Sounding out or memorizing

Should I teach sight words or phonics?

Phonics first, with a small set of common tricky words, such as the, said and was, learned by sight along the way. Sounding out lets a child read words they have never seen, while memorizing words as shapes stops working once there are too many to remember.

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Why phonics comes first

A child who knows the sounds and can blend them can read any regular word, including new ones. A child taught to memorize whole words often guesses from the first letter or the picture, which breaks down in longer books.

Where sight words fit

A few very common words do not follow the rules a beginner knows. Teach those few by sight as they come up, and even then point out the parts that do sound out, like the s and d in said.

How Clareza does it

Its Learning to Read course is systematic phonics, and every practice word uses only sounds already taught. Tricky words come in a few at a time, the, I and a, said and was, they and what, with a review near the end. The question is read aloud, but the answer words are not, because reading them is the skill.

What this is not

  • There is no sight word list, flashcard drill or sight word game.
  • It is not a dyslexia program. It is the phonics course of a general K-12 curriculum.
  • A beginning reader needs you nearby. Plan to sit with them for the 15 minutes.

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Before your child starts: what we collect and why

We collect only what it takes to teach your child: the first name and sign-in you choose, their answers and progress, and their chat with Clara (written by Anthropic's AI, read aloud by OpenAI). Nobody trains AI on it or sells it, and you can see or delete it any time. You create your child's account yourself. Paying by card is how you give consent.

Read what we collect and why

Your consent is needed before we collect anything from your child, and we collect nothing without it. You create your child's account yourself; they never sign up alone.

  • What we collect from your child: the first name and sign-in you choose, their answers, time on lessons and progress, and their chat with Clara. Used to run the lessons, build their transcript and show you how they are doing.
  • Who else handles it: Anthropic (an AI company) receives the chat text and the lesson, with your child's first name but no last name or account details, to write Clara's replies. That is how Clara works, so it is part of the service. If you switch on answering out loud for a child, their voice is turned into text on our own server and then discarded; it is never sent to another company. OpenAI turns lesson text and Clara's replies (which can include your child's first name) into the read-aloud voice. Our email provider sends you reports about your child. Nobody trains AI on your child's data, and nobody sells it.
  • Your rights: see everything collected from your child, have it deleted, or stop further collection at any time, from your account or by emailingour support address. If you refuse the AI sharing above, Clara cannot teach, so the service cannot run. Chats are deleted after 30 days.
  • Safety: if your child writes something suggesting they may be hurt or in danger, we email you and Clareza's owner the same day.

Paying by card is how you give consent. Full details, including how long we keep each thing: Privacy Policy (version 2026-10-05).

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Questions parents ask

Are sight words bad?

No, but they should be a small add-on to phonics, not the main way a child learns to read.

How many sight words should a kindergartner know?

Fewer than many lists suggest. A handful of tricky words, learned as they come up, beside strong phonics.

What if my child memorizes words instead of sounding them out?

Ask them to read new words they have not seen. If they guess from the first letter, go back to blending.

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More on the course itself at /homeschool-curriculum/homeschool-phonics-curriculum.