Academic Competitions for the Gifted
Academic competitions can provide higher level learning for gifted students. A little more than a year ago, I wrote a
blog entry about math competitions, but there are also competitions and contests available in other subjects.
A few well-recognized national competitions include
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The National Geographic Bee—This is an educational program of the National Geographic Society. It is a nationwide geography competition for U.S. schools for grades 4–8, designed to encourage the teaching and study of geography.
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National History Day Contest— Students in grades 6-12 discover and interpret historical topics related to an annual theme. They produce creative and scholarly projects in the form of exhibits, documentaries, historical papers, or performances.
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Scripps National Spelling Bee—This is the one you've read about and seen movies about in the last few years. It begins with a school competition and progresses to a national competition.
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Word Masters Challenge—This is a classroom competition in language arts for grades 3-12. The emphasis is on vocabulary, analogies, and analytical reading.
Although many competitions are initiated at schools, homeschoolers often group together to participate. Some competitions are also available to individuals.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of competitions. Many others are available—some that are well run and some that are not. Find out as much as you can about each competition or contest before entering. Some ways to find competitions are to
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Explore one of the search engines, such as
Google. Search the words "competitions" or "contests" and add the words of the subject in which you are interested (i.e., art, French, writing, etc.). You might even try adding the name of your city or state.
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The Gifted Resource Center has a search engine that will help you find a contest or competition according to the students’ age or grade and also the subject of interest.
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Competitions for Talented Kids: Win Scholarships, Big Prize Money, and Recognition—This book is a treasure trove of information on selecting, entering, and competing in national contests. It also features complete information on who to contact, how to enter, prizes, judging criteria, contest origin, significant dates, and tips from the contest organizers themselves.