"How to Win the Spelling Bee"
From the WSJ:
The bottom line is that hard work pays off.
That is the secret to winning the National Bee. The natural advantage of David, Kavya and all the other kids who have taken the trophy is a fierce and unswerving dedication to their study. The Spelling Bee is a workaholic's game. No weekend enthusiasts need apply.
In addition to discipline, winning the Bee requires a broad education. No mind can memorize the spelling of 450,000 words. Top spellers must be able to make an educated guess about obscure words using their wide-ranging knowledge of etymology, science, geography, history and literature.
So a top speller needs a rise-at-dawn work ethic and a multidisciplinary education. Still, you ask, why are there so many Indian winners given the fact that people of Indian descent only make up around 1% of the U.S. population? Surely there are American kids of all backgrounds who are hard workers with a great education. . . . .
The bottom line is that hard work pays off.
Labels: Other
posted by John Lott at 8:55 PM
1 Comments:
"natural advantage of David, Kavya and all the other kids who have taken the trophy is a fierce and unswerving dedication to their study."
I suspect that their real natural advantage is hyperlexia.
A non-trivial subset of autistics have hyperlexia. Hyperlexic children often learn to read before they are three and have fantastic natural spelling abilities. One hyperlexic child I know could spell the names of many animals before he was two.
I suspect that almost all the winners of high stakes spelling bees have hyperlexia.
Post a Comment
<< Home