A spelling app for your child's own school list - in US English

Spelling.Live turns the spelling list your child's school sends home into short daily practice. It was built in the UK, and it teaches the English your child's school uses: when you add your child, choose 🇺🇸 US English and everything follows - the spellings we accept, the voice that reads the words, and school years named the way you know them (Kindergarten onwards).

Start free with this week's list 200 free credits · no card · prices in US dollars

How it works

1. Add your child. Choose US English and their grade. Spellings, the voice and the progress report all follow.
2. Add this week's list. Photograph the sheet that came home, type it in, or pick a ready-made list for their grade.
3. Five minutes a day. Your child writes, types, says or picks each word. Missed words come back until they stick, and games unlock as a reward.
4. See what's working. A weekly email and a progress report show which spelling patterns are secure and which need more practice.

See it step by step

What it does

• Your school's own list - type it in, or photograph the sheet that came home.
• Ready-made lists - every grade's lists below, plus the Dolch and Fry sight words, ready to add in one tap when school hasn't sent a list yet.
• Four ways to practice - choose it, type it, say it and write it, with handwriting checked.
• Paper tests marked from a photo - a real written test, marked in seconds.
• Every mistake diagnosed - the app names the spelling pattern behind it.
• Missed words come back on a spaced schedule until they stick.
• Support for dyslexia and SEN - OpenDyslexic, color overlays, slower speech and more.

Every word here uses American spelling (color, favorite, organize), and Spelling.Live reads words aloud in an American voice when your child is set to US English.

Built for US schools, not just respelled

There is no national spelling curriculum in the US. Most state standards name a few patterns in the early grades, then ask children to "spell grade-appropriate words correctly". That doesn't tell a parent much. So your child's progress report follows a US-adapted version of the most detailed national spelling map we've found: England's National Curriculum, English Appendix 1. We adapted it for US schools rather than picking one state's version.

• US spelling everywhere - every rule's examples are in US spelling, so the "ei, eigh and ey" rule shows neighbor. An American spelling is never marked wrong.
• Their grade, placed by age - rules sit under Kindergarten to 5th grade, matched by age, so a 3rd grader isn't pitched a year too hard.
• Only what a US school teaches - pairs that only exist in British spelling are gone, and the hyphen examples are ones US schools use, like well-known and twenty-one.
• Honest labels - no US body makes these rules required, so we never call them required.
• Real proof of progress - a rule only reads Secure when your child has spelled it right, unaided and in writing, on different words.

How the progress report works in each country · Why we start from England's Appendix 1

Spelling words by grade

There is no single national spelling list in the United States. Schools follow their state's standards and their own reading program, so your child's weekly list may differ. These are words commonly taught, grouped by the spelling pattern they practice.

• KindergartenAges 5–6
• 1st gradeAges 6–7
• 2nd gradeAges 7–8
• 3rd gradeAges 8–9
• 4th gradeAges 9–10
• 5th gradeAges 10–11
• Dolch sight words220 words, 5 levels
• Fry sight wordsFirst 100

Ready-made lists in the app

No list from school yet? Every grade list on this page, plus the Dolch and Fry sight words, is ready-made in Spelling.Live in American spelling. Set your child to US English, open Browse Spelling Lists and add one in a tap. Or let Spelling.Live choose the right list for their grade when you sign up.

For teachers

Teacher accounts get free class tools: pupil logins without email addresses, class reports showing the spelling rules behind every mistake, and whole-class paper tests marked from a scan. Already on Google Classroom? Import your class. See Spelling.Live for schools.

Prices in US dollars

Start free with 200 credits and no card. When they run out, choose what suits your family.

• Family plan $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year (2 months free). Practice is free for up to 4 children.
• One-child plan $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year (2 months free). Practice is free for one child.
• Pay as you go $5 for 400 credits or $25 for 5,000. No subscription, and credits last 12 months.

US families are charged in US dollars. Cancel a plan any time. See all prices.