The Importance of Spelling Bees

All serious spellers have a reason as to why they choose to participate in spelling bees, ranging from being forced by a parent/teacher to wanting to be a professional speller, spelling bee judge, or have a career that involves spelling words meticulously. Of course, no one finds it easy to have to study in advance and sometimes guess at unknown words on the spot — unless you’re a god — which is why I put together the following; the purpose of spelling bees, the benefits, and last but not least the difficulties.

Purpose: Our purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives. Every year, students from all walks of life have the opportunity to participate in all kinds of spelling bees, whether an easy-level classroom bee or the top national level.

Benefits: The benefits of spelling bees extend beyond language: Since children are required to spell words while on stage, kids also develop self-confidence, communication and public speaking skills, and the ability to thrive under pressure.

Difficulties: Since 1996, young spellers have attempted to spell over 14,000 words — from abactor to zymurgy. Twenty-five percent of those words, over 3,500, have been misspelled. This year, yet more words will be plucked from 470,000-odd options in Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary. Sifting through all 21 years’ worth of errors,3 looking for reasons that some of the best spellers in the world stumbled when the stakes were highest, you can find a gantlet of potential pitfalls — including capricious vowel sounds and obscure double meanings. You best read through multiple tips from multiple sources to help your own study habits.

Every year, hundreds of kids across the country come together to compete for the coveted honor of being the best speller in America. Many of these winners go on to have future success. Some even return to the spelling bee (company, organization, etc.) to work there as adults with a job.

Even if you choose not to make spelling bees your complete career, you’ll still need spelling skill your entire life, especially in your day-to-day routine. Through spelling bees, you might be able to learn simple tricks for public speaking and excellent performance even under peer pressure — the list goes on and on. Most importantly — I’ve found that studying for spelling bees can become a “bonding time” between me and my family. We laugh about my mistakes, celebrate my successes, and simply learn together. I hope this can happen for you, too.