I have a 6 year-old girl in first grade. We have problems because she doesn’t recognize a few words.

Word recognition is a common problem among first graders, but here are few answers that might help you. First of all, make sure that she thoroughly knows every alphabet letter AND sound. Next, make sure that she knows how to blend these sounds into simple phonetic words. Knowing how to blend is such an important skill and gives her the confidence to attack words that she doesn’t know yet–sounding them out as she approaches them.

When she comes across sight words that she has to memorize because they can’t be phonetically sounded out–here is a fun game. Have her look for those sight words on a cereal box, a newspaper, a billboard, in your kitchen pantry, in her older brother’s math book, etc. Anywhere that there are words, have her look for the ones that she is struggling with (only work on 2-3 words at a time) until she can easily identify them every time. When she identifies one correctly, have her say it, spell it, and say it again. Making flashcards and hanging them on the fridge, bathroom mirror, bedroom door, etc., will keep these sight words in her mind and help her retain what she’s discovered and learned.