Getting Started: How to Use

Learn to read free!: Directions on how to get started on our free 120 day reading program.

The Sight and Sound Reading program is an online reading program that was created in the hope of helping all children learn to read with confidence. As such, we have tried to create a website that teaches children to read for free, and that helps struggling readers find the tools they need to experience reading success. Additionally, we do have resources available that go along with the program that you can inexpensively purchased in the store. These resources can be used by individuals at home or in a classroom setting.

Several ways to proceed:

We offer a few different ways you can get started. We have a recommended way, but –the choice is yours. All students are different so the method you choose may depend on your student. We offer..

  • Learn to Read for free Sight Word Reading Program
  • Phonics Reading Program
  • Word Families
  • Learning the Alphabet

I will explain each of these programs next.

Learn to Read for free Sight Word Reading Program

In this program Mrs. Karle teaches the 250 basic sight words in the context of stories to help the children learn to read. She starts by teaching the children to read the words “Good Morning” and each day she adds words until the children are reading fluently.

This program is fantastic for a beginning reader, a struggling reader, a special needs student –really –anyone wanting to learn to read. Children who are struggling to learn to read many times do not have confidence when then are reading. If you don’t have confidence with something, you don’t like doing it. It is very important that your child have confidence reading. The sight word program gives children confidence with reading. After the children have confidence reading, then Mrs. Karle introduces phonics and helps the students learn how to sound out words. If you start with the learn to read for free sight word reading program, we recommend you start helping your student with phonics around day 20 of the program.

Phonics Reading Program

With this program Mrs. Karle goes through the long and short vowels and sounds out words and sentences to help the children learn to sound out words and write sentences. This program is great for helping teach reading, spelling, phonics, writing, punctuation. This program is great for a struggling reader. If you can tell your child struggles with phonics (sounding out of words), we recommend doing the following. First we recommend that you test your child reading the sight words. If your child can read the sight words fluently, without “thinking”, and only is struggling with sounding out words, then this is a good place to start and do. If your child started Mrs. Karle’s sight word program, we recommend starting the phonics program around Day 20. At this point your child will be reading well and confidently and it is a good point to add the challenge of phonics.

Word Family/Word Ladders
With this program, Mrs. Karle uses word ladders to help students learn more about phonics, rhyming, word patterns and word families. This program helps build a child’s vocabulary. Mrs. Karle starts with a basic word, for example “all”, and then she builds upon that word going up a ladder: all becomes ball, fall, mall, tall, hall, wall. Mrs. Karle goes through each of these words and defines each word. She reads up and down the ladder and she quizzes the students on the meaning of each word. This program is great for increasing student vocabulary and fluency. As such, this is great to help build a child’s vocabulary and fluency. Once your child can read sight words and sound out words, working with the word ladders will help your child learn more words very easily and read much better.

Learning the Alphabet

Mrs. Karle has a Teacher’s Manual to help you learn to how to teach the alphabet. This teacher’s manual is perfect for a preschool or kindergarten student to help reinforce the difference between upper and lower case letters. Her alphabet visually places the upper case letters above the lower case letters to help the students visualize the difference. Additionally her alphabet visually shows the differences between consonants and vowels by making the vowels a different color. Her alphabet also explicitly teaches the different confusing fonts that beginning readers often confuse. It also explicitly teaches the different sounds that different letters make (for instance the letter G can make a sound like giraffe or a g as in goat). If your child does not know the alphabet, the difference between upper and lower case letters, or the difference between vowels and consonants, this is great to do alongside the learn to read for free sight word reading program.

Steps to get started:

  1. Is your child a beginning reader or a struggling reader?

———-> If you have a beginning reader, test your child’s reading readiness. This will give you a baseline of what your child knows and does not know. Then, begin the Learn to Read for free sight word reading program.

———-> If you have a struggling reader, use our free sight word test to see where to start in the ‘learn to read for free’ program. On the sight word test there are numbers underneath each sight word. Those numbers indicate the day of the program where each sight word is introduced. Begin the sight word program where your child is confident reading. If your child begins to struggle at day 11, begin at day 10. We want your child to be able to read confidently.

