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  • Home
    • Disclosure Policy
    • About Me
  • What's New! (Blog)
  • Low-Carb Lifestyle!
    • Trim Healthy Mama-inspired Grocery Lists
    • THM-style Beverages >
      • Mock Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos
    • Family Favorite Recipes (Not Low Carb) >
      • Snacks >
        • Delicious Homemade Gooey Granola Bars!
        • Healthy Peanut Buttery Treats
      • Soups and Stews >
        • Jamaican Seafood Chowder
        • Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
      • Salads >
        • Red Cabbage Coleslaw
      • Main Dishes >
        • Beef >
          • Beef Stroganoff
        • Chicken >
          • Chicken Fiesta
          • Chicken Nachos
          • Marinated Zucchini and Chicken Sandwiches
          • Chicken or Turkey Enchiladas
          • Hungarian Chicken Paprikash
          • Green Chili Chicken Lasagna
        • Lamb >
          • Slow-Roasted Lamb Shoulder
        • Seafood >
          • Chilled Quinoa and Salmon Salad (E)
          • Shrimp and Zucchini Tostadas
        • Pasta Recipes >
          • Baked Lemon Pasta
          • Paccheri (Pasta) with Cauliflower and Tomatoes
      • Desserts >
        • Cookies >
          • Free Christmas Cookie cookbook download!
          • Healthier Gingerbread Man Cookies
          • Healthier Holiday Cut-Out Cookes
          • Maple Leaf Cookies - YUMMM!
        • Donuts
        • Frozen Desserts >
          • Lemonade Ice Cream Pie
    • Recommended Ingredients and Foods >
      • Inspiration Mixes - Gluten/Dairy/Caseine/Wheat Free and delicious!
      • Organic Maple Syrup
  • Homeschooling
    • Homeschool Curriculum & Product Reviews >
      • Homeschool Curriculum Reviews >
        • Art >
          • ARTistic Pursuits
          • Simply Draw!
        • Grammar >
          • All About Homophones - (Marie Rippel)
          • Time 4 Learning
          • Daily Grams
        • Handwriting >
          • Cursive Handwriting - New American Cursive
        • History >
          • The Mystery of History >
            • MOH vol. 3 Audio MP3's
          • Tapestry of Grace History
          • U.S. History >
            • America, The Last Best Hope (William Bennett)
          • Winter Promise
        • Latin >
          • Latina Christiana, by Memoria Press
          • Visual Latin
        • Literature-based Unit Studies >
          • Beyond Five in a Row
          • Further Up and Further In by Diane Pendergraft
        • Logic and Reasoning >
          • Building Thinking Skills (Critical Thinking Skills Co.)
        • Math >
          • Math Mammoth
          • Math Tutor DVD.com
          • MathRider: Horselovers' Math Facts Software Game!
        • Music and Composers
        • Online Educational Courses >
          • Aleks Online Courses
        • Science >
          • Apologia Science >
            • Apologia Science's Notebooking Journals
            • Zoology 1 - Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
          • Science Weekly newsletters
        • Spelling >
          • Phonetic Zoo (by IEW)
        • Writing >
          • The Write Foundation: Level 2 - Paragraphs
          • WriteShop's StoryBuilders
      • Homeschool Product Reviews >
        • eBooks >
          • College Success Begins at Home (TOS eBook)
          • Dreams and Designs—Homemade Supplies to Complement Your Homeschool
          • Help, Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!
          • The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner
        • Online Educational Website Memberships >
          • KB Teacher
        • Science >
          • Polymer Crystals
    • Driver's Education for Homeschoolers
    • Foreign Language >
      • Latin >
        • Christmas Songs in Latin
        • Latina Christiana (Level 1) >
          • Latina Christiana Level 1 Lesson Links >
            • Charts and Helps
            • Year One Sayings
            • LC1 Intro and Lesson 1
      • Latina Christiana (Level II) >
        • Latina Christiana Level 2
        • LC2 Intro and Lesson 1
    • Forms and Charts >
      • "Week At A Glance" Planner
      • 2012-2013 Homeschool Attendance Form
      • 2012-2013 Homeschool Attendance Form
    • Free Audio Books to Download
    • Free Homeschool I.D. Cards!
    • Government and Civics
    • Handwriting
    • History: Classical / Chronological >
      • The Mystery of History, by Linda Lacour Hobar
      • The Middle Ages (MOH vol. 2)
      • Ancient History (MOH vol. 1) >
        • Ancient Rome >
          • Roman Architecture
          • Roman Houses
          • Roman Town (software game by Dig-It)
          • Roman Trade and Commerce
    • Language Arts
    • Science
  • Free Printables
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      • Christmas
  • Book/DVD/Audio Reviews
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  • Home & Family
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      • Godly Womanhood
      • Sharing God With Your Children
      • Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home >
        • Keepers At Home - "Beginning of Club Year" Helps
        • Keepers At Home - "End of Club Year" Helps
        • KAH Skills >
          • Bible Memory >
            • Memorizing New Testament Books and Their Meanings
            • Proverbs 31:10-31
          • Cake Decorating
          • Card Making >
            • Stitched Cards
          • Computers
          • Character Studies >
            • Contentment and "I'm Bored" phrases
            • Willingness
          • Decoupage
          • Hospitality
          • Library Skills and Literature Pins
          • Sewing >
            • Beauty and the Pig - Goldie Doll
            • Edwardian-Style Aprons
            • Paper Piecing
      • Children >
        • Bible Study Bookmarks
        • The Church History ABCs (for kids!!!)
        • The Lord's Prayer - copywork
        • Some Thoughts...Family Bible Time
        • Running Away...with permission
      • Young Adults (Teens) >
        • Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss
        • Deeper Roots: Discovering Our Amazing God
  • Frugal Family Trips to Washington, D.C.
Picture

Spelling Bee Girls: Winners Whether or Not They WIN!

