud.
Next, model how to write in each sound, but when the spelling is irregular, write in the spelling pattern and discuss. In this word, the /e/ is an “ai”. (I like to write a heart under that part to explain that we have to learn that by heart)!
Discuss the irregular parts and practice writing the word again.
Grab the free sound box HERE!
In Conclusion...
Yes, it’s exciting when young children start recognizing words, but real reading is built on so much more than memorization. When we skip foundational skills and push sight word drills too early, we risk creating surface-level readers who struggle later on.
Instead, let’s give preschoolers what they truly need: rich language experiences, playful exposure to sounds and letters, and meaningful opportunities to build early literacy concepts. When we follow the science and honor child development, we don’t just teach children to read, we help them love it.
Sight words will come. But first, let’s build the foundation!
Did this challenge your thinking? Will you try something different? What other questions do you have? Comment below!
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