Quick answer: teach phonics as the main word-reading system, then teach common exception words alongside it
For a beginning reader, systematic phonics should provide the main route for working out unfamiliar written words. Children need to connect letters and spelling patterns with sounds, blend those sounds, and gradually recognise familiar words more automatically. A large sight-word memorisation list should not replace that decoding system.
Common words still matter. Some high-frequency words are fully decodable with the phonics a child already knows; others contain an unusual or not-yet-taught sound–spelling correspondence. Those exception or “tricky” words can be taught alongside phonics by showing the child what part is regular and what part needs special attention.
A useful Tiny Steps editorial rule is: **Decode what you can → Notice the unusual part → Read it in context → Revisit until automatic**. This is a parent teaching aid, not a standardized reading assessment.
First fix the terminology: sight words, high-frequency words and tricky words are not the same thing
Sight word: a word the reader recognises automatically
A “sight word” is best understood as an outcome of learning: the word is recognised quickly and automatically from print. It is not a special list of words that must all be memorised by visual shape. A regular word such as “and” can become a sight word after accurate decoding and repeated encounters, just as an irregular word can eventually become automatic.
High-frequency word: a word that appears often in print
High-frequency describes how often a word occurs, not how it should be taught. High-frequency words can be regular or irregular. If a common word contains sound–spelling relationships the child already knows, the child should use those relationships to read it.
Common exception or tricky word: a word that contains an unusual or not-yet-taught correspondence
A tricky word is not necessarily completely irregular. Often much of the word can still be decoded. The “tricky” part may be one correspondence that is unusual or one pattern the child has not yet been taught. This is why highlighting the exceptional part is more informative than telling a child to remember the whole outline of the word.
Why phonics should come first as the main strategy
The central advantage of phonics is generative power: the child learns a system that can be applied to words they have never seen before. EEF’s current phonics review describes explicit, systematic teaching of sound–spelling relationships and blending as an important component of early reading. The English national curriculum likewise tells pupils to apply phonic knowledge as the route to decode unfamiliar words.
That matters because an early reader will encounter far more words than any practical flashcard list can contain. If the child has learned only the visual appearance of a few familiar cards, success may collapse when a new word appears in a sentence.
Why memorising large whole-word lists can create the wrong reading habit
The DfE criteria for validated systematic synthetic phonics programmes explicitly say programmes should not teach high-frequency words as whole shapes “by sight” and should not encourage children to guess unknown words from pictures or context instead of first applying phonic knowledge.
This does not mean visual memory is irrelevant to reading. Skilled reading does involve rapid visual recognition of familiar written words. The important distinction is **how that automatic recognition is built**. Reading Rockets and UFLI describe orthographic mapping as the process of connecting a word’s letters, sounds and pronunciation in memory. Accurate attention to the internal letter–sound sequence helps the word become instantly recognisable later.
What to do with regular high-frequency words
If a high-frequency word is decodable with the child’s current phonics knowledge, let the child decode it. Then revisit the word in short sentences and connected text until recognition becomes quick. IES guidance recommends using letter–sound skills for regular high-frequency words first and then giving enough practice for efficient recognition.
- Say the sounds or identify the known spelling patterns.
- Blend the word accurately.
- Read it again in a phrase or sentence.
- Revisit it later in a fresh sentence rather than only on the same flashcard.
The goal is not permanent overt sounding-out. Accurate decoding gives the word a pathway into memory; repeated successful encounters help recognition become increasingly automatic.
What to do with tricky or irregular words
For a common exception word, first identify what the child can already decode. Then draw attention to the unusual or not-yet-taught correspondence. DfE guidance recommends introducing common exception words gradually and noting the part that makes them exceptional. UFLI uses a similar “heart word” principle: decode the regular parts and explicitly identify the small part that must be learned by heart.
For example, in “said,” much of the word can be connected to known sounds while the vowel spelling is unusual for the pronunciation. The point is not to make a child analyse every historical spelling rule; it is to preserve attention to the letters and sounds instead of memorising only the overall visual shape.
The Tiny Steps four-step word-learning check
Step 1 — Decode what you can
Ask the child to use already-taught sound–spelling knowledge. For a regular word, this may be enough to read the whole word. For a tricky word, it shows which parts are already accessible.
Step 2 — Notice the unusual part
If one part does not match the child’s current phonics knowledge, identify it clearly. Keep the explanation brief and concrete. Do not turn every exception word into a new abstract spelling lecture.
Step 3 — Read it in context
Put the word into a short sentence or decodable text where the surrounding words are manageable. This checks whether the child can recognise the word during real reading rather than only on an isolated card.
Step 4 — Revisit until automatic
Bring the word back later in a different sentence, writing task or reading passage. Automaticity means the word can eventually be recognised quickly without the child having to reconstruct it laboriously every time.
A practical beginner sequence: phonics first, exception words alongside
- **Build phonemic awareness and letter–sound knowledge:** the child needs access to the sounds represented by print.
- **Teach blending:** the child combines the phonemes represented by letters to read unfamiliar words.
- **Read regular high-frequency words through phonics:** frequent words are not automatically exception words.
- **Introduce a small number of necessary common exception words:** show regular and unusual parts rather than teaching the whole shape.
