Mentoring in Action: Hosting the Spelling Bee and Poetry Bee

This Thursday, our co-op will host a Spelling Bee and a Poetry Bee. We put them on several times a year for homeschoolers in our area. I love these opportunities for our young people to show their skills and test themselves. It is a lot of fun to see Moms and their children try to beat the last time they had the opportunity to spell or recite.

A little history: My friend and partner-in-crime, Emma, wrote and compiled a book titled Poetry Bee in 2011. We were meeting for a Poetry Bee competition monthly at that time, and the poems we were using weren't quite working for us. We needed something that allowed us to offer poems that were levelled to make the bee meaningful. After holding the Poetry Bee successfully for over a year, we decided to hold Spelling Bees as well. We were now meeting twice a month, alternating bees. These days, we offer the Spelling Bee and Poetry Bee through our homeschool co-op, Leadership Connections, several times a year instead of monthly.

We learned a lot about what happens when you consistently offer young people the opportunity to compete with themselves and others.

Here are a few lessons these experiences offered:

• Showing up is inspiring. One of my daughters attended our Poetry Bee for almost a year before she stood up and participated. She was learning the poems at home but she wasn't ready to compete. The day she decided to participate, we knew it. She dressed in her favorite outfit, spent extra time getting ready, and was clearly focused. She passed off the first level of poems very quickly. 
• Learning to deal with nerves pays off in multiple areas. We saw really amazing spellers bomb because they got nervous, but the more they persevered the more confidence they gained. We also saw their confidence grow in other areas of their lives. 
• Competition, when done well, encourages learning. We always encourage kids to compete at a level that they will have some success. We don't assign age or grade levels to our bees in an effort to encourage early success. When they are trying to beat their previous experience, the participants are excited to learn more and then come back again.
• Understanding tools is helpful. Some children never ask for a word to be repeated or used in a sentence. Other children learn fast to use the tools available to them when they get out on an easy word that they misunderstood. 
• Expecting precision in some areas is important. Sometimes we have tears at the bees. We have even seen a couple of frustrated outbursts. No one really loves to be told they got it wrong. But in the end, our youth feel real accomplishment when they earn it. The kid who takes several repetitions at the same level to pass it off is the one who is the most excited when he or she finally accomplishes their goal. It means something because we ask them to be precise. 

There are many more lessons to be learned from attending and participating in these types of competitions. Think about how competitions can help you and those you mentor grow and challenge yourselves.