  1. Watch the phonics videos and word ladders to help learn phonics, writing, spelling, and vocabulary.
  2. Watch the word ladder videos to help increase your child’s vocabulary and fluency.

Learn to read for free -Day 1, free videos and worksheets


Ready to read?…Get Started!

Day Videos Sight Words Skills Extra Practice Videos Other Lessons you can do today using our program:
Day 1 Good, Morning Capital, lower case Introduce Mrs. Karle’s alphabet visually showing the upper and lower case letters
Day 2 good, morning comma Day 2 (Practice and Games)
Day 3 See a red period Day 3 (Practice and Games)
Day 4 I Day 4 (Practice and Games) Mrs. Karle’s alphabet: The letter I – notice the different confusing fonts for the capital letter I.
Day 5 yellow
Day 5 (extra) Day 5 (Practice and Games)
Day 6 one sound “b” Day 6 (Practice and Games) Show the confusing letter b picture: bat/ball
Day 7 blue Day 7 (Practice and Games)
Day 7 (extra)
Day 8 the
Day 9 green question mark, sound “g” Mrs. Karle’s alphabet: The letter g – notice the different confusing fonts for the lower case letter g.
Day 10 go “s” as ending Day 10 (Practice and Games) I see Sight Word Book
Day 11 bear exclamation point I See (Sight Word Book)
Day 12 two
Day 13 orange
Day 13 (extra)
Day 14 brown, rabbit “s” as plural
Day 15 is, not
Day 16 up, down opposites
Day 17 and vowel, short “a”
Day 18 black, cat quotation marks
Day 19 it, bird Begin the phonics program.
Day 20 big, little Big Train Sight Word Book
Day 21 run sound “r”
Day 22 said
Day 23 can, white Day 23 (Practice and Games)
Day 24 boy, dog sound “d”
Day 25 play, three Play! Play! Play! Sight Word Book
Day 26 come, here
Day 27 we, ball, all “all” rhyming word Start word ladders/Word Families to help improve vocabulary and fluency (all word family)
Day 28 me, four “f” sound
Day 29 for “four” and “for”
Day 30 girl, mother One Red Hat Sight Word Book
Day 31 you, help sound “y” as a consonant
Day 32 out, in opposites
Day 33 yes
Day 34 ride, car
Day 35 no, store sound “n”
Day 36 get, box All Play Ball Sight Word Book
Day 37 away, to sount “t”
Day 38 make, cake long vowel “a”, Vowel Rule “magic e” ake word family
Day 39 he, to to, two, too
Day 40 man, after sound “m”, “an”, rhyming
Day 41 five, letters vowel long “i”, magic “e”
Day 42 do, what
Day 43 him, jump
Day 44 into, cannot compound words
Day 45 Father, fish, boat The Traffic Light Sight Word Book
Day 46 look, she sound “l”
Day 47 like
Day 48 am, water, going “ing” ending
Day 49 call sound c/k
Day 50 with, my, puppy Monkey See, Monkey Do Sight Word Book
Day 51 want, grass sound “w”
Day 52 without, will, find
Day 53 horse, have, her sound “h”
Day 54 are, pony, if
Day 55 your, on
Day 56 pick, so, funny, six vowel short “i”, sound “x”
Day 57 this, how, put, coat
Day 58 now, ask, much “ow”
Day 59 wow, there
Day 60 that, old, house A Happy Tree Sight Word Book
Day 61 tell, us, paper sound “p”
Day 62 they, work, men
Day 63 think, children, live
Day 64 some, hill, first
Day 65 eat, be, at
Day 66 did, show, know “ow” as “o”, and “kn”
Day 67 was, but, who
Day 68 by, them, why vowel “y” as “i”
Day 69 saw, must, stop, just, from sound “j”
Day 70 under, tree, our, airplane, of
Day 71 before, cut vowel short “u”
Day 72 where, when, fly question words
Day 73 let, take, long, grow
Day 74 use, wood, fire, cold vowel long “u”
Day 75 walk, about, then, around “ou”
Day 76 soon, many, made, round
Day 77 today, over, sleep “ay”
Day 78 his, ten, farm, days, grandmother, grandfather
Day 79 myself, drink, milk, cow apostrophe
Day 80 pretty, give, farmer, chickens “er” ending
Day 81 an, basket, barn, hen, egg vowel short “e”
Day 82 does, small, hold, wagon
Day 83 fast, hurt, corn, rain vowel rule: two vowels walking
Day 84 came, as, because, sheep, ducks vowel long “e”, drop magic “e”, ing ending
Day 85 could, got vowel short “o”
Day 86 both, fall, ran, leg
Day 87 their, better, hand
Day 88 gave, kitten, home, feet, nose vowel long, “o”
Day 89 say, every, school
Day 90 were, bring, bus
Day 91 went
Day 92 please, sit, right, has
Day 93 back, may, only
Day 94 read, pick, write, or, draw, book
Day 95 don’t, wish, these, bed contraction, “ed” as ending
Day 96 laugh, never, new
Day 97 well, been, woud, goes, it’s contraction
Day 98 light, off, keep, again “ight”
Day 99 ate, done, full
Day 100 always, buy, carry, train, birthday, party
Day 101 very, far, any, money, toys sound “v”
Day 102 best, thank, Dad, Mom, doll, baby vowel, “y” as “e”
Day 103 sing, open, wash, clean, hands
Day 104 pull, those, table, floor sound “z”
Day 105 start, watch, chair
Day 106 shall, warm, hot, together, snow, cap
Day 107 try, own, head
Day 108 once, upon, time, eight, monkey, tail, elephant sound “ph” as “f”
Day 109 kind, seven
Day 110 found, which, other, shoes
Day 111 let’s, brother, teacher, flower, garden contraction
Day 112 picture, stick, sun, sister, squirrel, nest, top “qu”
Day 113 can’t contraction
Day 114 bread, street, people, friend, door, window
Day 115 didn’t, I’ll, you’ll contractions
Day 116 thing, eye, apple, ring, Doctor
Day 117 thought, nice, talk, everything
Day 118 bell, it’ll, Grandman, love, where’s, brought contraction
Day 119 road, night
Day 120

