Spelling champions
Spelling bees, which are extremely popular in the United States, require a lot of hard work. Don’t expect to be able to spell “sycophant” properly by trusting in luck alone! The children take their preparation seriously. Draw on their best practices!
Do you need to sit an exam, learn a new skill or validate prior experience?
- Use deliberate practice to help you: set yourself a single learning goal per session, and practice it by varying the exercises and taking the time to consolidate past learning. Do these sessions by yourself or with the help of a coach. At the very least, a coach will make you work on the methodology or content if they’re an expert in the area.
- Work on it as a team as well. Find yourself some partners, ask each other questions, share your learning strategies, and support one another.
- Hunt down the best resources: what are the handbooks, guides or websites that could help you? Read them actively, seeking out additional information.
- Leverage every possible opportunity: children can make the most of eating out at a pizzeria to investigate the menu and learn how to spell “Chardonnay”!
- Catch your breath! Let yourself take a break and pursue other interests.
You should also try to get some fun out of the exercise and measure how far you’ve come with pride.
To go further
“What it takes to become a spelling bee champ”
by Pawan Dhingra (The Conversation, May 30, 2023).
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