The sight words approach to reading is also known as the whole-words approach. Students say words as they see them written and accompanied by a picture with the assumption that students will begin to memorize the visual appearance of the spelling of the word and be able to recognize it in other texts. Sight words are learned by repetition so that they can be committed to a student's rote memory.
According to a study by the University of Pittsburgh, nearly 65 percent of the population define themselves as visual learners and sight words appeal to visual learners because they require students to focus on the look of the word and an accompanying picture. Sight words also help students immediately grasp the meaning of the word by being able to connect the word with an action or picture. This can be extremely helpful for English as a second language (ESL) learners as well. Sight words also make it easier to spell words with irregular spellings.
For students who have difficulty with memorization techniques and learning visually, sight words are not always the best method. There is also no phonemic focus with sight words, which means that students do not immediately make the connection that words with similar spellings often sound alike. It is also limited in the amount of words that can be taught at one time. With a phonics reading program, teachers can focus on words in the same family, such as rat, cat, bat and hat, at one time. With a sight words reading program, each word must be taught separately.
There are multiple sight words reading programs that parents and teachers can consider purchasing. The educational publisher Scholastic offers "Sight Word Readers," which retails for $21.99 at the time of publication and includes 25 little books to teach 50 frequently used words and a workbook for children. "Meet the Sight Words" is a DVD series that includes three DVDs and sets of books to extend the learning from each DVD. All "Meet the Sight Words" products retail for $14.95 at the time of publication. Parents can also consider purchasing sight words flashcards or create their own flashcards and sight words stories.