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Make your own word list

You can type a list straight into the app, and for a handful of words that is usually quicker. This page is for when you would rather type on a proper keyboard — a long list, or one you already have in an email from school.

The file is made right here in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Or write the file yourself

Type the words into a plain text file, one per line, save it with .sightwords on the end, and send it to your phone. Tap it and the app opens it.

Start from the sample

Download Week 5.sightwords, open it in any text editor — TextEdit, Notepad, anything — and replace the words with yours.

SightWords: Week 5
they
where
by
here
saw

That is the whole format. The first line names the list. Every line after it is one word.

The rules, such as they are

One word per line. Not commas, not spaces — a new line for each.
The first line names the list, and has to start with SightWords: exactly. Leave it out and the app will ask you to name the list when you import it — nothing is lost either way.
Blank lines and stray spaces are fine. They are ignored.
Save it as plain text. In TextEdit that is Format → Make Plain Text before saving. A Word document will not work.
Name the file whatever you like, but end it with .sightwords so tapping it opens the app.

Getting it onto the phone or iPad

Any way you would send yourself a file works. Email it to yourself and tap the attachment. AirDrop it. Drop it in iCloud Drive or Dropbox and open it from the Files app. However it arrives, tapping it opens SightWord Practice, which shows you what it is about to add before adding anything.

If tapping does not offer the app, use Import → Open a List File inside the app instead and pick the file from there. That route also accepts an ordinary .txt file, so it is the one to use if you would rather not rename anything.

If you would rather write JSON

You do not need to, and the plain text above is less to get wrong. But the app reads this too, and it is what the Share button produces:

{
  "formatVersion": 1,
  "name": "Week 5",
  "words": ["they", "where", "by", "here", "saw"]
}

There is a copy at week-5.json. One missing comma and the app will refuse it, which is the main reason to stick with plain text.

A few things worth knowing

Importing never overwrites anything. Bring in a list whose name matches one you already have and the app offers to merge the two, keeping the practice history on every word you already had. Words you already have are skipped rather than reset.

Nothing is sent anywhere. The file is read on your device. It is not uploaded, and we never see it.

We don't host lists people make. The lists in the app under Download a List are ones we put there. Yours stays yours — share it with another parent directly, by sending them the file.

Sharing one you have already made

If the list is already in the app, you do not need any of this. Open it, tap Share This List, and send it however you like — the other parent taps it and it opens straight into their app. A shared list carries only the words, never your child's practice history.