Retired teacher Lysa Sassman, who volunteers with Sight Word Busters, helps six-year-old Julian practice his letters as a prelude to sight word work Nov. 13 at Sierra Hills School in Meadow Vista.

In school, many kindergarten and first-grade students are asked to memorize lists of common words, which are sometimes called “sight words.” This practice skips important steps. The idea that children ...

If you were to poll an audience of educators–classroom teachers, literacy specialists, reading researchers, and university professors–about whether high frequency words should be taught in early ...