Just over a year ago, Junior began learning to read sight words using DSE’s See and Learn Reading program. We have been amazed at how quickly he learned to read, and since then he has completed all three of the See and Learn Phrases kits and the See and Learn Sentences kit (which is huge!). Now there are no more See and Learn Kits for him to use, but I don’t want to slow down his momentum. We have since moved onto phonics. However, the process of matching, selecting, and reading sight words is such a powerful learning tool for him that I want to keep using it in addition to learning phonics.

So I am making my own picture and word cards, See and Learn style. It’s a lot of work, but definitely worth the effort, especially when I see how quickly and eagerly Junior learns new words. Here are two sets I am sharing with you today: A Nativity Set and a Christmas Vocabulary Set.

Junior loves the story of Jesus’ birth, so I knew he would love to learn to read words from the story. Here are samples of pictures cards from the Nativity Set:

This set contains 24 pictures and word. They are: walking, riding, stable, manger, Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, donkey, angel, angels, star, shepherd, sheep, sheep (plural), camel, camels, wise man, wise men, gold, frankincense, myrrh, bring, nativity, and night.

This set is a great way to introduce the concept of plurals.

Here’s a sample from the book that goes with it:

Since I had to purchase a commercial license for the artwork by Digital Paper Craft, I do have to charge a minimal fee for this. The Nativity Set is available at Teachers Pay Teachers for a dollar.

The Christmas Sight Words Set, however, is free. Here’s what it looks like:

This set has 12 picture cards and sight words: Christmas tree, presents, wreath, stockings, bells, ornaments, Santa, elves, reindeer, nativity, candle, and lights.

Here’s a sample from the book:

When I make books for Junior, I follow the advice of Natalie Hale, author of Whole Child Reading: a Quick Start to Teaching Children with Down Syndrome and Other Developmental Delays. That is, I always have a page with just the text. The following page has a picture with the same text. This prevents guessing and gives Junior necessary additional practice with reading. So many beginning readers have pictures of the text, which makes it too easy for students to guess what the words are.

Download the Christmas Sight Words here:

By the way, one lovely library book about the Nativity that has a lot of repeated text suitable for sight reading is:

May you and your family have a very holy and blessed Advent and Christmas season!