Grade 1 expanded list - Words like: said, they, have, from, were, what, when, there, could, would. These start appearing regularly in early chapter books and simple stories.
Grade 2 list - More complex sight words: through, thought, should, does, other, another, because, before, though, enough. Several of these introduce irregular spelling patterns that genuinely benefit from repeated visual exposure rather than phonics-based sounding out.
Grade 3 and beyond - By this stage, sight word lists typically merge into general vocabulary building rather than a separate distinct category, though some genuinely tricky irregular words (like "colonel" or "yacht") continue to need direct memorisation regardless of grade.
Most children need repeated exposure — seeing a sight word correctly 10-15+ times across different contexts — before true automatic recognition develops. A word missed today isn't a sign of failure; it typically just needs a few more exposures.
If a child is significantly behind grade-level sight word lists despite consistent practice over several months, or shows particular difficulty with sight words compared to phonics-based decoding generally, it's worth mentioning to the school — sometimes this points to a specific area needing more targeted support.