Exposure to sight words can be instrumental to children with learning disabilities – in more ways than one. Various disabilities, like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, can significantly slow a child’s reading development.
Numerous researchers have recognized that repetitive interaction with high frequency “sight” words is particularly instrumental when challenged or at risk children learn to read. One representative study found that brief instruction in sight word recognition combined with daily sight word drill assignments resulted in test scores “significantly higher than those of control group students.” (This particular study was of third graders considered at risk for learning disabilities). Learn to read games, which capture and retain a child’s attention, often prove the most rewarding for both student and teacher when performing sight word drills.
But sight words can also play a role in identifying a child’s disability. While learning disabilities are typically diagnosed in the teenage years, many disabilities can be addressed, and sometimes prevented, by intervention at a much earlier age. Experts now know that there are things that parents can do at home to help even at the pre-school level.
Attributes such as auditory and visual processing, memory, processing speed, comprehension, and attention are the underlying tools that enable kids to learn. Any weak cognitive skill— or a combination of several— can lead to a learning disability. (ParentGuide News, April 2007). Repetitive sight work interaction allows parents and teachers to assess many, if not all, of these attributes in their children and students.
Er-u-di-tion is a sight words game that provides teachers and parents a great opportunity to assess these skills, through interaction with sight words, in a fun and interactive way. According to Veronica Krieger, a professor in the Department of Reading at the State University of New York at Albany, “Among the various reading problems encountered by learning disabled children, the misreading of high-frequency sight words or the tendency to reverse the sequence of letters within those words have been of particular interest to educators.”