Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason there were so many winners is that you can now buy your way into the spelling bee. I am no longer interested in watching. A parent can pay $1500 to compete. The spelling bee should only be comprised of winners of their regional tournament.

http://spellingbee.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/RSVBee%20FAQ%20expanded%20list%202019.pdf

No. That's not why there were 8 winners. While you can buy your way into the competition, you can't buy your way into the national finals. I agree that only the regional winners should compete in the national bee but there are times when there are multiple regional winners who deserve to compete on the national level.

The reason why there were 8 winners is because it has become such a process (coaches, 100% involvement, etc.) and many families have perfected that process. It took many years but I think this is what we're going to see for the foreseeable future.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a mistake to have 8 winners. It is part of our superlative and qualitative culture where every kid gets a ribbon and we don't want anyone to feel like they lost or left out. I don't see why those 8 are more special and deserving than the other thousand or so who were defeated earlier in the competition. The children should keep being quizzed on words until there is a winner. IMO it is a big mistake to award the championship to 8 children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason there were so many winners is that you can now buy your way into the spelling bee. I am no longer interested in watching. A parent can pay $1500 to compete. The spelling bee should only be comprised of winners of their regional tournament.

http://spellingbee.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/RSVBee%20FAQ%20expanded%20list%202019.pdf

OP here. Yes, not sure that's very fair. Also, the kids seem to be spending huge amounts of time preparing, which probably isn't healthy for most kids. This article sums up that sentiment:

"Once a paean to an increasingly obsolete skill, a delightful competition that could be won by correctly spelling “croissant,” the spelling bee has turned into a f*g nightmare. To become a champion speller these days, kids must study dozens of hours every week, and it’s become so hyper-competitive that parents now hire private coaches to train their kids to do well in the spelling bee; coaching is almost a requirement for those who wish to advance to the final rounds. Elite spellers “spend practically every waking hour studying in preparation for this moment,” in the words of the Washington Post."

https://jezebel.com/im-not-afraid-to-say-the-spelling-bee-is-sucks-1835146521

Are you equally critical of the kids in travel soccer?

NP. Some sports are ridiculous too.

You know what else tiger moms have ruined? Mathcounts. In the exact same way. It’s become so competitive I think it turns more kids off than inspires kids to want to “play”.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone watching? Who’s the guy reading the words? He’s got amazing stamina. I’d be slurring my words at this point.

I think it was Will Shortz.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone watching? Who’s the guy reading the words? He’s got amazing stamina. I’d be slurring my words at this point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason there were so many winners is that you can now buy your way into the spelling bee. I am no longer interested in watching. A parent can pay $1500 to compete. The spelling bee should only be comprised of winners of their regional tournament.

http://spellingbee.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/RSVBee%20FAQ%20expanded%20list%202019.pdf

OP here. Yes, not sure that's very fair. Also, the kids seem to be spending huge amounts of time preparing, which probably isn't healthy for most kids. This article sums up that sentiment:

"Once a paean to an increasingly obsolete skill, a delightful competition that could be won by correctly spelling “croissant,” the spelling bee has turned into a f*g nightmare. To become a champion speller these days, kids must study dozens of hours every week, and it’s become so hyper-competitive that parents now hire private coaches to train their kids to do well in the spelling bee; coaching is almost a requirement for those who wish to advance to the final rounds. Elite spellers “spend practically every waking hour studying in preparation for this moment,” in the words of the Washington Post."

https://jezebel.com/im-not-afraid-to-say-the-spelling-bee-is-sucks-1835146521

Are you equally critical of the kids in travel soccer?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I watched the whole thing. I love the spelling bee! I am amazed at how those final eight did not miss. Unprecedented! It reminds me of how James Holzhauser (sp?) is “breaking” Jeopardy.

I didn’t click on your thread earlier because, on DCUM, discussion of the spelling bee usually devolves into bashing of Indian-Americans and tons of stereotypes.

I'm an earlier poster who said the bee was losing it's charm. I didn't want to go there and I really don't want to bash Indian-Americans, but the bee is also losing its charm because it is turning into a thing for only one cultural sub-group. I get that Indians approach spelling bees the same way whites approach soccer (as an example) but that also makes it less fun and makes it harder to relate to the bees.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason there were so many winners is that you can now buy your way into the spelling bee. I am no longer interested in watching. A parent can pay $1500 to compete. The spelling bee should only be comprised of winners of their regional tournament.

http://spellingbee.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/RSVBee%20FAQ%20expanded%20list%202019.pdf

OP here. Yes, not sure that's very fair. Also, the kids seem to be spending huge amounts of time preparing, which probably isn't healthy for most kids. This article sums up that sentiment:

"Once a paean to an increasingly obsolete skill, a delightful competition that could be won by correctly spelling “croissant,” the spelling bee has turned into a f*g nightmare. To become a champion speller these days, kids must study dozens of hours every week, and it’s become so hyper-competitive that parents now hire private coaches to train their kids to do well in the spelling bee; coaching is almost a requirement for those who wish to advance to the final rounds. Elite spellers “spend practically every waking hour studying in preparation for this moment,” in the words of the Washington Post."

https://jezebel.com/im-not-afraid-to-say-the-spelling-bee-is-sucks-1835146521

Are you equally critical of the kids in travel soccer?

At least in a sport you can improve your fitness. The words they are required to spell will never be used again in their lives. The kids don't even know/or care what the words mean. They've just mastered the process at arriving at the correct spelling...and just plain old memorization. Impressive but useless.

