Learn More about the Spelling Bee
Let's try to answer some of the questions you're already asking. Scroll down to get the answer to the question you have. If you have any additional questions, use the form below and we'll try to answer them.
Why is The Bee a non-profit organization?
What are the benefits to doing The Bee at my school?
How are the levels arranged?
Do I get access to the whole program as a member?
How did you choose the words for each level?
What can I expect upon completion of the program?
How does it fit with the reader program I already have?
Why is The Bee a non-profit organization?
Let's start with the obvious. We didn't invent the Spelling Bee. It's well-known, especially in North America. So it's not like we have proprietary rights to the concept. Nic Kapper redesigned it specifically to target English education in Japan. He spent thousands of hours conceiving the system, setting up progressive levels, choosing appropriate words for the levels, and creating materials that would be necessary to facilitate this program. While the program can be duplicated, we are saving you the hours of your time...and giving you a cool group to join.
Second, after doing a test run a decade earlier managing an English school, Nic teamed up with Michael Green to try out the whole program culminating in an intra-school competition. Both were so excited about the results of their students that they just wanted the program to be available to other privately-owned English schools as a way to give them a competitive advantage, especially over the big industry schools.
The Bee is not financially motivated. We've discovered a piece of the puzzle that makes 1-hour-a-week English lessons significantly more effective.
What are the benefits to doing The Bee at my school?
Better phonics ability, better alphabet recognition, better reading, better pronunciation, more family involvement, an educational event... Is that enough?
Obviously, in order to spell the kid needs to have near perfect alphabet recognition. There can't be any mistakes between b and d, m and n, etc.
The phonics ability, which we assume you teach in your classes anyway, must be solid in order to progress to the next level. Each level has 50 words. Multiple words demonstrate phonics patterns. Once your student gets to Level E, he/she either understands phonics or has a very difficult time progressing in future levels.
Once the alphabet and phonics are established, reading gets easier and easier. Our students demonstrate this. Check out some of the videos on our Facebook page.
The themes of individual levels have many minimal pairs. Kids learn to distinguish l vs r, a vs o vs u, e vs i, etc. They not only have to listen to the teacher's pronunciation, but they also have to repeat the word to demonstrate that they properly heard the word. Check out the contest videos. You'll see how good our best spellers' pronunciation becomes.
We are extremely proud of the level of involvement that The Bee brings into the homes of our students. Parents can handle the simple process of spelling. So they aren't intimidated to help. Older brothers and sisters serve as great examples and helpers to their younger siblings. This was an unintended consequence, but it's been so exciting to watch.
While we all do something around Halloween, Christmas, or summertime, do you have an educational event? Nothing is easier to set up than a Spelling Bee Contest at your school.
How are the levels arranged?
We tried to create the program to be simple enough that kindergarten students and the most pessimistic parents could follow it.
Please refer to the graphic below. You can see how the first five levels are 3-letter words. We are trying to establish a solid base. Next, we move into consonant blends. Japanese can have a difficult time with these as they naturally want to insert a vowel sound between the consonants. (i.e. "st" said suto) Level L provides a full review and shows how to read longer words by breaking it into smaller parts. All the while, we haven't expanded beyond the short vowel sounds.
From Level M, new vowel sounds become the focus in most of the levels. Again, kids can see patterns as they study a 50 word list. Silent e, double vowels, alternate double vowel readings, y as a vowel, r-controlled sounds, etc fill the levels and quickly expand the student's reading ability. (If a kid makes it this far, they are totally into it. In addition, you've seen unprecedented progress that you will desire for all of your students)
The last three levels bring the whole program full circle with dolce words and common vocabulary taught in English schools. By this time, students have developed the ability to look at a word and absorb its spelling. The teacher can also point out the various phonics rules in many of the words.
