Just Words
Product by Wilson Language Training
The Bottom Line
Partially. Just Words relies heavily on explicit instruction and phonics rules to build decoding automaticity, which aligns perfectly with the science of reading. However, because The Learning Standard has not yet evaluated the digital application, we cannot confirm if its software effectively translates this proven methodology into interactive, feedback-driven practice.
Pros
- Uses explicit, systematic instruction to break down complex English word structures.
- Targets foundational reading gaps specifically for older students without using juvenile graphics.
- Emphasizes phonics and morphology to build long-term decoding automaticity.
- Breaks spelling rules into manageable chunks to reduce cognitive overload.
Cons
- Requires significant educator involvement and is not designed for independent, unguided use.
- Digital interfaces for intervention programs often lack the nuanced error correction a live teacher provides.
- Pricing and access require institutional purchase, making it inaccessible for individual families.
What Do We Know About Just Words?
Just Words is a highly effective structured literacy intervention when delivered by trained educators, but its digital implementation remains pending evaluation by The Learning Standard. Your child will not simply play games or guess words based on pictures in this program. Instead, they will engage in a sophisticated breakdown of English word structure. The program specifically targets students who have aged out of early elementary school but still struggle with foundational reading and spelling skills. By focusing on explicit instruction in phonics and morphology, the curriculum bypasses the frustration of rote memorization. It teaches your child the actual rules of the English language. This approach aligns closely with the science of reading, heavily utilizing cognitive science principles like reducing cognitive load by isolating specific spelling patterns before mixing them together. Because this is a Tier 2 intervention, it is meant to be delivered alongside standard classroom instruction rather than replacing it entirely. Parents should know that this is not an app you can simply download and hand to your child for independent practice. It requires a teacher or trained facilitator to guide the lessons, monitor progress, and provide immediate, corrective feedback when your child misunderstands a decoding rule.
How Does Just Words Work?
Just Words uses a highly structured, systematic, and explicit pedagogical approach to teach decoding and spelling. The program strips away the guesswork often associated with reading instruction and replaces it with direct instruction on word architecture. Students learn exactly how prefixes, suffixes, consonants, and vowels interact to form words. The learning mechanics rely heavily on active practice and structured repetition. A lesson typically introduces a specific linguistic rule or phonetic pattern. Your child then practices applying this rule to read and spell words, moving from isolated syllables to complex multisyllabic structures. This method forces active retrieval rather than passive recognition. By systematically building on previously learned rules, the curriculum ensures that your child does not experience cognitive overload. The program expects students to demonstrate automaticity, the ability to apply a decoding rule instantly without conscious effort, before advancing to more complex linguistic concepts.
Strengths and tradeoffs of Just Words
The biggest strength of Just Words is its strict adherence to the science of reading, while its biggest weakness is its heavy reliance on a trained instructor, limiting its utility as a standalone digital app. Explicit instruction is the core of this program, which cognitive science proves is the most effective way to teach struggling readers. By breaking words down into their morphological and phonological components, the program completely eliminates the ineffective three-cueing method of guessing words from context. Building automaticity is another major strength. The program uses structured retrieval practice, requiring students to repeatedly recall and apply spelling rules until they become second nature. However, these strengths are bound to traditional classroom delivery. Lack of independent practice is a significant weakness for parents seeking at-home solutions. The program is not designed to provide automated, real-time error correction through software. If a student misunderstands a concept, a live teacher must intervene. Accessibility is also a major barrier. Because it is an institutional Tier 2 intervention, families cannot easily purchase or implement it independently.
Who Might Benefit From Just Words?
Just Words is best for older students in grades 4 through 12 who still struggle with foundational decoding and spelling but do not require intensive special education services. It is an ideal intervention for adolescents who feel alienated by the juvenile aesthetics of early-elementary phonics apps. Because it targets specific gaps in language structure, it works perfectly for students who read slowly or struggle with spelling complex words. This is primarily a tool for schools and trained reading specialists rather than a casual supplement for at-home use by parents.
Data Transparency
Does Not Meet Data Transparency Standard
Just Words does not meet our data transparency standard. Its privacy policy does not document basic protections, including a statement that it does not sell data, a commitment against targeted advertising and contractual limits on service providers.
10 of 35 checks passed
Evaluated September 2026
Children’s Privacy Notice →Level 1 · Basic protections
Does not sell data or target ads at students, limits sharing, and lets parents see and delete their child's data.
Not documented: a statement that it does not sell data, a commitment against targeted advertising, contractual limits on service providers
Level 2 · Parent control (meets the standard)
Families can get their data out, know who processes it, and know how long it is kept.
Not documented: data export, a data retention timeline, named service providers, self-service deletion
Level 3 · Direct data access
Families or schools can pull their own data through an API, in a stated format.
Not documented: an API for retrieving their own data, a named export format
View all 35 checks
Parent Access6/8
Does the policy mention parents specifically?
“Wilson Language Training Corporation (WLT) is providing this Children’s Privacy Notice to parents of children under the age of 13 to help inform their decisions about providing permission to collect personal information from children under age 13”
Can parents view their child's data?
“Parents wishing to exercise their rights to review or request deletion of this information may do so by contacting the educational institution or educators and WLT will work directly with the educational institution or educator, as applicable, to address those requests.”
Can parents modify their child's data?
The policy lets parents review or delete their child's data but does not mention changing or correcting it.
Can parents delete their child's account?
“Parents wishing to exercise their rights to review or request deletion of this information may do so by contacting the educational institution or educators and WLT will work directly with the educational institution or educator, as applicable, to address those requests.”
Is there a dedicated Children's Privacy section?
“COPPA Notice to Schools and Educators”
Does it reference COPPA compliance?
“Under the United States’ Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), digital services providers such as WLT must provide parental notification and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under the age of 13.”
