Flash
Shows the word large for a few seconds, then hides it. The time can be shortened as the word becomes familiar, so the help fades rather than disappearing.
Helping a child who finds spelling hard
Some children need more time, more help and less pressure. Here's how to set Spelling.Live up so practice feels doable - and still moves them forward.
Five things to set up
Open your child's card and tap 🔧 Settings (you need to be signed in). Every child has four sections: About them, How they practise, Support & access and Safety & sharing. Settings are per child, so changing one never changes a sibling's.
1. Find out where they really are
Run a Skills Check from their Learning plan ("Check where they are"). It is pitched at their school year and shows which spelling patterns are secure and which aren't, so practice starts at the right level rather than at this week's hardest list.
Run a Skills Check from their Learning plan ("Check where they are"). It is pitched at their school year and shows which spelling patterns are secure and which aren't, so practice starts at the right level rather than at this week's hardest list.
2. Choose a gentler goal
In How they practise, set their goal to Confidence. The week is built around words they can get right, with the harder ones coming in gradually.
In How they practise, set their goal to Confidence. The week is built around words they can get right, with the harder ones coming in gradually.
3. Let help arrive one step at a time
In How they practise → Help when stuck, pick a help style: 🔦 Show the word (a quick look, then write it from memory) suits early spellers; 🐵 Coach it gives Tongo's tip about the actual mistake and keeps them spelling from memory. Set the pace to Step in quickly so help comes after the first wrong answer.
In How they practise → Help when stuck, pick a help style: 🔦 Show the word (a quick look, then write it from memory) suits early spellers; 🐵 Coach it gives Tongo's tip about the actual mistake and keeps them spelling from memory. Set the pace to Step in quickly so help comes after the first wrong answer.
4. Keep sessions short
Five to ten minutes a day is plenty. Missed words come back automatically a few days later, so nothing is lost by stopping.
Five to ten minutes a day is plenty. Missed words come back automatically a few days later, so nothing is lost by stopping.
5. Adjust what they see and hear
In Support & access you can switch on a clearer or OpenDyslexic font, larger text, extra spacing, a colour overlay and slower speech. See Support settings.
In Support & access you can switch on a clearer or OpenDyslexic font, larger text, extra spacing, a colour overlay and slower speech. See Support settings.
Other levers in How they practise
Letter bank
Offers a smaller set of letters to type from instead of a full keyboard - often what makes typing possible for younger or less confident children.
Test retries
How many goes they get in a test before the word is marked. More retries mean fewer early crosses.
Writing pad
Guide lines and letter tracing on the Write it pad, for children still learning letter formation.
If handwriting is the hard part
Set How strictly we read handwriting (Support & access) to Forgiving. Letters that look alike - a u that looks like a v - get the benefit of the doubt, but a genuine misspelling is still marked. Turn on Gentler handwriting for kinder feedback messages. If we still misread something, your child can tell us, and a misread never counts against them.
They can also practise by typing, choosing from options (Pick it) or saying the word aloud (Say it).
Reading the progress report
The report names the spelling pattern behind each mistake, so ten wrong words may turn out to be two rules. Practise the rule, not just the words. See Spelling patterns.
Common questions
When should I talk to the school?
If spelling hasn't moved in a term despite regular practice, if mistakes don't match the sounds of the word, or if reading is also a struggle, talk to the class teacher or SENCO. Spelling.Live is a practice app and doesn't diagnose anything.
Will easier settings hold my child back?
No. Help is recorded honestly, and the help style, pace and Flash time can be turned down as they gain confidence. The aim is for help to fade, not stay.
Is there help for dyslexia?
Yes. See spelling support for dyslexia and SEND for the full set of per-child settings.