High Frequency Words For Kids To Improve Vocabulary Skills

Being a fluent and confident reader today is really an advantage, which provides an edge by broadening your horizons, stretching your imagination and exposing you to different opinions and cultures. The best way to go about inculcating this habit and enriching your child’s vocabulary is starting them early. Exposing them to rich texts and classic stories, helps them familiarise and learn high frequency words in English.

But what are these high frequency words? These are the words that pop up, that we encounter in almost all the texts we read. These words are  common and they serve as the building blocks for fostering the children’s interest in reading.

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In this article, we have discussed many ways you can help your child get familiarised with these words. But first, you have to know what they mean and what they are. Let’s start with reading what high frequency words for kindergarten kids.

What Are High Frequency Words?

Let’s take a look at the definition of high frequency words.

High frequency words are the words that we very frequently use in written text. Some of these high frequency words are also known as sight words or tricky words. These words are easy to pronounce but have an abstract meaning that is difficult to explain to children. But these high frequency words are very important to learn and understand as they add meaning and context to sentences. Examples of these words are “the,” “of,” “to,” etc.

We use these words all the time while reading and writing without thinking about their meaning as it’s self-understood. Moreover, it is easy for children to learn words like “phone” and “glass” because these words can easily be related to an image or an object, but it’s tricky to provide a reference for such high frequency words.

What Is The Importance Of Learning High Frequency Words?

Here are some points that highlight the importance of learning high frequency words for children.

• When children are aware of these words, they’ll be able to read, pronounce, and spell them easily. They will also understand what they mean when used within a sentence.
• When children use these words while writing, it helps them in literacy development.
• When children are able to read and recognise high frequency words, it makes their reading and writing journey less daunting.
• When children are able to recognise these words, it helps to boost their confidence in learning a language, and they show more effort in learning.

Some High Frequency Words For Preschoolers

Now that you know why your little one should learn high frequency words, let’s take a look at some common high frequency words to teach your child.

• The
• A
• I
• To
• And
• Was
• For
• Of
• Is
• You
• At
• In
• But
• That
• As

In Which Order Should Child Learn High Frequency Words?

If you are wondering in what order you should teach your little one high frequency words, here are phonics phases, along with the list of high frequency words that children can learn.

1. Phase 2 Phonics

• Decodable words: a, an, as, at, and, back, big, but, can, dad, had, get, got, him, his, if, in, is, it, mum, not, on, of, off, up
• Tricky words: the, no, to, into, go, I

2. Phase 3 Phonics

• Decodable words: down, for, look, now, see, that, them, this, then, too, will, with
• Tricky words: all, are, be, he, her, me, my, she, they, was, we, you

3. Phase 4 Phonics

• Decodable words: went, children, it’s, just, from, help
• Tricky words: come, do, have, like, little, one, out, said, so, some, there, were, what, when

4. Phase 5 Phonics

• Decodable words: don’t, day, old, made, I’m, came, by, make, time, here, saw, house, very, about, your
• Tricky words: oh, their, people, Mr, Mrs, looked, called, asked, could.

Top 100 High Frequency Words In Order

Here is the high frequency words list for children. You can take a print of this chart and paste it in your child’s room and help them learn these words easily.

High Frequency Words Vs Sight Words

Are you confused between high frequency words and sight words? Yes, these words do not mean the same. Here is the difference between the two terms for you.

High Frequency Words

• These are the words that appear most frequently in written text.

Examples of high frequency words are –  the, is, have, and went.

Sight Words

• These are words that a child can read quickly and with ease. We don’t spend much of our mind thinking or figuring about sight words – we just know them.
• Sight words may include some high frequency words.

Examples of sight words are – the child’s name and names of their parents, names of friends and other words that are important to the child.

How To Teach High Frequency Words To Children?

Teaching high frequency words to your little one can be a little tricky. But here we have a few suggestions to help you out while teaching your kids high frequency words.
These are very simple ideas that will help your child to form the basis for reading and writing. Let’s begin.

1. Flashcard Learning

Flashcards are an excellent way to teach this topic to your kids. You can make some flashcards and use them for a variety of games and activities which focus on repetition and boosting child’s memory of high frequency words.

2. Dictation passages

With the help of dictation passages, you can make your child practice reading fluently and develop a knowledge of high frequency words at the same time. You have to give your child a piece of text with the high frequency words missing, and they can fill in the blanks.

3. Keep The Words In Sight

Write some high frequency words on sticky notes and stick them around the house, where your child can easily spot them. Exposure to these words will help your child familiarise with what the words look like, and they will ask you what the word is and what it means.

4. Read Together

This one is a great idea to bond with your child and teach them high frequency words as well. Sit with your child and read together, and when the high frequency words pop up in the text, take a pause and point them out to your child. This way, your child will start recognising these words and will ask you to pause the next time they pop up while reading.

5. Spell The Words

Do you know that spelling and reading go hand in hand? So, while reading, when you stop to show your child high frequency words, also help your child spell these high-frequency words. You can make spelling a fun activity for them by asking them to do some physical activity while spelling the words. For example, you can ask your child to jump while they spell the word..

6. Words On The Go

Learning should not just be limited to home or classrooms. If you get a chance to teach your child beyond the walls of your home and classroom, you should take advantage of that opportunity. So, if you are out with your child in a supermarket or on the road, ask them to spot high-frequency words they recognise. Perhaps they could read it on a sauce jar in a supermarket or on a hoarding when the car stops at the red light.

How Children Can Practice High Frequency Words?

Teaching your child high frequency words is one thing, and making them practice is another. It is important that children practice what they have been taught in order to grasp and retain the concept. Here are some ways to help your child practice high frequency word activities mentioned above.

• Use the 100 high frequency word chart mentioned above to make your child practice these words. Children can first read all the words and then place their hands on the words (leaving the first letter of the word uncovered) and then guess the word.
• You can add one new high frequency word each day to your child’s existing list of high frequency words. This way, they will look forward to learning a new word every day and show interest in learning high frequency words.
• Help your child in remembering high frequency words by helping them connect it while reading and writing as they learn these words. When your child reads a word, ask them to spell it out and write it down as well. When a child writes down a word it gets instilled in their memory, and they recall it when they encounter the word again somewhere.
• Practice daily! Just like you teach your kids the alphabet, numbers, and shapes, it will take repeated practice for them to understand high frequency words. Make sure your child spends at least a few minutes learning high frequency words every day to help them memorise these words.

Conclusion

There might be certain high frequency words that your child will learn and memorise in a day and some words that will take them weeks to recognise. As a parent, you need to be patient with your child while they are learning. Learning high frequency words will happen with time, and your child will feel successful if you encourage them. Happy learning!

Also Read:

Feelings and Emotions Words for Children
Action Words for Children to Improve Language Skills
Compound Words for Kids with Types and Examples