Nearly everyone can agree that it’s hard to learn something new when it’s boring. Reading is no exception—particularly for kids! Mastering sight words is one of the most important factors that impacts reading fluency in children, and sight words like ‘the’, ‘to’, and ‘you’ make up around 75% of beginner books.
Fun fact: Kids who read for at least 20 minutes a day are exposed to approximately 2 million words each year!
Invented by a local mom and reading interventionist, Kristen Bateman, Growing Words was inspired by Kristen’s students who were struggling with reading. She began implementing games and activities into her lessons, and like magic, the kids began to not only succeed at reading, but enjoy it!
Growing Words has 6 kits, each with 20 sight words – for a total of 120 words. The kits are designed for newer readers ages 4 to 7, or intervention students ages 7 to 9.
We used the first kit: Sight Words 1-20, for our 5-year-old (going into kindergarten) and he picked it up quickly. Each kit has 12 different activities such as matching, reading and writing words, sticky frog, catch a frog, boom, sentences, board game, bingo, and several other variations. It easily keeps your child entertained, and they won’t even realize the important skills their brains are grasping while doing the activities.
Sometimes we’d play in the morning during breakfast or before bed. Other times we’d pull it out when the baby napped, it was raining outside, or we just needed a quiet activity. It also neatly packs away so you can travel with the kit! We always did it as a fun activity and never forced it. In fact, he’d ask us to play with it!
Now, when we’re reading at bedtime, he is able to recognize words and is starting to read sentences. Each skill serves as a building block for the next. Once he was able to recognize some of the sight words, we were able to work on phonics. Now, when we’re out and about, I can see the pride in my son’s eyes when he can recognize words on his own.
Another great feature of Growing Words is that it can be reimbursed for using ESA funds or you can use Class Wallet – a great option if you’re homeschooling or your family is utilizing this type of funding for the school year.
Whether you’re trying to get a head start on reading or your child needs a little skill-improving, Growing Words is the best way to introduce a love for reading—by mastering sight words at home.
Find your kit at growingwordsllc.com
