Read more about the topic of sightreading on solomusic website. But I`ve copied some interesting reply ( from our solomusic forum ) below.
I find that `Improve your sight reading` by Paul Harris to be most helpful for a progressive study, and Hal Leonard`s notespeller is excellent for kids.
There are certain things one can do ( specially recommended for people with poor co-ordination or slow note reading. )
1. U can memorise some space or line formulas as guidelines to help u read, and it`s easy to navigate around em.
Treble(space notes)_ FACE
Treble(line notes)_ Every Good Boy Does Fine
Bass ( space notes )_ACE is Good, or, All Cows Eat Grass
Bass ( line notes )_ Good Boy Does Fine Again.
2. After u`ve got that in yr head, yu learn to navigate around the staves with that. U do written ex. of note spellers, then gradually leading into verbal ex...as the main difference between written and spoken form lies in the speed.
3. Then, do Hal Leonard`s advanced notespeller whereby they make u learn to read notes in shapes and intervals...this is esp. helpful for chordal playing. And they make u recognise different intervals such as steps(2nd), thirds( leaps), fourths and fifths and so on.
4. Try Paul Harris`s clapping ex. The purpose of doing clapping is not to check the rhythm, but to work on the co-ordination between the 2 hands. So often have I seen teachers making students do these clapping ex in two seperate lines, which is really wrong. Let the kid clap the 2 lines at once, so it`ll be pretty mucgh like playing on the piano itself. Right hand for the upper line, and left for the lower line. Start with really simple rhythm, then progressing into dotted rhythm, triplets and so on.
5. Now, here is when the actual playing comes in...after the student is equipped with adaquete note reading abilities-Pls note that the student does not have to read every note itself, most often, they are encouraged to read in steps and shapes, to ensure a good flow.
Start with real simple ex that anchors around the key note and moves in steps, then progress to leaps of thirds, then 5ths.
4th will come in by itself, so long as they can tell the difference between 3rds and 5ths. And methods as such work not only for chords, but for melodic progression also.
Both hands always seems more tricky. But it`ll be tackable if it`s done systematically. Start simple BH ex with `false` BH playing. RH doing steps and leaps, and LH with tied notes, or occasional `shapes`...preferably 5ths. Then take it to the next step, LH in steps, and RH with shapes....and so on.
And the ultimate element, is the ability to read ahead. Choose spaced out rhythm such as minims for a head start, and perhaps chords...since shapes are easier to identify. So, it`ll go like this: 0 read, 1 play, 2 read, 3 play, 4 read the next bar, 1 play... and so on.
Then, finally it`ll develop into something like this... 0 read, 1 play, 234 read, 3 play... This means that they`ll actually read 1 whole bar/phrase ahead.
And lastly, always remember that chordal progresisons are always easier to sight read, it`s the linear ones that are difficult.
Come to http://www.solomusic.net/forum to view the entire thread.

JUST BUY A CASIO KEYBOARD WITH THE LIGHTS AND LEARN A SONG CALLED `FUR ELISE`AND THEN GO ON TO TURKISH MARCH, THEN HUNGARIAN DANCES AND THEN GET SOME ALFREDS PIANO BOOKS OUT AND PRACTISE TECHNIQUE,
WHEN U HAVE THAT ALL READY THEN U CAN MOVE ON TO SONGS LIKE FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLE-BEE AND MOONLIGHT SONATA 3RD MOV.
BUT IT SHOULD TAKE U ABOUT A YEAR TO GET ON TO THOSE SONGS......I STARTED IN FEB2004(START OF THE YEAR)I GOT FRUSTRATED WITH MY TEACHER BECAUSE SHE WAS TEACHING ME ODE TO JOY..........SO THE KEYBOARD TAUGHT ME, AND THEN I STARTED DOWNLOADING SONGS OFF WEBSITES LIKE THIS (8NOTES)

Hi, i have a couple of questions concerning sightreading as well.

First of all, i`ve never had any piano lessons. I don`t intend to take up any either, for fear that the pace might be way too slow, plus i`ll then have to practice simple, boring pieces on a scheduled basis, which will certainly kill my enthusiasm pretty quickly. After all, i managed to learn a whole grade 5 song within the first few hours i`ve ever sat down at the piano (yes, accompaniment included), and even now, i can play pretty fine as long as the piece ain`t too hard and i have it memorized.

I have this one big problem though - its called sightreading (duh). It totally stinks, especially since ive never had any piano lessons before. I can identify notes on both the treble and bass clef pretty quickly however, but i still have 2 major problems.

1) I can sightread one clef at a time as long as it`s not too complicated, but i really have trouble sightreading both clefs at the same time. Any way to get around this?

2) After identifying the note on the score, i have to keep looking down at the keys to make sure im hitting the right key, then back up to the score again, then back down to the keys again...this process obviously makes my sightreading extremely slow. How do the experts get around this? Are they able to play a whole song without ever having to look down at the keys?

