Kindergarten Sight Words List (Dolch Pre-Primer & Primer)

Dolch pre-primer list (40 words)

These are the first sight words most kindergartners learn, usually in Pre-K and early kindergarten:

• a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you

Dolch primer list (52 words)

The second kindergarten list, usually taught once the pre-primer words are solid:

• all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes

Dolch vs Fry: what's the difference?

Dolch lists are grouped by grade level and drawn from children's books of the 1930s-40s — they are still widely used because they are short and teachable. Fry lists are ranked by frequency in modern texts and run to 1,000 words; the first 100 Fry words overlap heavily with Dolch. For kindergarten, start with Dolch pre-primer and primer; the Fry list matters more from 1st grade on.

How to practice sight words without boring drills

• Teach 2-3 new words a week, not 20. Review old words daily for a minute.
• Hunt for them in real books: ask your child to point out every the on a page.
• Play games: sight-word bingo, memory match, or a word wall they can add to.
• Write them: tracing, building with magnetic letters, or writing in sand all beat staring at flashcards.
• Don't panic about pace: children who read a lot of CVC words often pick up sight words faster, because they meet them in context.