Learn to read free!: Getting Started-How to Use

Learn to read free!: Directions on how to get started on our free 120 day reading program.

The Sight and Sound Reading program was created in the hope of helping all children learn to read with confidence.  As such, we have tried to create a website that teaches children to read for free, and that helps struggling readers find the tools they need to experience reading success.    Additionally, we do have resources available that go along with the program that you can inexpensively purchase in the store.  These resources can be used by individuals at home or in a classroom setting.

Several ways to proceed:

We offer a few different ways you can get started.  We have a recommended way, but –the choice is yours.  All students are different so the method you choose may depend on your student.  We offer..

  • Learn to Read for free Sight Word Reading Program
  • Phonics Reading Program
  • Word Families
  • Learning the Alphabet

I will explain each of these programs next.

Learn to Read for free Sight Word Reading Program

In this program Mrs. Karle teaches the 250 basic sight words in the context of stories to help the children learn to read.  She starts by teaching the children to read the words “Good Morning” and each day she adds words until the children are reading fluently.

This program is fantastic for a beginning reader, a struggling reader, a special needs student –really –anyone wanting to learn to read.  Children who are struggling to learn to read many times do not have confidence when then are reading.  If you don’t have confidence with something, you don’t like doing it.  It is very important that your child have confidence reading.  The sight word program gives children confidence with reading.  After the children have confidence reading, then Mrs. Karle introduces phonics and helps the students learn how to sound out words.  If you start with the learn to read for free sight word reading program, we recommend you start helping your student with phonics around day 20 of the program.

Phonics Reading Program

With this program Mrs. Karle goes through the long and short vowels and sounds out words and sentences to help the children learn to sound out words and write sentences.  This program is great for helping teach reading, spelling, phonics, writing, punctuation. This program is great for a struggling reader.  If you can tell your child struggles with phonics (sounding out of words), we recommend doing the following.  First we recommend that you test your child reading the sight words.  If your child can read the sight words fluently, without “thinking”, and only is struggling with sounding out words, then this is a good place to start and do.   If your child started Mrs. Karle’s sight word program, we recommend starting the phonics program around Day 20.  At this point your child will be reading well and confidently and it is a good point to add the challenge of phonics.