Also, can anyone explain what DW means by "reading in steps and shapes"? And where can i get this..."Hal Leonard`s advanced notespeller "?

This is from an earlier post of mine.
Also, don`t be discouraged these are guidelines for sightreading at the college level.

scales build up coordination and improve your ability on the piano. not to mention they come up in sight reading also (same with appegios and even the dominant seventh arpeggios).
interms of sightreading, this ability is based on the conditioning of the brain. Think of it interms of english literacy for example. you don`t actually read one letter at a time- o-n-e- l-e-t-t-e-r. that is slow, but as you brain is conditioned, it recognizes groups of letters, and even chunks groups of words together for effecient and fluent reading. Same goes with music literacy, scales are the very basic vocabulary of piano literature and are a requirement for good piano/reading skills. But this is only a small portion of your vocabulary which is why we learn repetoire. We work out problems in etudes. When the problems are perfected, we recognize them in music and play them at sight.

I reccomend a few types of reading. The first are easy pieces you can read without any mistakes. The next, are medium leveled pieces at a moderate tempo. Play through them WITHOUT stopping at a steady beat. the third type are harder pieces which whould be practiced slowly with the metrenome with no mistakes.

the texts I reccomend.
Sight Reading at the piano, by Robert spillman (eastmanschool of music publication)
The Art of Accompanying, by Robert Spillman- this is much harder than the first
(eastman school of music publication)
Also for additional practice, read hymnals from cover to cover. If they are harder to conceive read them hands seperately a couple of times before putting it all together.

The last level of sightreading is conceiving open score (usually only practical ifyou plan on accompanying a choire). In this case read alto and soprano alone in your right hand. Read tenor (play this an octave lower than written) and bass in your left hand. Practice hands seperately.
final point, there is no such thing as a sight reader who is born. This takes hours of practice. Reading music 5-10 minutes a day will show very noticeable improvments within a year.
Don`t set too high of expectations that are unatainable because you will just dissapoint yourself. Also remember that your teacher has probably practiced reading for 20-30 years. If you notice improvement in 1-2 years, impagine your progress 20 years down the line. With our improvements in technology and pedagogy, children start earlier and make quicker progress than their teachers. You may already be ahead of your teacher when he/she was your age.

That is my million dollar lesson, now practice for 10,000 hours and good luck

Also, for those of you that aren`t good at sight reading learning music (even harder stuff) isn`t too difficult of a task. Here is a good tip- practice your pieces in SECTIONS with hands alone. In corroboration with Kochevitsky you should not attempt to play a section which is bigger than you can conceive all of the elemnts of music (rhythm, note accuracy, dynamics, articulation). USE METRENOME!

Just for the record, mr. "J" was a complete idiot. Firstly fur elise is far harder then any alfred pieces, then we take the jump to Turkish March which is quite a bit harder then fur elise. Then we jump over to moonlight sonata 3rd movement which is known to be one of the harder pieces in the piano repertoire. ??????????????

Then we get the incredibly stupid statement that this can be done all in one year copying off of a casio keyboard!!!!

Now, I shall point out the stupidity of the casio keyboard. It teaches you incredibly over-simplified versions of all these pieces and has nothing to do with sight reading!

SO DO IGNORE THAT. CAPITAL CAPITAL CAPITAL.

I`m 14, and this might not help Ryan, but anyone who is an advanced pianist struggling with sight-reading should try sight-reading Bach`s preludes and fugue`s. they`re all in a contrapuntal style and really difficult to play, if you can sight-read them, you can sight-read anything!

Is there anyone out there who is about my age and very interesed in piano?

Frankee

Being able to read Bach conter-point doesn`t qualify you to be a good sight reader. Reading Bach is playing lines which have good voicing and stay in the same relative locations. This will not help you in playing chord (hymns) structures. The difference between Bach and more modern piano music is that piano music tends to jump around more with the hands. Aside from the fact that they are completely different time eras and instruments, reading bach and reading brahms are completely different beasts.
A practical example of this. 2 different students at the college level. One reads Brahms music (where the page is practically black), but he has difficulty with contrapuntal textures.
Another sightreads preludes and fugues, but can`t read chord textures.
My advice is to practice both.

look for a good piano teacher, and try to practice 4 hours a day in reading notes. just remember that all virtuoso pianist(s) also had a hard time before they reach their position.

Hi I'm Jason from Philippines, In order to be able to read the notes on the sheet music or score, you really needed to practice regularly and make an "Everyday Studying Habit".Firstly, when you're studying your lessons, scan or look all the articulations,expressions, key signature, time signature and the composer's name to know how to interpret it, and try to read a lot of books about the classical composers and theories, it could also help . Secondly, keep in mind that "all pianists always make mistakes",be patient and DO NOT get bored!. In reading notes, do not read it "note by note" practice reading in a group, and do not attempt to play the whole piece the first time you play it, start on measure 1 and do not go to 2nd measure until you have mastered it. "Remember to Practise Everyday if you really love music in its deepest meaning and if you are serious to be a good sight reader and a pianist".