- **Use closely matched connected text:** the child applies the taught code plus the exception words already introduced.
- **Reread for fluency:** accurate words become easier and more automatic with successful practice.
What if school sends home a sight-word list?
Do not assume the list itself is harmful. First separate the words into three practical groups: words your child can already decode, words that are mostly decodable but contain one unusual part, and words containing patterns your child has not yet learned.
- **Already decodable:** ask the child to read through the spelling, then practise the word in sentences.
- **Partly irregular:** map the known sounds and identify the exceptional part.
- **Not yet decodable because the pattern is untaught:** teach it as a temporary exception only if the word is needed now, while keeping the child’s main phonics progression intact.
Flashcards can still be useful for review after the word has been taught. The problem is using the card as the entire instructional method and asking the child to recognise the word only from repeated visual exposure.
How to tell whether a child is memorising or actually reading
- **Fresh-word test:** can the child read an unfamiliar word containing the same taught sound–spelling pattern?
- **Fresh-format test:** can the child recognise the familiar word in a sentence, book or different font rather than only on one card?
- **Correction test:** when the child makes an error, do they look through the letters and retry, or guess another word from the first letter or picture?
- **Spelling connection:** can the child represent the sounds in the word when spelling, including remembering the exceptional part where necessary?
A child who succeeds only on rehearsed cards but cannot decode a fresh word has memorised examples without yet developing a sufficiently transferable word-reading system. Use Why Does My Child Know Letter Sounds But Cannot Read Words? if blending itself is the unstable step.
What parents should avoid
- Do not ask a beginner to memorise hundreds of whole-word shapes before building a decoding system.
- Do not call every common word “tricky”; many high-frequency words are decodable once the relevant phonics has been taught.
- Do not encourage guessing from pictures, sentence meaning or the first letter as the first strategy for identifying an unknown printed word.
- Do not make the child sound out a familiar word laboriously forever; once accurate mapping is established, repeated reading should allow recognition to become automatic.
- Do not teach exception words in huge batches. Introduce the words needed for the child’s current reading stage and revisit them cumulatively.
- Do not treat flashcard speed alone as proof of reading progress. Check the word in connected text and test fresh decoding too.
How sight-word learning connects to fluency
Automatic recognition is desirable. The debate is not “automatic words versus phonics.” The stronger model is that phonics and accurate word mapping help familiar words become automatic, while carefully taught exception words join that growing store of instantly recognised words.
Once decoding is accurate and many words are becoming automatic, reading fluency practice can focus more on connected-text phrasing and meaning. If the child reads individual words but not stories with understanding, use Why Does My Child Read Words But Not Understand Stories?.
Related Tiny Steps phonics guides
For the complete parent overview, use Phonics for Parents. For the actual blending progression, use How Kids Learn Blending. For a focused explanation of decodable versus tricky words, use Digraphs and Tricky Words.
Families can review the phonics pathway and curriculum roadmap. If you are unsure whether the child’s main issue is sound knowledge, blending, exception-word recognition or connected reading, use the free 1:1 demo assessment route to identify a starting point rather than relying only on a memorised-word count.
Evidence and references
- Education Endowment Foundation — Phonics: current evidence summary on explicit, systematic sound–spelling instruction, blending, assessment and matching teaching to current knowledge. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/phonics
- UK Department for Education — The Reading Framework: evidence-informed guidance on systematic synthetic phonics, word reading, spelling, fluency and common exception words. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-reading-framework-teaching-the-foundations-of-literacy
- UK Department for Education — Validation of systematic synthetic phonics programmes: requires decoding, gradual teaching of common exception words, decodable text and avoidance of guessing or whole-shape word learning. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phonics-teaching-materials-core-criteria-and-self-assessment/validation-of-systematic-synthetic-phonics-programmes-supporting-documentation
- UK Department for Education — National curriculum in England: English programmes of study: phonics as the route to decode words, common exception words with attention to unusual correspondences, and rereading for fluency. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
- Institute of Education Sciences / What Works Clearinghouse — Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade: strong evidence for sound–letter knowledge and decoding, plus teaching regular and irregular high-frequency words. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/21/Published
- IES — Foundational Reading Practice Guide full report: examples and instructional guidance for regular and irregular high-frequency words. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/practiceGuide/wwc_foundationalreading_040717.pdf
- IES — Foundational Reading Practice Guide summary: regular high-frequency words should first use letter–sound skills, with practice toward efficient recognition. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/Docs/PracticeGuide/wwc_found_reading_summary_051517.pdf
- IES — Supporting Your Child’s Reading at Home: family activities for word reading, high-frequency words, spelling and connected text. https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/resource/other-resource/supporting-your-childs-reading-home
- University of Florida Literacy Institute — Irregular and High Frequency Words: most irregular words are partially decodable; teach regular correspondences and identify the part learned by heart. https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/teaching-resources/instructional-activities/irregular-and-high-frequency-words/
- University of Florida Literacy Institute — Glossary: distinguishes high-frequency words, irregular words and sight words; any word recognised automatically can become a sight word. https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/teaching-resources/glossary/
- Reading Rockets — Sight Words and Orthographic Mapping: explains the distinction between high-frequency and sight words and how letter–sound mapping supports automatic word recognition. https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/sight-words-and-orthographic-mapping