Word Family/Word Ladders
With this program, Mrs. Karle uses word ladders to help students learn more about phonics, rhyming, word patterns and word families.  This program helps build a child’s vocabulary.  Mrs. Karle starts with a basic word, for example “all”, and then she builds upon that word going up a ladder:  all becomes ball, fall, mall, tall, hall, wall.  Mrs. Karle goes through each of these words and defines each word.  She reads up and down the ladder and she quizzes the students on the meaning of each word.  This program is great for increasing student vocabulary and fluency.  As such, this is great to help build a child’s vocabulary and fluency.  Once your child can read sight words and sound out words, working with the word ladders will help your child learn more words very easily and read much better.

Learning the Alphabet

Mrs. Karle has a Teacher’s Manual to help you learn to how to teach the alphabet.  This teacher’s manual is perfect for a preschool or kindergarten student to help reinforce the difference between upper and lower case letters.  Her alphabet visually places the upper case letters above the lower case letters to help the students visualize the difference.  Additionally her alphabet visually shows the differences between consonants and vowels by making the vowels a different color.  Her alphabet also explicitly teaches the different confusing fonts that beginning readers often confuse.   It also explicitly teaches the different sounds that different letters make (for instance the letter G can make a sound like giraffe or a g as in goat).  If your child does not know the alphabet, the difference between upper and lower case letters, or the difference between vowels and consonants, this is great to do alongside the learn to read for free sight word reading program.

Steps to get started:

  1. Is your child a beginning reader or a struggling reader?

———->  If you have a beginning reader test your child’s reading readiness.  This will give you a baseline of what your child knows and does not know.   Then, begin the Learn to Read for free sight word reading program.

———->  If you have a struggling reader,  use our free sight word test to see where to start in the ‘learn to read for free’ program. On the sight word test there are numbers underneath each sight word.  Those numbers indicate the day of the program where each sight word is introduced.  Begin the sight word program where your child is confident reading.  If your child begins to struggle at day 11, begin at day 10.  We want your child to be able to read confidently.

  1. Watch the phonics videos and word ladders to help learn phonics, writing, spelling, and vocabulary.  
  2. Watch the word ladder videos to help increase your child’s vocabulary and fluency.

Learn to read for free -Day 1, free videos and worksheets


Ready to read?…Get Started!  

