Frequently Asked Questions

Simply sign up for a free account, add your children's profiles with their age and grade level, and they can start practicing immediately! Each child gets their own login and personalized experience. ▶ Watch the walkthrough

Yes! SpellCrush offers a free plan with 1 child, 4,000+ words, adaptive difficulty, AI audio pronunciation, and the full gamification system (XP, levels, achievements, streaks). The Premium plan costs $4.99 per month and adds unlimited children, AI visual memory aids, AI spelling hints, custom word lists, AI weekly progress reports, and a parent-controlled reward store. A 7-day free trial is available — free for 7 days, cancel anytime.

Kids use a simple 4-digit PIN to log in — no email or complex passwords needed. You'll get a unique family link when you sign up that you can bookmark on your children's devices. They select their profile and enter their PIN to access their personalized practice. ▶ Watch the walkthrough

SpellCrush automatically adjusts word difficulty based on your child's age and performance. Words are rated 1–10 in difficulty. Children aged 4–6 see levels 1–3, ages 7–8 see levels 1–5, ages 9–10 see levels 3–7, ages 11–12 see levels 5–9, and ages 13+ see levels 7–10. Words a child struggles with appear more frequently until mastered (5 correct out of 7+ attempts).

SpellCrush has three distinct modes. Assessment finds the right level — a short adaptive check that pinpoints your child's grade-equivalent spelling ability so practice starts in the right place. Practice is for learning — daily adaptive sessions with audio, hints, and visual memory aids, where words your child struggles with reappear until mastered. Spelling Test is a milestone — a 10-word, no-hints test to confirm a word list has been mastered. Score 100% and your child earns a printable certificate, a reward, and XP. In short: assess to place, practice to learn, test to prove it.

SpellCrush's algorithm prioritizes words your child hasn't mastered yet, with more frequent appearances for words they've struggled with. Mastered words (5 correct out of 7+ attempts) rotate out of regular practice but can reappear if the system detects regression.

Learning Mode is a two-step way to practice brand-new words. First the word is shown on screen and your child builds it letter by letter to study the correct spelling; then the word disappears and they spell it from memory on the keyboard. Seeing the word, then recalling it, moves a spelling from short-term recognition into long-term memory — ideal for younger spellers and tricky new words. See how Learning Mode works.

Yes! Premium members can create custom word lists from scratch or import them via CSV or Excel files. Words can include custom definitions, difficulty ratings, categories, and hints. Lists are assignable to specific children — when assigned, practice sessions pull exclusively from that list. ▶ Watch the walkthrough

A Spelling Test is a milestone check that confirms your child has mastered a word list. It presents 10 words one at a time — your child hears each word read aloud and sees its definition, then types the spelling. Unlike Practice, there are no hints, no visual aids, and no second chances: it's a real test. Score 100% and your child earns a printable certificate, a reward, and XP.

From your parent dashboard, open a child's card and click 'Take Spelling Test'. Children logged in with their own PIN can start one themselves from the 'Spelling Test' tile on their kid dashboard. The test launches immediately — no setup required.

A Spelling Test requires a perfect score — all 10 words spelled correctly — to pass and earn a certificate. This makes the certificate a genuine mark of mastery. If your child misses a word, they can review which ones they got wrong on the results screen and retake the test anytime.

A perfect score earns three things: a downloadable PDF certificate showing the word list and score, a reward added to their reward balance ($1.00 in money mode or 100 ⭐ in points mode), and 50 XP toward their level — plus any Spelling Test achievements they've newly unlocked. To keep things fair, the reward, XP, and achievement are granted only the first time your child aces a particular word list, so retaking a test they've already passed won't farm extra rewards.

If a custom word list is assigned to your child, the test draws 10 words from that list — perfect for confirming they've mastered this week's spelling words. If no list is assigned, the test uses grade- and age-appropriate words from the built-in library, matched to the same difficulty range as the child's practice sessions.

Yes, as many times as they like. Retaking is a great way to build confidence or recover from a near miss. Note that the reward, XP, and achievement for a perfect score are awarded only on the first time a child aces a given word list — later perfect scores still earn a fresh certificate but no repeat bonus.

Yes. The Spelling Test is available on every plan, including the free plan, using grade-appropriate words from the built-in library. Testing against your own custom word list requires Premium, since custom word lists are a Premium feature.

Yes. SpellCrush supports four English variants: American, British, Australian, and Canadian. Each child's profile has a language setting that controls both which spellings appear in practice and how words are pronounced. British and Australian children see 'colour' and 'centre'; Canadian children see 'colour' but 'organize' — the correct Canadian hybrid. Dialect support is free on all plans.

When creating or editing a child's profile in your parent dashboard, select the English variant from the language dropdown — American, British, Australian, or Canadian. The change takes effect immediately at the next practice session.

Yes. SpellCrush generates audio pronunciation with an accent that matches each child's dialect setting. A British child hears words with a British accent (non-rhotic R, broad A in 'bath' and 'dance'). An Australian child hears Australian pronunciation. The system uses AI voice generation with accent-specific instructions and pronunciation overrides for words where the difference is most important.

Yes. Language is set per child, not per account. A family with children in different school systems can set each child's dialect independently.

Completely free. Every plan — including the free plan — includes full dialect support with variant spellings and accent-matched pronunciation.

