SpellChirp

Questions parents ask

SpellChirp, answered

Everything a parent usually wants to know before handing a tablet to a six-year-old. If yours isn’t here, ask us — a person replies.

Basics

What is SpellChirp?
SpellChirp is a spelling and vocabulary practice app for learners of every age — children with a list from school, teens, and adults, including anyone learning English as a second language. Enter a word list — typed, pasted, or photographed off a worksheet — and each word gets a plain-English definition, an example sentence, a phonetic respelling and pronunciation audio. Practice happens by typing, handwriting, listening or saying the word aloud, and written answers are graded with one tap.
What ages does SpellChirp work for?
Any age from about 5 up — there is no ceiling. Younger children lean on the audio, the letter tiles and the handwriting canvas; older learners get definition matching, fill-in-the-blank and the speed round. The grade picker runs from kindergarten to grade 12 and then Adult learner, and the built-in word bank runs from three-letter words to spelling-bee finals, with Open Skies continuing past the last stage indefinitely.
Is SpellChirp only for children?
No. SpellChirp works for any learner — a teen preparing for a test, a parent brushing up alongside their child, or an adult learning English as a second language. Choose "Adult learner" when adding who is practising and the built-in adventure starts at its hardest stage, with the placement test adjusting from there. Every feature works the same: paste any word list, hear each word aloud, and practice by typing, handwriting or ear. The definitions stay in plain English on purpose — simple language is a feature for a new English speaker, not a limitation.
Do I have to use my child's school word list?
No. If there is no list on the go, Story Mode runs a built-in adventure of sixteen graded stages and 288 words, kindergarten to grade 12, entered through a short placement test — and Open Skies keeps it going past the last stage indefinitely. It is free and unlimited. When the school list does arrive, you can paste it in and the same practice wraps around it.
Can teachers use SpellChirp with a class?
Yes. A teacher starts a class and gets one code for the term; each week's list they post lands on the dashboard of every family following it. It is free, pupils need no accounts, and the teacher sees only class-wide figures — follower counts, and accuracy and the hardest words once at least five families have practised — never a child's name.
Where do the definitions come from?
Each word is enriched automatically with an age-appropriate definition, a phonetic respelling, audio and example sentences. A parent reviews everything before it reaches their child and can edit any field, so a word that means something particular in your child's class means that in the app too.
Does my child need their own device?
No. SpellChirp is built for one device passed back and forth — the child spells, then hands it over for the one-tap grade. If they do have their own tablet, sign in there as well and the words and progress sync across both.
Does SpellChirp work offline?
Partly. The app needs a connection to open, but once it is open, practice, quizzes and Story Mode run in the browser and keep working if the signal drops, and every audio clip is cached on the device the first time it plays. Changes made offline sync when the connection comes back. Writing a brand-new story needs a connection.

Practice & progress

What are the ten quiz types?
Listen and type, handwriting, definition match, fill in the blank, listening match, say it aloud, multiple choice, scrambled letters, missing letters, and a speed round. Six are on by default and the other four — listening match, say it aloud, multiple choice and the speed round — are one tap away in the quiz settings. They rotate, so a word is met a different way each time rather than copied out ten times.
How does SpellChirp decide a word is learned?
A word has to be spelled correctly on three separate days before it counts as mastered. Three correct answers in one sitting is short-term memory; three across three days is closer to knowing it. Mastered words join the child's flock, and the ones still wobbly stay in the nest as amber chips for another look.
How does handwriting practice get marked?
A parent marks it. The child writes the word with a finger or a stylus on a full-width canvas, then hands the device over, and the grown-up taps green for 'got it' or amber for 'needs work'. Nothing tries to read a six-year-old's handwriting automatically, because getting that wrong in front of a child who wrote it correctly is worse than not offering it.
How long should a session take?
About ten minutes. A Story Mode chapter is three short lessons — about five new words met, drilled and reviewed — and the pacing is built around one chapter on a school night rather than a long session at the weekend.
What is Story Mode?
Story Mode turns a week's spelling words into an adventure story, one chapter a day, with the child named as the hero. They choose the setting — dragon slayer, detective, pirate treasure, magic school, space explorer and eleven more, or type their own — and each word appears inside a real sentence that shows what it means, in exactly the form they have to spell.

Privacy & safety

Is there any advertising or chat in SpellChirp?
No. There is no advertising on either plan, no messaging, and no other users. The only things on screen are your child's own words and the practice around them. This is a product used by children under 13, and the compliance cost of doing advertising properly there is larger than the revenue would be.
What data does SpellChirp collect about my child?
As little as it can. Without an account, words, attempts and handwriting live in that browser's storage; the only thing sent anywhere is the bare word, to a dictionary, to look up its meaning. With an account, the words and progress sync so they appear on your other devices. Nothing a child writes is sold, shared, or used to train anything, and there are no third-party analytics or advertising trackers.
Do I need an account?
No. Accounts are optional. Signing in — with a six-digit code emailed to a parent, or with Google — is what syncs the same words and progress to another device. Google sign-in shares only your name, email address and profile picture, and those are used solely to create and identify the account.

Plans & billing

How much does SpellChirp cost?
The free plan, Nest, costs nothing and has no time limit: unlimited Story Mode, unlimited practice on your child's own word list, as many words a week as you like, every practice mode and game, the Friday test, five printable sheets, full progress history and 10 seeds a month for written stories. The paid plan, Flock, is $5.99 a month or $49 a year, starts with a 14-day free trial, and adds up to 4 children, up to 20 word quests at once, photo import of a worksheet, the choice to carry a quest straight on to its next chapter, all nine printables, every Friday test score, the Sunday email report and 100 seeds a month.
What is free, exactly?
Story Mode is free and unlimited — every lesson, every stage, forever, and it never pauses. So is practice on your child's own school list, and there is no cap on how many words you add: homework is never gated, because a test on Friday does not care about a subscription. Nothing a child does is ever metered on either plan. What Flock adds is all on the parent's side: more children, more quests at once, more written stories, photo import, the rest of the printables, the full run of test scores and the Sunday email.

Still deciding?

Read the word lists by grade to see the level, or how Story Mode turns a word list into an adventure. Both are free to read, and starting the app needs no account.

Try SpellChirp free