Why I built a $4.99 spelling app for Australian kids

I'm Paul, an Australian dad, and I built Phonogram Fun because the weekly spelling list kept coming home and I wanted a better way to practise it than copying each word out five times. This page explains why the app works the way it does, what it costs, and the ten-minute Monday-to-Friday routine I'd suggest to any family using it. It's written for Australian families; if you're in the UK, there's a UK version of this page.

What problem was I trying to solve?

The national picture is not great. In the 2026 NAPLAN results, ACARA reported that around two out of three students reached the Strong or Exceeding proficiency levels in reading, writing and numeracy. That leaves roughly one in three in the Developing or Needs additional support levels. ACARA also noted that average reading scores in Years 5, 7 and 9 were lower than in 2025.

That isn't a story about teachers not trying. It's a reminder of how much rides on the early years, when children either learn to work out an unfamiliar word from its sounds or learn to guess. Australian states have been moving towards explicit, systematic phonics, which is why the Year 1 Phonics Check now exists. Phonogram Fun is built on the same idea: English spelling is mostly made of about 70 phonograms, the letters and letter teams that stand for sounds, and once a child can see them, most words stop looking random.

Why does the Monday spelling list cause so many arguments?

Because the usual way of practising it is hard work with very little feedback. A tired child at the end of a school day is asked to copy ten words several times each. If the first attempt is wrong, the rest practise the mistake. And it's easy to start with "spell night for me", which is a test before anyone has shown them how the word is built.

So the first thing I built was the part that deals with that list. You take a photo of the school handout, or type the words in, and those exact words become Word Climb, a game with several rungs. Your child hears the word, sounds it out, builds it from phonogram blocks, fills the gaps in a short story, and works up to a blind spell with nothing showing. Alongside Word Climb there's dictation practice, flash cards and a revision mode, all using the same list. It's the same repetition the Friday test needs, but each step teaches something before it asks for it.

How does the app help with the Year 1 Phonics Check?

The Year 1 Phonics Check is a short one-to-one reading check. In NSW, for example, every public school Year 1 student reads 40 words aloud, 20 real words and 20 nonsense words, in Term 3, weeks 4 to 6. South Australia was first: it has run the check for all Year 1 students in SA public schools since 2018, and in 2025, 66% of participating students reached the expected score of 28 or more. Other states have since brought in their own versions, with different start dates and rules for which schools take part; our state-by-state guide has the details.

The nonsense words, often called alien words, are there to check that a child is decoding rather than recognising words they've memorised. That's exactly the skill the app practises. The Australian papers aren't published, so the app uses the real published papers from England's Phonics Screening Check: 12 of them, from 2012 to 2025, in the same 40-word format with real and alien words mixed. You can choose an Australian or British voice. Your child reads, you mark, and any word can be sounded out one phonogram at a time.

How do I know which sounds my child is stuck on?

This is the part I wanted most as a parent. Rather than guessing which sounds are shaky, the app keeps a Readiness Map of all 70 phonograms. Each one goes from light to dark green as your child gets it right. If igh or oi stays pale, you know where to spend five minutes, instead of going back over every sound.

The words that don't follow the usual patterns, like said and was, have their own module: 45 common exception words for Year 1 and 64 for Year 2, grouped by the rule each one breaks. There's more on those in our guide to common exception words.

What does calm screen time mean in practice?

I deliberately kept the app plain. Clean layouts, colour-coded phonogram blocks, clear audio, and no ads, ever. There's nothing flashing to keep a child playing after the useful part is done, which makes it easier to stop at ten minutes. If you add your child's first name, it stays on the device.

What does it cost in Australia?

There's a free tier with no time limit: one mission a day, the full 70-phonogram chart, Sound Play and the word analyser. Phonogram Fun Plus unlocks everything else for AUD $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, which works out at about $3.33 a month on the annual plan. Both come with a 7-day free trial, and you subscribe and cancel through the App Store or Google Play. On iPhone and iPad, Family Sharing is switched on.

It runs on iPhone, iPad (laid out for landscape), and Android phones and tablets. Private tutoring costs many times more than this, and if your child needs a tutor or extra support at school, an app isn't a substitute. What it can do is make the ten minutes at home each night count.

What's the 10-minute routine I recommend?

Most lists come home on Monday with a test on Friday. This is the week I'd suggest. Ten minutes a night, at the same time each day, before everyone is tired.

1. Monday: scan and meet the list. Photograph the handout (about a minute), then play the first rungs of Word Climb for every word: hear it, sound it out.
2. Tuesday: build the words. Keep climbing. When a word stalls, spend a minute on the phonogram that's causing it, then use the flash cards for a quick run through the list.
3. Wednesday: sounds. In Year 1, try one past phonics check paper; in Year 2 and up, a few common exception words. Then look at the Readiness Map and pick one pale sound for next week.
4. Thursday: spell it blind. Dictation practice and revision mode, aiming to reach the blind spell rung on every word.
5. Friday, before school: off the screen. Pencil and paper at the kitchen table. Read the story sentences from the app aloud and have your child write the words by hand, because the test at school is on paper.

For a version of this routine with no app at all, see how to practise spelling words without tears, and if you'd like a list to start with, our Year 1 spelling words are free to print.

How do I try it?

Download Phonogram Fun from the App Store or Google Play, start the 7-day trial, and scan this week's list on Monday night. If it doesn't suit your family, cancel before the trial ends and keep using the free tier. If something isn't working, email me at phonogramfun@gmail.com.

Reading from the UK? Read why I built Phonogram Fun for UK families, with the Phonics Screening Check and £ pricing.

Questions parents ask