Spelling Bee

The home school co-op spelling bee was last Thursday. I was so proud of Charis! I thought she would be nervous and shy, but not when she found out she got to go on stage and talk into a microphone! Ironic that she enjoys the spotlight but sometimes has a hard time talking with other people!


She was in the first group to go. There was one first grader (Charis), 3 second graders, and 2 third graders (or maybe the other way around). Charis went through three rounds and was not the first one to sit down. The word she missed was one she knew, but, like most of the children who made mistakes, she was rushing ahead and skipped a letter. "G-V-E" instead of "GAVE." Nevertheless, I was proud of her, and she had a great time on stage. I thought it was cute that as kids had to leave the stage, a mom was in the front row handing out cookies to take their minds off their sadness! :-)

Tobin and Arden were great in the audience. Tobin camped out on the floor to color and looked up now and then to cheer for Charis out loud ("Go, Charis!"). I loved seeing him support his sister, even though he probably didn't really understand what was going on. Arden also did well, going from floor to my lap and clapping along with everyone else.

We watched the next two groups of contestants--a whole group of fourth graders by themselves, and then a combined fifth and sixth grade group. Each child got words from his or her own spelling list, so they were not competing against children in a different grade even if they were on the stage at the same time.


When it was all over, each child received a certificate of participation, and, because she was the only first grade participant, Charis got a $10 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble by default! She of course was thrilled, and so was I. A great excuse to go to the bookstore!