3/3/2011

2 Comments

 
Picture
Kelsi
     Nail-biting, hair-raising, thumb-sucking (just kidding!) times took over last week in our family.

     Kelsi and Brittany competed in the local homeschooling spelling bee this last week. 

     It was Brittany's first year to officially compete, although she joined in the fun last year as an unofficial competitor and won second place!  This was Kelsi's third year to compete in our local homeschooling spelling bee. 

     When the spelling list was released in November, I believe, Kelsi informed me that she didn't want to compete this year.  While I do provide the girls with some freedom and choices for extra-curricular activities, I decided that the spelling bee was something in which they were going to participate, whether they wanted to - or not.


     Now, that may seem a bit unkind.  Come on, Mom, if they don't want to face the crowds and mess up in front of everyone, why should I force them to?

     Here were the reasons that I provided for both girls: 

  • God has given them strengths in language, writing, and spelling.  The Bee will enable them to develop these skills further, without a lot of pain.
  • We have already figured out a technique that helps the girls study their words on their own, without having to ask another adult to help them out.
  • The vocabulary they learn from this activity is INCREDIBLE!
  • The spelling bee is a challenge, and it stretches them.  This is good.
  • The spelling bee practice sessions and participating in the Bee would be used as their spelling and vocabulary curriculum for this school year. 
  • Standing up in front of an audience, feeling nervous and excited, is great practice for job and scholarship interviews, participating in plays and dramas, and lots of other activities that will be in their future.


     As the winter continued, both girls began to become a bit more excited about the possibility of winning the local homeschool spelling bee and being able to advance to the county level to compete with all of the schools in our county.

Brittany at 2011 Spelling Bee
Brittany
     Brittany seemed pretty nervous going into the competition.  She kept her composure, however, and appeared to be confident after the first few words spelled correctly.  Kelsi didn't seem nervous at all, just cautious.  She's been in front of people so often that she doesn't find it disturbing anymore.

     Well, what were the results?

     There were around 8 competitors; I didn't recognize all of them this year.  They all seemed ready for the competition!
Picture
Sorry for the blur on Brittany (far right); I couldn't figure out how to make two focal points on one photo...
    
     Four girls, all friends with each other, came in 1st through 4th place. 

     Kelsi took first place this year, with one of her closest friends coming in second place.  Brittany came in 4th place.  She was disappointed, since she performed better last year without much studying or effort!  Elmer and I are very pleased with her efforts, though.  She has nothing to be embarrassed about!
Picture
     Now, Kelsi will advance to our local county spelling bee, which will include spelling bee winners from each of the participating public and private schools in our county.  This does make Kelsi feel a bit more nervous than other events. 

     After all, she'd love to win a brand new laptop computer!

     During her first year of spelling bee competition, she was selected to participate in the county spelling bee, and she came in 2nd place.  We could hardly believe it!

     Last year, she was also able to participate in the county level, and she came in 8th place, I believe?  (I think that's right.  I'm sure I'll be corrected if I've made a mistake.)

      This year, she'll compete in the county spelling bee in mid-April.  We're excited to see her advance to the county level, and she'll be working on learning techniques for spelling Latin-based and Greek-based words, and other words in the weeks to come.

     Regardless of whether the local homeschool spelling bee competitors won, or not, they are all winners in my eye!  They all learned valuable tools in spelling and vocabulary; they all gained more experience in speaking and being in front of others in a stressful situation.  This isn't a bad thing!  This will help them in the long run.

     And no matter what happens, at least we know that they won't be spelling like this sign, below:
Picture
     Congratulations, Kelsi, Brittany, and all of the other children who put forth a lot of effort to learn a 500-word list of spelling words!
Picture

2 Comments
Beth L Lang link
3/2/2011 11:20:59 pm

Congratulations to Kelsi and Brittany. I don't think it is mean at all that you made them do it. Sometimes we need to push our children out of their comfort zones.

I made mine sing in the choir at our church. I wanted them to have the experience of singing in that setting and learning how to blend instead of all solo work.

I hope Kelsi does well in April.
Beth

Reply
Julieanne link
3/4/2011 02:16:37 am

Beth, thanks for your comment about the spelling bee. You're
so thoughtful to come over and post on my blog! I don't
usually make my children do extra-curricular activities, so
that's why I thought I was being a bit stubborn and "mean" about it, but I've already told them that they will compete
until they are too old, after 8th grade.

Neat that you had your children participate in choir. My girls enjoy doing that, too, when they are able!

Have a great day, Beth!

Julieanne

Reply



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