The Dolch pre-primer list is the first 40 sight words children learn to recognize on sight — words like the, and, and said that appear constantly in early readers but often can't be sounded out phonetically. This ready-made deck has all 40, each with a simple sentence on the back for context.
Short sessions beat long ones: five minutes a day with 5–10 cards outperforms a weekly half-hour with all 40. Start with a handful, add new words as the current ones become instant, and keep mastered cards in the rotation occasionally so they stay automatic. The goal is recognition without sounding out — if a child hesitates more than a couple of seconds, say the word, use the sentence on the back, and move on. Struggling through a sight word defeats the purpose.
The shareable link matters here: create the deck once and it works on a parent's phone, the kitchen tablet, and the classroom smartboard — same cards, no accounts.
Edward Dolch's original list (1936) is split into five levels: pre-primer (40 words, this deck), primer (52 words, roughly kindergarten), first grade (41), second grade (46), and third grade (41), plus a separate 95-word noun list. This deck is the pre-primer level; the primer set is the natural next step. After creating the deck you can add, edit, or remove any card — it's yours.
More ready-made sets: Kindergarten Sight Words Flashcards · Alphabet Flashcards (A–Z) · see all