Does it reference FERPA compliance?
The policy does not mention FERPA.
Is parental consent required for child accounts?
“Parental consent is required for the collection, use, or disclosure of the personal information described here, and WLT does not collect, use, or disclose any personal information from a child if the parent (or the education institution or educator on their behalf) does not provide that consent.”
Data Portability1/5
Can users access their personal data?
“Parents wishing to exercise their rights to review or request deletion of this information may do so by contacting the educational institution or educators and WLT will work directly with the educational institution or educator, as applicable, to address those requests.”
Can users download/export their data?
The policy does not mention downloading or exporting data.
Is there a self-service data access tool?
The policy only describes access by request through the school, not a tool users run themselves.
Is a specific data format mentioned for export?
The policy does not name any export format.
Is there an API for data access?
The policy does not mention an API for getting data.
Data Minimization1/6
Is data collection itemized?
“WLT receives the following additional information about the child from WLT’s customers: Name, School, Grade, Fundations® Level, and Fundations assessment scores (collectively, “Additional Information”).”
Can the app be used without a real name?
The policy says WLT receives the student's name from its customers.
Can the app be used without an email?
The policy does not say whether student email addresses are collected.
Does it state collection is limited to what is necessary?
The policy limits how data is used and shared but does not say collection is limited to what is necessary.
Is IP address anonymized or truncated?
The policy does not address IP addresses.
Is location tracking explicitly excluded?
The policy does not address location tracking.
Third-Party Protection1/7
Does it explicitly state no selling of data?
The policy does not say that WLT does not sell data.
Are third-party providers named?
The policy mentions hosting services only in general terms and names no providers.
Are providers contractually restricted?
The policy does not describe any contract limits on providers.
No-targeted-advertising commitment?
The policy does not address targeted advertising.
Is AI/ML data sharing addressed?
The policy does not address sharing data with AI or machine learning systems.
Child-specific sharing restriction?
“Usage data and the Additional Information is not shared with third parties except as reasonably necessary to provide our services ( _e.g.,_ hosting services).”
Cookies/tracking limited or opt-out?
The policy does not address cookies or tracking.
Deletion & Retention1/5
Can users delete their account?
“Parents wishing to exercise their rights to review or request deletion of this information may do so by contacting the educational institution or educators and WLT will work directly with the educational institution or educator, as applicable, to address those requests.”
Self-service deletion mechanism?
The policy only describes deletion by request through the school.
Specific data retention timeline?
The policy does not give a retention timeline.
Auto-deletion of inactive accounts?
The policy does not address deleting inactive accounts automatically.
Post-deletion handling described?
The policy does not describe what happens to data after deletion.
Advertising0/4
Advertising model explicitly disclosed?
The policy does not address advertising.
Free from third-party advertisements?
The policy does not address third-party advertising.
Children excluded from ad targeting?
The policy does not address ad targeting of children.
Ad-free option available?
The policy does not address advertising or an ad-free option.
What This Means
The policy review did not meet our data transparency standard. The checks above show the documented findings and unknowns. A missing statement does not establish how the app handles data in practice.
About this evaluation: Based on automated analysis of Children’s Privacy Notice using the Common Sense Privacy Program framework. Quoted text is copied from the policy; unquoted notes are our summary. Results describe the policy disclosures we assessed; unknown checks are excluded from scores. Privacy policies can change. This review reflects the version we analyzed and does not determine legal compliance.
Sources and review method
TLS combines product information and editorial analysis to explain how Just Words works, its tradeoffs, and the questions to ask before choosing it. Product features, an instructional rationale and evidence of learning outcomes are different kinds of information.
Formal Learning Standard assessment: not yet completed. Data Transparency findings are reported separately and do not establish learning effectiveness. Read our methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions About Just Words
Is Just Words free?
No, Just Words is not free. It is a commercial educational product developed by Wilson Language Training. Access typically requires a school or district to purchase the curriculum materials and software licenses directly from the vendor.
Is Just Words good for middle and high school students?
Yes, it is excellent for older students. Unlike many foundational reading programs that use cartoon characters, Just Words takes a mature, analytical approach to word structure. This makes it highly appropriate for adolescents who have gaps in their decoding or spelling abilities.
What does Just Words teach?
Just Words teaches the structural foundation of the English language. It provides explicit instruction in phonics, morphology, and spelling rules. The goal is to help students achieve automaticity in decoding and spelling multisyllabic words independently.
How does Just Words compare to the Wilson Reading System?
While both are created by Wilson Language Training, Just Words is a Tier 2 intervention for students who need targeted help with word study. The Wilson Reading System is a more intensive, Tier 3 intervention designed for students with language-based learning disabilities like dyslexia.
Has The Learning Standard evaluated Just Words?
TLS has not yet completed a Learning Standard evaluation of how well Just Words teaches. Its privacy policy has been reviewed for Data Transparency and does not yet document the basic protections (Level 1).
Is Just Words COPPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references COPPA. A policy reference alone does not establish COPPA compliance. Policy review note: The policy explicitly refers to COPPA.
Is Just Words FERPA compliant?
A FERPA reference was not found in the reviewed privacy policy. This does not determine whether the app complies with FERPA. Policy review note: The policy does not mention FERPA.
Does Just Words have a children's privacy policy?
The reviewed policy includes a dedicated children's privacy section. Policy review note: The whole document is a Children's Privacy Notice, and it has a separate COPPA section with its own heading.
Does Just Words sell student data?
A statement ruling out data selling was not found in the reviewed policy. This does not establish that the app sells student data. Policy review note: The policy does not say that WLT does not sell data.
Can you delete your data from Just Words?
The reviewed privacy policy describes account deletion. We have not tested the deletion process. Policy review note: Deletion can be requested through the school.
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