One can say this about a lot of things. DS is a kid who is great at learning impressive but useless skills - solving a rubik's cube really fast, reciting 100 digits of pi while juggling, playing a piano upside down...if the kids want to do it (and I do question that at some level, but let's assume they do), then why not? It's no more or less useless than a ton of other pursuits that keep humans occupied.

+1 Has the PP even seen a spelling bee? They always ask for the definitions of the word. If you don't think it's improving their reading comprehension and writing abilities and plain old learning how to work at something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason there were so many winners is that you can now buy your way into the spelling bee. I am no longer interested in watching. A parent can pay $1500 to compete. The spelling bee should only be comprised of winners of their regional tournament.

http://spellingbee.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/RSVBee%20FAQ%20expanded%20list%202019.pdf

OP here. Yes, not sure that's very fair. Also, the kids seem to be spending huge amounts of time preparing, which probably isn't healthy for most kids. This article sums up that sentiment:

"Once a paean to an increasingly obsolete skill, a delightful competition that could be won by correctly spelling “croissant,” the spelling bee has turned into a f*g nightmare. To become a champion speller these days, kids must study dozens of hours every week, and it’s become so hyper-competitive that parents now hire private coaches to train their kids to do well in the spelling bee; coaching is almost a requirement for those who wish to advance to the final rounds. Elite spellers “spend practically every waking hour studying in preparation for this moment,” in the words of the Washington Post."

https://jezebel.com/im-not-afraid-to-say-the-spelling-bee-is-sucks-1835146521

Are you equally critical of the kids in travel soccer?

At least in a sport you can improve your fitness. The words they are required to spell will never be used again in their lives. The kids don't even know/or care what the words mean. They've just mastered the process at arriving at the correct spelling...and just plain old memorization. Impressive but useless.

One can say this about a lot of things. DS is a kid who is great at learning impressive but useless skills - solving a rubik's cube really fast, reciting 100 digits of pi while juggling, playing a piano upside down...if the kids want to do it (and I do question that at some level, but let's assume they do), then why not? It's no more or less useless than a ton of other pursuits that keep humans occupied.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason there were so many winners is that you can now buy your way into the spelling bee. I am no longer interested in watching. A parent can pay $1500 to compete. The spelling bee should only be comprised of winners of their regional tournament.

http://spellingbee.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/RSVBee%20FAQ%20expanded%20list%202019.pdf

OP here. Yes, not sure that's very fair. Also, the kids seem to be spending huge amounts of time preparing, which probably isn't healthy for most kids. This article sums up that sentiment:

"Once a paean to an increasingly obsolete skill, a delightful competition that could be won by correctly spelling “croissant,” the spelling bee has turned into a f*g nightmare. To become a champion speller these days, kids must study dozens of hours every week, and it’s become so hyper-competitive that parents now hire private coaches to train their kids to do well in the spelling bee; coaching is almost a requirement for those who wish to advance to the final rounds. Elite spellers “spend practically every waking hour studying in preparation for this moment,” in the words of the Washington Post."

https://jezebel.com/im-not-afraid-to-say-the-spelling-bee-is-sucks-1835146521

Are you equally critical of the kids in travel soccer?

At least in a sport you can improve your fitness. The words they are required to spell will never be used again in their lives. The kids don't even know/or care what the words mean. They've just mastered the process at arriving at the correct spelling...and just plain old memorization. Impressive but useless.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I watched the whole thing. I love the spelling bee! I am amazed at how those final eight did not miss. Unprecedented! It reminds me of how James Holzhauser (sp?) is “breaking” Jeopardy.

I didn’t click on your thread earlier because, on DCUM, discussion of the spelling bee usually devolves into bashing of Indian-Americans and tons of stereotypes.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I watched the whole thing. I love the spelling bee! I am amazed at how those final eight did not miss. Unprecedented! It reminds me of how James Holzhauser (sp?) is “breaking” Jeopardy.

I didn’t click on your thread earlier because, on DCUM, discussion of the spelling bee usually devolves into bashing of Indian-Americans and tons of stereotypes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason there were so many winners is that you can now buy your way into the spelling bee. I am no longer interested in watching. A parent can pay $1500 to compete. The spelling bee should only be comprised of winners of their regional tournament.

http://spellingbee.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/RSVBee%20FAQ%20expanded%20list%202019.pdf

OP here. Yes, not sure that's very fair. Also, the kids seem to be spending huge amounts of time preparing, which probably isn't healthy for most kids. This article sums up that sentiment:

"Once a paean to an increasingly obsolete skill, a delightful competition that could be won by correctly spelling “croissant,” the spelling bee has turned into a f*g nightmare. To become a champion speller these days, kids must study dozens of hours every week, and it’s become so hyper-competitive that parents now hire private coaches to train their kids to do well in the spelling bee; coaching is almost a requirement for those who wish to advance to the final rounds. Elite spellers “spend practically every waking hour studying in preparation for this moment,” in the words of the Washington Post."

https://jezebel.com/im-not-afraid-to-say-the-spelling-bee-is-sucks-1835146521

Are you equally critical of the kids in travel soccer?

OP here--the above was a quote from an article, not exactly my sentiments. But if the spelling bee (or any other activity--soccer, competitive gymnastics, etc.) requires "dozens of hours a week," that does seem excessive unless the kid is exceptionally driven and passionate about that particular pursuit. Maybe these 8 kids are. But as a parent, I'd want to look at the tradeoffs carefully before allowing my kid to commit to something like that.