About this deck

The Dolch pre-primer list is the first of Edward Dolch's sight word groups: 40 short words such as "the", "and", "look" and "said" that show up constantly in early books. Many of them cannot be sounded out easily, so children learn to recognize them on sight.

Each card has the word on the front. The back has a short sentence that uses it, so you can check that a child can read the word in context, not just alone.

This list is usually taught in preschool or early kindergarten. Print the cards in a large font, or study them here with audio.

Study tips

• Work on five to eight words at a time. Move a word to the "known" pile only after it is read instantly on three different days.
• Have the child find the word in a picture book right after practicing it.
• Mix in two or three known words with each new batch so practice ends on success.
• Play "slap": lay out several cards, say a word, and the child slaps the right one.