Three things you can try this week
No. 002 · Oct 25, 2026

This week you’ll

Pick one. Each takes less time than a nap.

☐  Help your kid nail this week’s spelling words, without the homework fight
   10 min  Easy

☐  Turn that birthday clip into a little movie Grandma will replay
   5 min  Easy

☐  Practice your Spanish where no one hears you stumble
   5 min  Easy

☐  Help a neighbor read their texts again, and earn a little
   No money up front

● Learning  ● Family  ● Quick hits

Easy: no setup. Medium: a sign-up and a few steps.

Press and hold to copy. Every prompt sits alone in a box, so a long press picks up just the prompt.

●  Learning  · Assignment 01

Help your kid nail this week’s spelling words, without the homework fight

With ChatGPT voice · 10 min · Easy

A child at the kitchen table, seen from behind, holding up homemade flashcards to a phone propped against a cereal box

Photo illustration

What you’re doing
Spelling test Friday, dinner on the stove, and nobody wants to hold flashcards. Tell ChatGPT what your child is practicing, like spelling words or times tables. It asks the questions out loud, waits for the answer and says if it’s right, so you get to cheer instead of quiz. Grandparents on homework duty and homeschool parents can run it too.

ChatGPT Voice can now listen and talk at the same time, so answering mid-sentence works.

Makes Calmer homework practice, any night

You’ll end up with
A kid who’s said every word out loud, with the tricky ones asked again at the end.

You need

☐  The ChatGPT app on your phone, free to download (ChatGPT accounts are for ages 13 and up, so you hold the phone)

☐  What you’re practicing: spelling words, times tables, state capitals

Steps

Step 1
Tap the button below, or open ChatGPT and paste the prompt.

Step 2
Send it, then tap the Voice icon in the message bar. Voice keeps going in the same chat.

Step 3
Say what you’re practicing and your child’s age, then answer out loud.

The prompt
Quiz my child out loud. First ask me what we are practicing and how old they are. Then ask one question at a time, wait for the answer, say if it is right, and go over the missed ones again at the end. Keep it short and cheerful.

What good looks like
A short round of questions read aloud, with the missed ones asked again at the end.

If it goes wrong
Moving too fast? Say “Slow down and wait for the answer.” Hit today’s Voice limit on the free plan? Type the answers, or pick it up tomorrow.

Free, with daily limits

Tried it? Hit reply and tell us how it went.

●  Family  · Assignment 02

Turn that birthday clip into a little movie Grandma will replay

With ElevenLabs · 5 min · Easy

A parent on the couch watching a birthday video on a phone, with leftover cake, wrapping paper and balloons nearby

Photo illustration

What you’re doing
That birthday clip has been sitting in your camera roll since the candles went out. Upload it to ElevenLabs and it writes music to fit and adds sound effects at the right moments, so a plain phone video plays like a little movie the grandparents will ask you to send again.

Instant Soundtracks, new in ElevenCreative, scores a video you upload with original music and times sound effects to the action.

Makes A family video people watch to the end

You’ll end up with
A birthday or trip clip with its own music, ready for the family group chat.

You need

☐  A short video clip

☐  An ElevenLabs account (the free plan includes music)

Steps

Step 1
Sign in to ElevenCreative and open the Music Video Editor in the music tab.

Step 2
Upload your clip. It writes the music and adds sound effects on their own layer.

Step 3
Move or delete any effect you don’t like, then export.

The prompt

Nothing to type. The video is the prompt.

Free alternative
Rather not sign up for another app? Your phone can do it for free: iMovie on iPhone, or Google Photos on most Android phones. ChatGPT walks you through it, one step at a time.

The prompt
I have a short birthday video on my phone and want to add background music to it for free. Ask me first if I have an iPhone or an Android. On iPhone, use the free iMovie app from Apple. On Android, use the Google Photos app: open the video, tap Edit, then Audio, then Add Music. Give me the steps one at a time, in plain words, and wait for me to say done before the next one.

iPhone: get iMovie from the App Store first. It’s free.

Tested at home by TERRA NOVA

✓ Tested Oct 22 on ChatGPT’s free plan · iPhone and Android

Cook’s note
Test a clip under a minute so you keep most of the month’s free credits. Free-plan music isn’t for commercial use; family videos are fine.

Free plan includes music

Tried it? Hit reply and tell us how it went.

●  Quick hits
03 · Quick hit

Practice your Spanish where no one hears you stumble

With ChatGPT · 5 min

Planning a trip, chatting with the in-laws, or getting ready for a parent-teacher meeting? Practice out loud with a partner who’s patient and never sighs. ChatGPT’s new voices in six languages are rolling out to everyone. Tap the Voice icon in the message bar and say this.

The prompt
Talk with me slowly in Mexican Spanish about ordering at a café. Correct my mistakes.
5 min · Free, with daily limits
Side hustle

Help a neighbor read their texts again, and earn a little

Tested at home by TERRA NOVA

With ChatGPT · No money up front

✓ Tested Oct 22 on ChatGPT’s free plan

Step 1
Think of the neighbor squinting at tiny texts, or worried about losing the grandkid photos. Offer them, or a local group, an hour of patient phone help: bigger text, photo backup, blocking spam calls.

Step 2
Agree on a price for the visit before you start. It costs you nothing but your time, and it fits around school pickup or a job search.

Step 3
Open ChatGPT, tell it their phone model and what they want help with, and follow the steps together.

The prompt
Help me help a neighbor with their phone. First ask me their phone model and what they want help with. Then give me the steps one at a time, in plain words, and wait for me to say done before the next one.

Never ask for passwords. Let them type their own, and write down what you changed.

Field report

We’d love to hear how yours came out.

Hit reply and tell us which one you tried and how it went. We’ll share the best ones next week.

TRIED IT · No. 002

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Pick one between everything else this week.

The Editor

TERRA NOVA · readterranova.com · Steps and links checked Oct 23, 2026

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