Learning sight words is often used instead of phonics because it helps children read faster and build confidence. It can take months to read a short book using only the phonetic approach of sounding out words. Meanwhile, a child can read a book in a very short time period if the book only contains specially chosen sight words. Learning sight words can also help to teach children words that are hard to decipher through phonics instructions.
Children learn the meaning of sight words and not just how to say the word on the page by sounding out letters. Recognizing the word and the meaning simultaneously can help tremendously in giving the child clues to the meaning of a sentence. A child who learns words solely through phonics must then go back and learn the meanings of the words.
Because sight words occur in children's stories and in spoken conversion, ESL (English as a second language) students can also increase their fluency in learning English through using the sight words method.
The sight words approach depends on a child memorizing enough sight words to learn to read well. Typically, a child must learn to read 500 sight words in the first grade. If the child can learn at this hectic pace he will still only learn to read 6,000 words by the end of 12th grade. This would make the child semi-literate. Many people only learn 1,000 to 2,000 words at most through sight words, and for those who learn enough to get into college, reading remains difficult.