OHEN is honored to host the Homeschool Spelling Bee as part of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Program.
The Scripps Bee program begins annually with millions of students across the country. Children in grades 1-8 compete first at a classroom level, then at a school level, then progress to the regional level. Winners of regional contests earn an all-expense-paid trip (with an adult escort) to Washington DC to compete with nearly 300 other champion spellers for the Grand Prize. The national competition is televised and is a great adventure. Since 1925, children across America have participated in classroom, school, and regional spelling bees with the hope of making it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Homeschoolers can compete in the National Bee program – and on several occasions it has been a homeschooler who has won the National prize! Since homeschoolers began competing in the National Bee program in Oregon, seven homeschoolers have made it to the National Bee, with two achieving National Semifinalist status!
For the 2025 Homeschool Spelling Bee, OHEN will be hosting an online competition through Zoom. Homeschoolers can register to participate below – and each participant will be sent a list of study words. They will then be sent a link to the online Spelling Bee Zoom event in mid-January. The winner of the Homeschool Bee will represent homeschoolers at the Regional Spelling Bee, held in Portland in March.
The Oregon Homeschool Bee will be held via Zoom on Monday January 27 at 1:00pm. Deadline to sign up is Friday January 24 at 5:00pm!
Participants must not have passed grade 8 or reached age 15 by August 31, 2025. Only homeschoolers are eligible to participate in this Homeschool Bee. Charter school students are not eligible for this Homeschool Bee. (All Bee participants nationwide are required to enroll through the school they attend, or they may enroll through a Homeschool Association if they do not attend a school.) All Oregon Homeschoolers are eligible to participate in the Homeschool Bee – but the winner must be able to travel to Portland for the Regional Bee.
For more information, or answers to questions, please email oregonhomeschoolbee@gmail.com
Find out more about the Scripps National Spelling Bee program, including games and study help, at www.spellingbee.com!