MomsintheGarden Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Do you have a child who has qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee to be held this May? If so, please either post here or PM me. Our family has had several children compete at Scripps, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about the Bee. Also, FYI - the NSB competition is both open to the public and free to attend this year. If you are interested in spelling and live within driving distance of D.C., I highly recommend coming to this event. Thanks! GardenMom 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I don't have any spelling bee competitors, but I'm dying to know what it's like! How much time did your kids prepare? Did they get coaching (like Akeelah) or did they study independently? How do you feel it balanced the positive educational value versus just lots of stress? Congratulations on your successful spellers! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 I don't have any spelling bee competitors, but I'm dying to know what it's like! How much time did your kids prepare? Did they get coaching (like Akeelah) or did they study independently? How do you feel it balanced the positive educational value versus just lots of stress? Congratulations on your successful spellers! Thank you, daijobu, for the congratulations! First of all, Akeelah and the Bee is fun, but the competition is a little different from what is portrayed in the film. I'm glad for it's popularity, though, because it's inspired a new generation of spellers. The documentary Spellbound is a realistic portrayal of what actually happens at the Bee, even though the format has changed a bit since it was filmed in 1999. To answer your questions: - The amount of time my children study for spelling bees varies, from a minimum of just a few minutes/day as many as ten hours/day, depending on what's going on. The child who is going to Scripps this May is currently spending 4-6 hours/day, studying specific lists of words we've collected, vocabulary, and Latin/Greek roots. - One of my children was coached by a professional, a close friend of mine. The others were coached by me. In my opinion a child needs to reach an exceptionally advanced level in order to require a coach. - Naturally we feel that spelling bees are a valuable activity for our family. They have prompted our children to delve deeply into word and root study, which helps their study skills and vocabularies improve. Bees can be stressful at times, and, due to their somewhat random nature, they can be disappointing. Learning to be a gracious winner or loser is part of the process. Spelling bees aren't for everyone, but we feel the pros outweigh the cons for us. Our children know that winning is both a privilege and a responsibility. We do not require our children to compete beyond the local homeschool bee. A child from our family who competes in our regional bee knows he/she is representing our homeschool group and our family. A child who competes in the National Bee knows he/she represents our community, our local sponsor (which pays thousands of dollars for him/her to attend), our homeschool group, and our family. I like that the child knows that the bee is not all about him/her because it puts it into a broader perspective. Hope this answers your questions! GardenMom 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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