How Practice and Test work

A round is ten words, chosen to be words a young child already meets in everyday reading. In both Practice and Test mode, the word and its example sentence are read aloud using your browser's built-in voice, so your child hears the word said clearly and hears it in a short, simple sentence before typing anything.

Practice mode is the calm, everyday mode. Type the word you hear. Spell it correctly and the round continues. Spell it with one letter wrong and the game shows "close" and offers the same word again right away, so nothing feels like a dead end.

Test mode is for when a child wants to see a real score. One try per word, a round of ten, and a score out of ten at the finish. It also gives you a printable word list and answer sheet, handy for a fridge-door copy or a few extra rounds away from the screen.

Words at this level are simple and familiar, things like puppy, yellow or circus, the kind of word a child hears often and is building confidence spelling for the first time.

Tips for early spelling practice

Play together. Sit with your child for the first few rounds. Hearing you sound out a word alongside them makes the read-aloud sentence more useful.

Say it before typing. A quick out-loud repeat of the word helps a young speller notice each sound before they have to find the right letter.

Stay in Practice mode most of the time. Test mode is a nice occasional treat once a child feels confident. Most learning happens in Practice, where trying again costs nothing.

Keep rounds short. Ten words is already a full sitting for a young child. One calm round is worth more than pushing through several in a row.

Notice progress, not perfection. A "close" result is the game doing exactly what it should, guiding a child toward the right spelling one try at a time.

For teachers and parents

Built to work at home with one child, or across a room of young learners.

Printing. After a Test mode round, print the word list and the answer sheet. That gives you a paper copy for a folder, a take-home page, or an activity that does not need a screen at all.

Sharing the page. The page link is all that is needed to share it. Send it home for a family to try together, or open it on a shared classroom screen so every child works from the same round of ten words.

Using it in class. There is no account and nothing to install, so it runs the same on any shared device. Practice mode works well as a small group activity, with an adult nearby to help with the read-aloud sentences the first few times.

No pressure, ever. There is no leaderboard, no timer and no way to compare one child's score with another's built into the page. Every round is just that child working at their own speed.

More spelling practice

Looking for something closer to a specific grade?

• Start even simpler at kindergarten spelling.
• Move up a step to 1st grade spelling.
• Ready for longer words? Try 2nd grade spelling.
• See every spelling page at spelling games.