Spelling Bee

A week ago Friday Bradley's teacher asked him if he wanted to be in a spelling bee the following Friday, and he said yes. I thought it was an honor since he had only been at that school for a couple weeks. So she sent home a list of words, and when I met with her on Monday she said she wasn't sure how the bee was going to work, but she thought all the words would come from that list. Then she said she had to go out of town, but another teacher would help him practice. Then the permission slip came home on Tuesday that reminded the kids to keep practicing over the Christmas break - yikes! Everyone else had been practicing since the fall! Then on Thursday, the supposed final practice day, the teacher forgot to get Bradley, so the only practice he had was with me calling out the words for him. There were 21 kids in the second grade bee, and Rick and I were just hoping that he didn't get out in the first round. There were lots of smart kids in the second grade bee, and it lasted longer than the other bees. I was so proud of Bradley - he made it all the way to 4th place! Bradley had little or no guidance, little or no advance warning, and only about 5 or 6 of Bradley's words were actually on the spelling list. He's going to get recognized during Chapel at school today. I wish I could be there, but that would mean taking off more work - no can do. Especially since I'm taking off this Friday to go home for a couple days - whoot!