Day Videos Sight Words Skills Extra Practice Videos Other Lessons you can do today using our program:
Day 1 Good, Morning Capital, lower case Introduce Mrs. Karle’s alphabet visually showing the upper and lower case letters
Day 2 good, morning comma Day 2 (Practice and Games)
Day 3 See a red period Day 3 (Practice and Games)
Day 4 I Day 4 (Practice and Games) Mrs. Karle’s alphabet:  The letter I – notice the different confusing fonts for the capital letter I.
Day 5  yellow
Day 5 (extra) Day 5 (Practice and Games)
Day 6 one sound “b” Day 6 (Practice and Games) Show the confusing letter b picture: bat/ball
Day 7 blue Day 7 (Practice and Games)
Day 7 (extra)
Day 8 the
Day 9  green question mark, sound “g” Mrs. Karle’s alphabet:  The letter g – notice the different confusing fonts for the lower case letter g.
Day 10 go “s” as ending Day 10 (Practice and Games)   I see Sight Word Book
Day 11  bear  exclamation point I See (Sight Word Book)
Day 12 two
Day 13  orange
Day 13 (extra)
Day 14  brown, rabbit “s” as plural
Day 15 is, not
Day 16  up, down  opposites
Day 17  and vowel, short “a”
Day 18 black, cat quotation marks
Day 19  it, bird Begin the phonics program.
Day 20  big, little Big Train Sight Word Book
Day 21 run  sound “r”
Day 22 said
Day 23  can, white Day 23 (Practice and Games)
Day 24 boy, dog  sound “d”
Day 25  play, three Play! Play! Play! Sight Word Book
Day 26  come, here
Day 27  we, ball, all “all” rhyming word Start word ladders/Word Families to help improve vocabulary and fluency (all word family)
Day 28  me, four “f” sound
Day 29  for “four” and “for”
Day 30  girl, mother One Red Hat Sight Word Book
Day 31 you, help sound “y” as a consonant
Day 32  out, in opposites
Day 33  yes
Day 34 ride, car
Day 35 no, store sound “n”
Day 36  get, box All Play Ball Sight Word Book
Day 37 away, to sount “t”
Day 38  make, cake long vowel “a”, Vowel Rule “magic e” ake word family
Day 39  he, to to, two, too
Day 40  man, after sound “m”, “an”, rhyming
Day 41  five, letters vowel long “i”, magic “e”
Day 42  do, what
Day 43 him, jump
Day 44 into, cannot compound words
Day 45  Father, fish, boat The Traffic Light Sight Word Book
Day 46 look, she sound “l”
Day 47  like
Day 48 am, water, going “ing” ending
 Day 49  call sound c/k
 Day 50  with, my, puppy Monkey See, Monkey Do Sight Word Book
Day 51 want, grass sound “w”
Day 52   without, will, find
Day 53  horse, have, her sound “h”
Day 54 are, pony, if
Day 55 your, on
Day 56 pick, so, funny, six vowel short “i”, sound “x”
Day 57 this, how, put, coat
Day 58 now, ask, much “ow”
Day 59 wow, there
Day 60 that, old, house A Happy Tree Sight Word Book
Day 61 tell, us, paper sound “p”
Day 62 they, work, men
Day 63 think, children, live
Day 64 some, hill, first
Day 65 eat, be, at
Day 66 did, show, know “ow” as “o”, and “kn”
Day 67 was, but, who
Day 68 by, them, why vowel “y” as “i”
Day 69 saw, must, stop, just, from sound “j”
Day 70 under, tree, our, airplane, of
Day 71 before, cut vowel short “u”
Day 72 where, when, fly question words
Day 73 let, take, long, grow
Day 74 use, wood, fire, cold vowel long “u”
Day 75 walk, about, then, around “ou”
Day 76  soon, many, made, round
Day 77 today, over, sleep “ay”
Day 78  his, ten, farm, days, grandmother, grandfather
Day 79 myself, drink, milk, cow  apostrophe
Day 80  pretty, give, farmer, chickens “er” ending
Day 81  an, basket, barn, hen, egg vowel short “e”
Day 82  does, small, hold, wagon
Day 83 fast, hurt, corn, rain vowel rule:  two vowels walking
Day 84  came, as, because, sheep, ducks vowel long “e”, drop magic “e”, ing ending
Day 85  could, got vowel short “o”
Day 86  both, fall, ran, leg
Day 87 their, better, hand
Day 88 gave, kitten, home, feet, nose vowel long, “o”
Day 89  say, every, school
Day 90 were, bring, bus
Day 91 went
Day 92 please, sit, right, has
Day 93 back, may, only
Day 94 read, pick, write, or, draw, book
Day 95 don’t, wish, these, bed contraction, “ed” as ending
Day 96  laugh, never, new
Day 97 well, been, woud, goes, it’s contraction
 Day 98  light, off, keep, again “ight”
Day 99  ate, done, full
Day 100 always, buy, carry, train, birthday, party
 Day 101 very, far, any, money, toys sound “v”
Day 102  best, thank, Dad, Mom, doll, baby vowel, “y” as “e”
Day 103  sing, open, wash, clean, hands
Day 104 pull, those, table, floor sound “z”
Day 105  start, watch, chair
Day 106 shall, warm, hot, together, snow, cap
Day 107 try, own, head
Day 108 once, upon, time, eight, monkey, tail, elephant  sound “ph” as “f”
Day 109  kind, seven
Day 110 found, which, other, shoes
Day 111 let’s, brother, teacher, flower, garden contraction
Day 112  picture, stick, sun, sister, squirrel, nest, top “qu”
Day 113  can’t contraction
Day 114  bread, street, people, friend, door, window
Day 115 didn’t, I’ll, you’ll contractions
Day 116  thing, eye, apple, ring, Doctor
Day 117 thought, nice, talk, everything
Day 118 bell, it’ll, Grandman, love, where’s, brought contraction
Day 119  road, night
Day 120