What is on this flashcards
The Dolch pre-primer list is the first set of words a child meets in print, and this pack puts all 40 on cut out cards. Three kinds of words sit side by side here: color words (blue, red, yellow), the first number words (one, two, three), and the little connectors that hold every sentence together (the, and, to, is). Several of them cannot be sounded out at all. A child who tries to decode said or come letter by letter gets nowhere, which is exactly why these are learned by sight.
How to use it
Print the pre-primer card sheet on paper or cardstock and cut along the dashed borders. Store the 40 pre-primer cards in a small pouch or on a ring for daily sight word practice.
Three ways to practice
Match the color words to real colors
Pull the blue, red and yellow cards and set a crayon or block of each color beside them. Reading a color word and then touching something that color ties the printed word to something the child already knows, which makes it stick faster than reading the card alone.
Act out the doing words
This list is full of movement: go, run, jump, play, look, help and make. Hold up a card, let your child read it, then have them do it. Ten seconds of jumping after reading jump turns a flashcard drill into a game, and it works well for children who cannot sit still for long.
Build a three word sentence
Lay out I, see and the along with a color card, and let your child read the strip out loud: I see the red. Adding one card at a time shows how these small words snap together, which is the whole reason they are worth memorizing.
A tip worth knowing
Start with 5 core words like the, and, see, I, and go. Have your child say each word aloud as soon as they flip the card.
Printing this sheet
Press Print this sheet and only the cards reach the paper, with the site menus and buttons stripped out. Cards print twelve to a page with dashed cut lines, so the 40 cards in this Kindergarten pack come out on 4 sheets. The layout fills either US Letter or A4 in portrait, meaning the same file works on both paper sizes without resizing or scaling. Ordinary paper is fine for a deck you expect to replace, while 65lb cardstock or a pass through a laminator gives cards that survive a term in a classroom center.
Frequently asked questions
Which pre-primer words should we learn first?
Start with the ones that appear most often in easy books: the, and, a, to, I and see. Those six turn up on nearly every page of a beginner reader, so knowing them instantly gives a child the biggest jump in reading confidence for the least effort.
Why can my child not sound out these words?
Many of them break the usual spelling patterns. Said, come, one and two do not follow the rules a child is learning in phonics, so trying to decode them causes frustration. Recognizing them on sight is the faster route, and regular phonics practice carries on alongside for words that do follow the rules.
How many cards should we work on at once?
Keep the active pile to about five to seven cards. A child who masters five words a week finishes this whole list in roughly two months. A large stack looks impressive on the table but usually leads to slower progress and a discouraged reader.