A simple plan: preview the full list once, work on a small group each day, ask for a covered recall attempt, and use the final day to revisit missed words rather than retesting everything repeatedly.
When the list arrives: preview, do not drill
Read the words together. Check meaning and pronunciation. Ask whether the child notices a shared pattern, suffix, vowel sound or tricky exception. A quick first attempt can show which words are already secure and which deserve the week’s attention.
Early week: explore and build
Work with a few words at a time. Break them into syllables, find known chunks, rearrange letter tiles and trace or write each word while it is visible. Keep the task concrete: “Let’s look at these three” feels more manageable than “Learn your spellings”.
Middle of the week: retrieve
Cover the word and ask for an attempt. The child can type it, build it, say the letters or write it. Check immediately and neutrally. Put correct words aside for now; bring back the uncertain ones after a gap.
Before the school test: a light check
Run through the words once in a test-like format, but do not turn the evening into a high-stakes score. Review the particular part that went wrong. End with one or two known words so the child finishes successfully.
Use variety without losing the goal
A game is useful when it still asks the child to attend to the target spelling. Kiwi Spell keeps the same custom list across six activities, then unlocks a separate 60-second Jungle Run as a break. The game rewards practice rather than disguising unrelated play as practice.