Lucy the Valiant Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 So we did our "summer fun brainstorm" and my DD9's first suggestion was to have a spelling bee! Eeeps! She has never taken spelling, never been in a spelling bee, is a fairly good speller (not shockingly so or anything), and . . . um . . . doesn't have a TON of friends who love to spell. How do I do this (or spin it into something else)? Options off the top of my head - - an online or CD-ROM spelling bee she can do privately? - host an invitational spelling bee w/friends from co-op? (can it be multiple ages? should each kid receive a list in advance? do I need prizes?) - find out how (or IF) she can join a "real" spelling bee in a local elementary? WWYD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 You might want to look at Spellodrome-it's the company that does the World Education Games, which includes a spelling round (it will be in April-if your DD likes spelling bees, she'd probably enjoy participating in them-WEG is free, and you can do whatever of the three events you choose). It's spelling-bee type format, and is head-to-head vs other kids, but does require typing. Kids earn certificates and awards for completing activities. There's also some spelling bee prep software you can subscribe to on Scripps-Howell's site for the National Spelling Bee. I'm trying to put together a spelling bee for our homeschool group next year, and am struggling with how to manage different ages/spelling levels without having to have a bunch of rounds of only a couple of kids. I'm thinking maybe sort of doing a Suzuki approach-start out with all the kids on stage and each child spells a word from the Dolch list, then move through grade levels, with kids dropping out when they feel like they've hit their limit, but staying on stage the entire time, and getting a certificate of participation and applause at the end. There is a large homeschool group here that does one (and allows non-group members to participate for a fee), but because it's a Christian group, some of the members in my group don't feel comfortable participating. The school spelling bee season is determined by the National Spelling Bee preliminaries, so those won't be until after Thanksgiving-the date here is usually the first Friday in December. If you have a large homeschool group in your area, they may have one, and even if they don't allow younger kids to participate in the official preliminary, they'll often have one for younger ages/grade levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 My kids surprised me by wanting to do a spelling bee this year when I mentioned that there was one available. We hadn't ever studied spelling! Our bee had word lists for each grade. Parents/kids could decide which grade list was right for their kids, but kids could stay with their normal aged peers (the person doing the words just had a separate list for them when they came up). It sounds complicated, but it was really clearly spelled out, simple, and fun for everyone - from some 4yo's who spelled words like "I" :) to 8th graders or so who spelled... well, hard words. It wasn't PROFESSIONAL or anything, and there were prizes. Everyone got a book - the winner for each grade got to pick first, starting with the youngest. The kids had a few weeks to study the words beforehand. Again, my kids surprised me by choosing to do that. They didn't a ton, but they did some and they did well in the bee. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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