SpellCrush uses AI model for three AI features: (1) generating age-appropriate spelling mnemonics tailored to each child's mistakes, (2) creating unique visual memory aid images for every practice word, and (3) writing weekly narrative progress reports that summarize a child's strengths, struggles, and recommendations for parents.

When a child struggles with a word, SpellCrush generates a personalized mnemonic hint using Claude AI. The hint considers the child's age, the word, and their past mistakes. Hints are cached after first generation so they load instantly on subsequent encounters.

For every practice word, SpellCrush generates a unique, child-appropriate image designed to help the child associate the word with a vivid visual scene. These images are shown during practice sessions and are prefetched for zero wait time. This feature is available on the Premium plan.

Every Sunday, parents receive an email with an AI-written narrative summarizing their child's week — accuracy trends, category strengths and weaknesses, words mastered, and a specific recommendation for the coming week. This feature is available on the Premium plan.

Learning Support is an optional setting parents can enable per child. It adds Focus Mode (reduces on-screen distractions while your child types) and brief difficulty check-ins every few words. It is designed for children who benefit from more structure, including those with attention or working-memory challenges. Learning Support requires a Premium subscription.

Edit the child's profile from your dashboard, scroll to the Learning Support toggle, and switch it on. The setting takes effect immediately at the next practice session.

Yes. When Learning Support is enabled, a Focus Mode button appears in the practice toolbar. Your child (or you) can toggle it on or off at any time during the session.

Every 6 correct words, a card briefly asks your child how tricky the word felt — Hard, OK, or Easy. It takes one tap and practice resumes immediately. The answers will be used to personalise which words come up more often.

No. XP, levels, streaks, and rewards work exactly the same way regardless of whether Learning Support is on.

Learning Support requires a Premium subscription.

SpellCrush has two parallel motivation systems. The permanent gamification system awards XP points, levels (1–15, from 'Beginner Speller' to 'Spell Crusher'), 15 unlockable achievements, and daily streak tracking — these never reset. Separately, the parent-controlled reward system lets kids earn virtual money or points that can be redeemed at a custom reward store set up by parents.

Every correct answer earns XP: 10 base XP plus 5 for first-try bonus, with a 1.5x streak multiplier and +50 for completing the daily goal. There are 15 levels from 'Beginner Speller' (0 XP) to 'Spell Crusher' (42,000 XP). XP and levels never reset — they represent permanent long-term progression.

Achievements are special badges earned for milestones across 5 categories: word milestones (1, 10, 50, 100, 500 words mastered), streaks (3, 7, 30 consecutive days), XP thresholds (500, 2000, 5000 XP), accuracy (90%+ on 20+ words), and special badges like Speed Demon, Perfect Day, and Variety Master. There are 15 achievements total.

From the parent dashboard, go to the Reward Store. Create custom rewards with a name, emoji, and cost (in dollars or points). Examples: 'Extra screen time' for $2.00, 'Ice cream trip' for $5.00, or 'Choose dinner' for 500 points. Kids browse the store and redeem when they've earned enough.

The parent dashboard shows per-child analytics including accuracy over time, difficulty distribution, category breakdown, practice frequency, words mastered, and achievement history. Premium subscribers also receive AI-written weekly progress reports by email.

The free plan supports 1 child. Premium supports unlimited children. Each child gets their own profile, progress tracking, reward balance, achievement history, and 4-digit PIN login. They all share your family link but have completely separate data.

From your dashboard, click 'Copy Link' to get your unique family URL. Share it via text, email, or bookmark it on your kids' devices. The link stays the same permanently, so save it once and use it anytime.

Go to Billing from your dashboard and click Manage Subscription to open the Stripe customer portal. From there, select Cancel plan — your account automatically switches to the free tier at the end of the current billing period. Your children's progress, streaks, and achievements are all preserved. Custom word lists become view-only, but no data is deleted. You can upgrade again anytime.

Everything your children have earned stays intact — XP, levels, achievements, streaks, and all practice history. The free plan supports 1 child profile (additional profiles become inactive but are not deleted). Custom word lists switch to view-only. You retain premium access until the end of the billing period you already paid for.

Stripe doesn't offer a built-in pause, but downgrading to the free plan is the practical equivalent — payments stop immediately and you can re-upgrade in one click whenever you're ready. Head to Billing to make the change.

Yes. Cancel anytime from your account settings or via the Billing page. You retain premium access until the end of your billing period. Custom word lists become view-only after cancellation, but all progress data is permanently saved.

Yes. SpellCrush is COPPA-compliant. Children log in using a 4-digit PIN that is bcrypt-hashed and never stored in plain text. Child sessions are isolated from parent billing and account settings. The platform contains no ads, no third-party tracking for children, and no social features. Child data ownership is verified server-side on every request.

SpellCrush works on any device with a web browser — computers, tablets, iPads, Chromebooks, and smartphones. It is a responsive web application optimized for both desktop and touchscreen use.

No. Kids log in using a simple 4-digit PIN. Only parents need an email address to create and manage the family account.

From your parent dashboard, go to the child's profile where you can view or reset their PIN.

SpellCrush uses AI-generated audio pronunciation. If audio is unclear on a specific word, kids can click to replay. If issues persist across many words, try a different browser — Chrome and Safari have the best audio support.

Try refreshing the page — progress is saved after each word. If issues persist, clear your browser cache or try a different browser. Contact support at support@spellcrush.fun if problems continue.