Super Spellers

If there is one thing that drives H crazy, it’s schoolwork that is too remedial.  For her, that include most of the curriculum of 3rd grade.  The up side to home quarantine for her is getting that annoying schoolwork out of the way before 9 a.m.  Her teacher does her best to provide some extra challenges.  More advanced kids get a more difficult spelling list....a list which H never studies.  Yet she’s never missed a word on a spelling test all year.  We were not surprised that she won her classroom spelling bee this past January.  After all, she’s a great speller, and she’s so proud of her two-time regional spelling champ big brother.  She has her sights set on  being the next Healy to make it to the big stage at the National Spelling Bee.

 We were, however, more than a little surprised when she took on class champs from all grades 3-8 in her school spelling bee...and WON!  I love her and I believe in her, and I fully expected that she would one day be our school rep at the regional spelling bee...but perhaps not quite yet.  I mean, she is 9 years old!  She was, undoubtedly, the shortest kid competing in that school gymnasium on January 30.  Every time she spelled another round, we were amazed and proud of her efforts.  It’s fun to watch her spell.  She has a rhythm that is all her own.  I’m so used to D’s quiet confidence and methodological question order.  He truly was a spelling pro.  H has a simple, polite and humble style when at the mic.  I think perhaps no one was more surprised than her when she found she was the last speller standing.  

After that she began studying at an even higher level, preparing (as best as a 3rd grader can) to take on the top 70 ish spellers in our bi-state region.  However, the regional spelling bee was not meant to be.  Scheduled for March 21, it was first announced that spectators would be limited in order to keep the attendance to less than 250 people, next the event was delayed, and finally, cancelled.  She was disappointed, to be sure.  But she’s 9. There are many years of spelling bees left for her.  So for now, she is filling her time with online drawing classes and working her way through baking cookbooks. 

Unfortunately, all those hours of studying spelling don’t change the fact that there are (albeit remedial) 3rd grade spelling lessons that need to be completed weekly.  This week H was required to play “spelling tic-tac-toe” with a family member.  The list of words made her roll her eyes, but that mean mom is a stickler for completing assigned work.  Not surprisingly, it was D who offered to play it with her.  That was fun to overhear.  My 2 super spellers taking turns quizzing each other on words like “sorry,” “happy,” and “buses.”   But there was a lot of chuckling going on.  I think he’s proud of his little prodigy.