Scripps National spelling bee as a homeschooler?

[lwilliams1922]

Can anyone tell me how you get to scripps as a homeschooler?

 

my dd got 3rd at regionals last year but she was still in school.

 

I know there are deadlines but I don't know what the process is for hs'ers.

 

 

I've been trying to get info from the local Leah group but I gather there isnt a lot of interest. :(

 

thanks

[lwilliams1922]

anyone?

[Cathy in IL]

Here is the info I have. I assume it is consistent nationally. I called the Scripps number I found on the website. They told me the organization that organizes the Bee in my local area. You have to go through the district your child would be in if attending school. They were very kind and helpful on the phone. Thanks for the remider. They had told me top call back in September for more info. When I find the number again, I will try to remember to post it here.

[angela in ohio]

We have a local homeschool bee, and the winner is sent on to the local bee. You only need a few children to get a bee going!

 

I thought that they changed things last year, and individual homeschoolers could now enter directly at the local level. I personally would be extremely hesitant to do it that way, as an unprepared child could make homeschoolers look bad (besides the $99 entry fee.)

[Annie G]

You need to talk to your local bee sponsor and find out who actually handles the bee in your area and how they deal with homeschoolers. Our group sent kids from two different areas and they both had different procedures. In one, our homeschool group registered and we held our own bee and sent our winner on to the next level. In the other area, our student had to go to their regional office for a spelling bee that included all interested homeschoolers, and that winner went on to the next level.

In one case, we had to pay the $99 to register our group, and in the other case, the regional office paid one fee for the homeschoolers and didn't ask homeschoolers to financially contribute.

In any case, the deadline will approach quickly and Scripps will not likely extend the deadlines like they did last year.

Good luck to your student! Do you know about the products from Hexco?They really helped our students!

[lwilliams1922]

I've never really taught spelling. she' s always done it naturally.

CAn you send me a link to the products from Hexco?

 

thanks

[Ailaena]

Where we are now, there is a homeschooling group that does all these fun things. However, where we were before, we had to go through the local school. They gave us a big guilt talk about how if they let DD participate in the bee that she would potentially be taking the place of a student that is actually enrolled in their school, so they would not allow her to do that. I eventually found out that homeschoolers could petition straight to the district level and bypass the local schools altogether.

 

 

Good luck!

[Annie G]

www.hexco.com is the website, but the products for this year won't be available until several weeks after Scripps releases the Spell It words.

 

The two most valuable products we have used are Valerie's Spelling Bee Supplement and the Spelling Mentor software. The Spell It words from Scripps are the words most local bees use (not the national bee, though!) and our bees never go 'off list' because we always have a winner before we run out of words.

The Spell It words are free from Scripps, so why would you buy a Valerie's? The Valerie's words are the Spell It words in order of difficulty, have parts of speech, definition, and pronunciation beside each word, making it easy for ANYONE to help your speller. It's easy to track the words your student misses using a Valerie's. NotE: If your area usually only uses Spell It words, don't bother practicing the additional words in Valerie's unless your speller has mastered the spell it words.

The spelling mentor software allows your student to work independently, which is a plus if your student wants to practice oral spelling more frequently than you have time for. The mini-mentor software has only the spell it words, which will suffice for many bees.

 

Happy studying...the Scripps list should be out in a week or two and then the fun begins!

[lwilliams1922]

here is the update....

 

 

The local home school group says they haven't had any interest in the bee in years so there arent any plans for a local bee.

She said If I wanted to I could register with scripps ($99 i think). Then I should contact the 3 other homeschool clubs to see if they have any spellers so I could do a bee myself.

 

I'm not sure what to do now. I've never done a bee and I don't think it would be fair for me to do a bee when my child is competing.

I'm tougher on dd than anyone else would ever be but it just doesn't seem fair/impartial for me to be in charge. KWIM?

There is also the issue that there aren't any other parents that are interested in organizing or helping with it.

 

I've contacted or left messages for 2 of the other hs groups. I guess I will register but if someone does say they have a child to enter should I ask them to help with the bee or the registration fee?

 

how aggressively should I seek out spellers? I think if i posted a lot of emails about it and made a lot of calls i would probably find a few who would enter their kids just for fun.

 

I'm just not sure how to be fair and reasonable.

 

any thoughts or suggestions?

[fivetails]

as an unprepared child could make homeschoolers look bad

 

eh? Why? I have a kid who isn't a fantastic speller, but if she wanted to enter a spelling bee and give it her best shot, I'd be encouraging her - not worrying about it making homeschoolers "look bad" if she didn't do well.....she'd be entering for herself - not as a respresentative of a group of people. :)

 

Same as if a kid from XYZ public school entered and didn't make it/didn't place well/whatever, I wouldn't say it 'made public schoolers - or XYZ schoolers - look bad" ....

[angela in ohio]

You will have to have someone else to do the actual bee, as you have a speller in it. The parent of a participant is not allowed to recieve the materials or give the bee.

 

The woman who organizes ours is (or was until this year) the parent of a participant. She is in charge of practices and registration, but someone else actually gives the bee. She also has several judges help. There are three practices before the bee for a few months. At the practices, they play games and do mock bees.

 

The attendance at ours is pretty low (20 children or less each year,) considering how many homeschoolers there are in our immediate area (well over a thousand families.)

 

I think you should go ahead and advertise it around. And, if nothing else, run it this year with a few people and it will grow by ord of mouth.

[Annie G]

It might help to contact the person who is in charge of the bee your dd would advance to and talk to them about how they'd handle it. A written bee is acceptable (many schools use a written test to whittle down the students to a number small enough to hold a school bee). I have heard of school districts that 'hold' a homeschool bee and when only one student shows up, they declare the student the winner right away and that student advances to the next level.

If you need to hold a bee, I'm sure you can find a friend to call out words to your students. This first level of bees won't happen until January so you have time to work out the details...what you have to do (if you decide you want to pursue this) is to get your student registered with Scripps and have her start studying. She can get a lot of words under her belt by January!

Scripps is NO help when it comes to the local bees...they let the local administrators set their own rules and some are awful, so it's always helpful to know what your area sponsor's rules are.