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Understanding the difference between irregular sight words and high-frequency sight words is crucial for parents, teachers, and anyone helping children learn to read. Sight words And high-frequency words are often used interchangeably. In this blog, Mrs Wordsmith explains what the difference between them really is.
What Are High-Frequency Sight Words?
High-frequency words are common words that appear most often in children’s books and everyday texts. Because they pop up so frequently, children need to be able to identify them quickly and effortlessly – otherwise they will struggle to read fluently.
- Examples: are, she, it, get, them
- Why they matter: Mastering high-frequency words boosts reading speed and comprehension, allowing young readers to focus on understanding the story rather than decoding every word.
What Are Irregular Sight Words?
Irregular sight words (aka tricky words) are words that don’t follow standard phonics rules. In other words, you can’t sound them out easily using typical letter-sound patterns. These words must be remembered “by sight” because their spelling doesn’t match how they’re pronounced.
- Examples: was, said, put, does, the, I
- Why they matter: Since these words break the usual spelling rules, they can trip a child up if they’re blindly following what they know about phonics. So by storing a small number of irregular sight words to memory, they will be able to read texts more smoothly and confidently.
The Overlap: Irregular High-Frequency Words
Seems straightforward enough, right? Wrong! Because many high-frequency words are also irregular. For instance, ‘was’ and ‘put’ appear often in texts and also don’t follow regular spelling patterns. These words are especially important for children to learn early on.
Why Not Just Learn All High-Frequency Words?
While it might seem logical to have children remember every high-frequency word, research shows that relying solely on memory is not the most effective strategy—especially for children with dyslexia or other reading difficulties. Most high-frequency words can be decoded using phonics, so it’s best to focus on remembering the truly irregular words that can’t be sounded out.
Tips for Teaching Irregular and High-Frequency Words
- Teach phonics first: Encourage children to sound out words whenever possible. Reserve remembering for words that just can’t be decoded.
- Highlight the tricky parts: For irregular words, point out which letters or sounds don’t follow the rules. For example, in ‘said’, the ‘ai’ makes an unexpected short ‘e’ sound, whereas the ‘s’ and ‘d’ make their usual sounds.
- Use repetition and games: In order to commit a word to memory, a child must encounter it multiple times. Games and interactive activities are a great way of ensuring that children get repeated exposure to new words that are challenging to learn.There are fun ways for children to learn sight words – even the tricky ones! Check out our Foolproof Sight Words printable.
- Focus on “heart words”: Teach kids to learn the irregular part of a word “by heart” while decoding the rest. This approach ensures that words are more likely to stick in long-term memory.
Key Takeaways
| Term | Definition | Example Words | Teaching Tip |
| High-Frequency Words | Words that appear most often in texts | are, she, it | Teach with phonics when possible |
| Irregular Sight Words | Words that don’t follow typical spelling rules and can’t be easily decoded | was, said, put | Help children notice the irregular parts |
| Irregular High-Frequency | Words that are both common and irregular | was, put | Make a priority for remembering early |
Conclusion
Helping children master both high-frequency and irregular sight words is essential for building reading fluency and confidence. By focusing on phonics first and recalling words from memory (especially when they are spelled irregularly), you’ll set young readers up for success—making reading not just easier, but more enjoyable too.
https://mrswordsmith.com
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