Do you have a young wordsmith in your family? If so, consider bringing them to cheer for the contestants and enjoy the thrills of the Citywide Spelling Bee this Wednesday! It is being hosted in the Bronx’s own St. Mary’s Rec Center!

Over 150 kids, age 6-13, who have advanced from their own neighborhood bees, will compete for the championship on Wednesday, February 19th at 11:00am. It’s too late to join the competition, but coming as a spectator could be really fun for young children just beginning to learn to spell. It will show them what’s possible if you set a goal, work hard and practice, practice, practice.

 

A wonderful book to build on this theme is Phoebe Sounds It Out by Julie Zwillich, illustrated by Denise Holmes. I never really thought before about how tricky learning to sell one’s name would be for a Phoebe! Most of the kids’ names are pretty intuitive and the sound-it-out method will get them most of, if not all, the way there. Phoebe, on the other hand, has a “ph” right off the bat, and a random “o” to contend with.

 

Luckily, she has a teacher who understands that the first step toward learning is all about gaining the courage to try (and make mistakes!).

 

Phoebe wrestles with the fear of making mistakes for a bit, but eventually decides to go for it. And, of course, sounding it out leads her a bit astray from the correct spelling of her name.

But does Ms. Martha scold or tease? Nope. She hangs Phoebe’s first attempt on the line alongside everyone else’s.

I love that this story doesn’t end with Phoebe spelling her name perfectly. Yes, she will work on it and eventually get there–but that’s not the point. So many kids (and, actually, us stuck-in-our-ways adults may be even more guilty of this) nip learning opportunities in the bud because they are scared to fail. In this story, Phoebe’s victory isn’t spelling her name perfectly. Phoebe’s victory is that she gave it a shot even though she was scared and knew she probably wasn’t going to get it on the first try.