Dolch words are a list of the 220 words which occur most frequently in children's books, according to research published by Edward William Dolch in 1948. Children are still taught these words in school today. The most frequently occuring words are the, to, and, a, I and you. As you can imagine, these words are still in just as common use now as they were over 50 years ago.

Learning to reconise these words will give children's reading a real boost. However, they can be hard to learn because on their own they don't really mean anything. Kids find learning words like 'cat' and 'dog' relatively easy because they actually mean something to the child. Try explaining to a young child what 'the' means.

Also, the Dolch words are not easy to read because many of them don't follow the most straightforward phonics rules. For instance, in the word "to" and "you" there's an "oo" sound that is spelt in an unusual way.

This means that most of the Dolch words are best learnt as "sight words". That means that they should be learnt as a whole so that they are recognized on sight without the reader having to sound them out letter by letter.

This set of DVDs are a great way to give your kids a head start with reading. Parents rate them very highly for being able to teach children as young as 2 to recognize the most important Dolch sight words. 

If you want to help your kids learn to read the Dolch sight words, here are a few ideas to help make it easier.

1. You need to know what order to learn the words in. Make sure they learn the most frequently used words first as this will give them the greatest help with reading. For example, the word "the" is used much more often than "about" (both are Dolch words).
2. Don't try to teach too many words at one time. In fact you can start with just two words. Once your child can recognize both the words easily, you can add another.
3. Practice reading the words together often. Don't worry if your child sometimes forgets a word they used to know. The more practice they get the better. Reading the words in a sentence is more interesting and meaninful than reading separate words.
4. Use colorful flashcards to check which words your child knows, but it's a good idea to only test them on words you're pretty sure they recognize so that they experience success.
5. If you print off two sets of flashcards you can make matching and memory games with them
6. Encourage your child to practice writing the words as they learn to read them. This will help them learn to spell.
7. Use online games to reinforce learning. Playing colorful and noisy games where you have to match a spoken word to a written word is much more fun than just being tested with flash cards.
8. Videos with great graphics, music and sound effects can be very effective in helping children to recognize the Dolch words.