Kindergarten Dolch pre-primer sight words worksheets
The Dolch pre-primer list is the first rung of the sight-word ladder: forty words like the, see, my, and jump, chosen because they fill beginner picture books. Pre-K and kindergarten readers learn them by sight, and every fresh print of this sheet draws a different handful from the forty.
Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RF.K.3.c.
A new sheet every click.
The kind of words you'll practice
Trace each word two times. Then write it yourself on the line.
notfindityouawaybigthemy
Each word appears twice in light gray for tracing, then once as a blank line for writing it without help.
Every print pulls a fresh set of word lists at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.
What's on each sheet
- Tracing. Trace each word two times. Then write it yourself on the line. 6 words per page.
Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with a word list on the last page.
How to teach this
This is the very first list, so keep sessions tiny: two or three words, five minutes, said aloud before and after tracing. Start with the words your child's own books use most (the, see, look, go) so the payoff shows up at bedtime the same week. When all forty feel instant, the primer list is the natural next sheet.
Watch for: Pre-primer doesn't mean easy to sound out; words like said and where break beginner phonics rules on purpose, which is exactly why they're learned by sight. The list isn't alphabet practice: a child can start it while some letters are still wobbly, because the goal is recognizing whole words, not naming letters.
Common questions about Dolch pre-primer sight words
- What are the Dolch pre-primer words?
- The first forty words of Edward Dolch's famous 220-word list, drawn from the books beginning readers actually meet: the, and, my, see, jump, play. They're the standard starting point for sight-word practice, and this sheet pulls a fresh handful of them on every print.
- When should a child start pre-primer words?
- Whenever picture books have become part of the routine, usually pre-K or the first months of kindergarten. There's no need to wait for full alphabet mastery; recognizing the as a whole shape is a separate skill from naming its letters, and the two grow happily in parallel.
Related worksheets
- Kindergarten beginning digraphs (sh, ch, th) Same grade, nearby skill
- Kindergarten counting syllables Same grade, nearby skill
- Kindergarten Dolch primer sight words Same grade, nearby skill
- Dolch pre-primer sight words, all grades The full progression
- All kindergarten English worksheets Every skill at this level
- All kindergarten worksheets Everything at this level
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Aligned to Common Core RF.K.3.c. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 137, updated August 2026.
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