The Home Team: Bible Bee

The older 3 children participated in the local Bible Bee yesterday.

2012 is the 4th year for the Bible Bee.

This was Jersey #1's 3rd year participating. She was part of the 1st and the 3rd annual Bible Bee as well. (The 2nd annual Bible Bee was in 2010, the year of Jersey #2's heart surgery, so we cut out most activities that year).

It was Jersey #2's 2nd year participating.

It was Jersey #3's 1st year participating.

Bible Bee 2009:

Bible Bee 2011:

Bible Bee 2012:

All 3 were in the Primary Division this year, which is for ages 7-10. Technically, they were competing against each other.

Only, we did not do enough preparation and study to actually be competitive. This summer was extremely busy for us. It did not take long to get behind on the sword study and the verse memorization. Before I knew it, we were WAY behind. I tried to find bits of time to get the kids motivated to study for the Bible Bee, but that did not happen. At one point, when the local director sent an email announcing the final date to withdraw from the bee, before the paperwork was all printed, I was tempted to quit. I decided to stick it out, and told myself that we could still do well with some strong effort over these last two weeks.

That did not happen. Our days were packed. There was not enough time to focus, let alone cram. All throughout this final week, I debated as to whether I should have the children participate and carry through with our commitment, or should I have them withdraw?

I wanted them to stick it out and give their best effort.

But, I did not want to push them into a situation where they would be so embarrassed by failure, that they had ill thoughts and feelings about studying the Bible.

After many days of kicking myself for not letting it go earlier, and allowing us to get over-scheduled (again), I decided to just go with what we had.

I sat the kids down and had a talk. I explained to them that in light of our extremely busy summer, I should not have insisted we also participate in the Bible Bee. It was too much. I admitted that I should have let go of that plan months ago, and taken the pressure off. They were happy to hear that.

I then explained to them that it was too late to quit now, so we were going to go and participate. We would go with the amount that was already studied, and let that be good enough. I expected them to do their very best, with a happy heart. I would not accept drama or grumpiness over their performance, or over getting competitive. They agreed.

Next, I discussed a little deeper that ANY amount of study of the Bible is good. ANY number of verses they memorized was a good thing. We should not feel bad for the amount that was accomplished. We should feel good for putting the effort into Bible study, because it is so very important.

But, I also explained that when it comes to competition and achievement, the level of effort, diligence, and preparation, are important. If you want A's, you have to do A-quality work. If you do C-quality work, you earn a C. It is just that simple.

In the end, they were content to participate without the expectation of having to perform well. We talked about how to handle the stress of not knowing the verses in the oral round, or not knowing the answers on the written test. I anticipated that Jersey #3 would have some trouble with the actual reading and comprehending the written test, so I explained how to guess and select an answer on a multiple choice test anyway, instead of leaving it blank.

I also told the children that I would not be signing us up for the Bible Bee next summer. I was not going to require that of them.

They all approached Bible Bee day with great enthusiasm. The pressure was off, and they were going to have fun with the other kids. They had a blast!

They had only memorized 20% of the list of verses, but they learned those so well that they received many points during the oral round. Jersey #1 told me she was thankful I talked her into learning 1 more verse this week, because that verse was on the test, and she recited it well.

Jersey #3 was proud of himself for completing the written test quickly. He did not really know many of the answers, but he was pleased to take a guess and fill in a bubble anyway.

Jersey #2 took the whole thing in stride.

At the closing ceremony, the participants were given an opportunity to stand in front of the crowd and recite a verse. My children declined that offer. It was one of our agreements--I would not make them recite in front of the crowd at the end of the program. They each took turns looking at me to see if I was going to make them recite, but I did not.

Each participant received a medal, a certificate, and a goody bag. It is fun to get things to take home at the end of a big day.

The participants who scored in the top 5, on the oral and written exams combined, received additional prizes.

Much to my absolute shock, all 3 of my children placed in the top 5!

They did WAY better than I ever expected of them.

At lunch, when Jersey #1 started calculating that she thought she could have earned 3rd place, I cautioned her to not expect to place this year. She did not prepare well, and lost many points.

She earned 3rd place!

Jersey #3 earned 4th place.

Jersey #2 earned 5th place. She was initially upset that her younger brother scored higher than her. I reminded her that in Bible Bee, points are lost when you repeat parts of the verse that you already said. Right now, she is in a huge phase of repeating herself mid-sentence. That carries over into her verse recitation as well. It just doesn't have an effect during AWANA, like it does for Bible Bee. After she heard my explanation, she was no longer concerned over how her brother performed better.

As we talked about how each child did on their oral and written exams, I learned that although the children did not study all of the verses on the Bible Bee list, the ones they learned were recited accurately. Even though they did not complete all of the components to the sword study, they all read the book of the Bible multiple times, and were familiar enough with the subject, to answer questions on the written exam. (And, lucky for them, some of the other contestants were less prepared, or more nervous, or something).

My fears that I was setting my children up for failure have been relieved. I think we all learned some pretty good lessons through this experience. I am most pleased with how joyfully my children participated in the Bee.