ScholarSkills presents

The Newburgh Beat Dyslexia Bee

The BDB (Beat Dyslexia Bee) is a developmental literacy bee that inspires and equips kids to overcome reading difficulties by helping them master phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar through systematic training in the science of reading.

The BDB provides two years of rigorous multisensory training combined with motivational rewards and confidence building competitions to ensure progressive success.

FAQ

The Beat Dyslexia Bee is a two-year total word mastery tournament that fosters daily, intensive training in a fully interactive online environment. This includes live monthly Zoom teaching and coaching sessions, ensuring that students are actively involved in their learning. They score by doing more and learning more as they progress through instructional videos and mastery assignments with the help of reading coaches. They earn as they learn. Team and individual points are calculated throughout the year, and students compete in round-robin contests to determine who heads to the National Championship at the end of the twelve-month tournament season. The National Championships will be held live at a location TBD and also streamed on social media platforms.


What is the goal of the Beat Dyslexia Bee?
Our mission is to inspire and equip students to think analytically about the structures of sounds, words, and sentences so that they can speak, read, and write with confidence and excellence. The preparation for this competition, which requires students to study etymology, phonology, morphology, analogy, and orthography, is an investment in their future. These linguistic tools will prepare students for success in school and life by helping them understand how words are spelled, spoken, defined, and used.

Our goal is to encourage students to

Bee Sound Smart (or to become phonics-scholars™️)

Bee Word Smart (masters of meanings) and

Bee Sentence Smart (masters of syntax).

Students will have to answer seven questions in different levels of complexity based on their ages and grades. The questions are designed to be fair and appropriate for each student's level of understanding and learning.

1. How is the word spelled?

2. Why is the word spelled that way?

3.  How do we say this word?

4. Why is the word said that way?

5. What does the word mean?

6. How did the word get its meaning?

7. What part or parts can that word play to help us express complete thoughts?

Who can participate?
The Beat Dyslexia Bee is for students from K-3 with persistent reading problems attested to by an IEP or a signed letter from a parent or teacher. Certification of the student’s reading difficulties must be uploaded with the registration form. Students will also be required to take a reading diagnostic test.

Where is the Beat Dyslexia Bee going to be held?
The Beat Dyslexia Bee will be held virtually and in person throughout the qualifying rounds. The championship round will be held in person.

When does the Beat Dyslexia Bee begin?

The Beat Dyslexia Bee begins in September 2024 and Ends in August 2026. Third graders remain eligible until the beginning of September 2026.

Who sponsors the Beat Dyslexia Bee?
The Beat Dyslexia Bee is sponsored by ScholarSkills for STARS, a 501c3 non-profit education corporation that uses reading skills curricula and academic competitions to help students overcome challenges and achieve exceptional literacy levels.

How do parents and schools register for the Beat Dyslexia Bee?

Registration is free.

Parents and teachers must register students by clicking on the appropriate registration button below.