A spelling app can make short practice easier to repeat, but the app should support a small set of useful words rather than generate a constant stream of unrelated challenges.

Choose an app carefully

Look for:

• words that match current schoolwork;

• the option to create a personal list;

• clear correction after an error;

• an age-appropriate design with limited distractions; and

• a way to review difficult words again.

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Use a short routine

Choose three to five spellings with school. Practise for a few minutes two or three times a week, and sit with your child for the first few sessions. After the app session, ask your child to write one or two words from memory and use one in a sentence.

Stay with the same set until the words feel easier and begin appearing correctly in ordinary writing. Scores, streaks and rewards are less important than remembering the spelling away from the app.

If you want to try an app

You do not need one. The same routine works on paper: look at the word, say it, cover it, write it, then check.

Sir Linkalot (paid) is a UK spelling app that uses animations and memory links for exception words, patterns and word parts. It suits a tricky word that needs a memory cue. Home use needs a paid subscription, so ask first whether school already has a licence your child can use at home. Treat it as one optional way to practise, not a replacement for the approach used at school.

Squeebles Spelling Connect (paid) suits practising the exact list from school. You type in your child’s spelling list and it turns it into short spelling tests, with mini-games as a reward. It is aimed at ages 5 to 11, has no adverts, and works on iPad, Android, computers and Chromebooks. A family subscription is £2.99 a month or £29.99 a year after a 7-day free trial. The rewards can keep a child going, but check that the spellings stick when they write without the app.

Avoid running several apps at once. If practice is not transferring into writing, review the chosen words and method with school.

Talamo has no commercial relationship with any of the organisations named here. We suggest them only because we think they could be useful to families.