DITL of a Bible Bee Mom

Hi! My name is Rebecca and I have been doing Bible Bee with my kids for the past ten years. It is hard to believe that so much time has gone by, and my kiddos who were once little Primaries are aging out of Seniors!

Over the years, our day-to-day routines during Bible Bee season have changed as our kids have grown and changed. We have had many years with a new baby and a toddler or two, and now we find ourselves with eight contestants and a kindergartener who likes to think he is one of the teens.

Needless to say, life now does not look like it did back then. However, there are a few things that never change, and for us one of those things is preparing for the National Bible Bee Competition.

Our year is divided into two parts: the Bible Bee season and the off-season. During the off-season we focus on getting through an entire year of school. In this way we are able to focus a lot of time and attention to Bible Bee studying once it comes around. There are a few school things that we cover year-round (no one wants to get back to math after taking six months off), and the younger kiddos need to keep up their work, but for the most part this is how we do it.

A question that we get asked a lot is how much time we spend each day studying for Bible Bee. The answer is not as easy to give as you might think. From June through November, it feels like all we do is Bible Bee, even though that isn't entirely true. There is, however, always someone in our household working on Bible Bee at any given moment.

As a way to show how we spend our time preparing for NBBC, I thought it would be fun to create a day in the life post from my perspective as a Bible Bee mom. Not every day is exactly the same, but this particular day is representative of how things typically go for me.

I woke up around 7:30 this morning. That is early for this night owl! After spending some time praying over the day, I got dressed, took my morning medicines, and made some coffee. Many of the kids were already awake when I came downstairs. They have completed some morning chores and had breakfast, but the little girls have spent their time playing dolls. There may still be a teen or two sleeping.

Around 8:30 I sent the 5-year-old, 7-year-old, and 8-year-old outside to play for a bit before the day gets too hot. It is September, but here in Houston, it is still hot and sticky outside. While they played, I did a little bit of work. I edit sermon transcripts for our church and have been trying to sneak in an extra half hour in the mornings so that I can get through more each week.

My alarm went off at 9:00 to indicate that we needed to transition to our morning school and Bible Bee work. I called the kids inside and we got settled for our read aloud time. In past years, I have dropped all school subjects except for math, but this year I really want to keep doing our history and read aloud books. We are studying ancient history and are currently reading about the Roman world around the time of Christ. It is a perfect accompaniment to our Ephesians studies.

Once we finished history and read aloud time, I took a few minutes to read through part of Ephesians. I am trying to go slowly through each chapter, making notes and highlighting things that I want to study and prepare for my Primary kids. It is hard to fit this kind of studying in, but today I was able to spend about 20 minutes on it. During this time the kids had a short break.

Around 10:15 I checked in with my 10-year-old and got him started on his studying. I also gathered my little girls and made sure they knew what math assignments to do. They will work independently on math, music practice, memory passage review, reading Ephesians, and flashcards while I work with my youngest on his school work.

I always find it hard to have a kindergartener during Bible Bee season. This year our 5-year-old is learning to read and is very close to finishing his kindergarten objectives. It would be easier for me to take a break from his school work and focus more on the other kids, but he really needs to keep working on these important skills. It is also good to spend some time with him since he will spend a lot of his day playing or hanging out with his older brothers.

Today I spend a little more than an hour working with him. In between his activities I make sure to check in with the other kids and they come to recite new memory passages for me as they need to. Everyone checks in with new passages by "testing" them for me, my husband, or one of their siblings. Even though it can get a bit stressful multi-tasking like this, at this stage in life it is the only way I can keep all the plates spinning (or at least *some* of them!). I also like having the opportunity to hear the older kids recite since they no longer do their main recitation for me.

At 11:30 I transition to hearing my Primary girls recite. We aim to do this every week day, but in reality we miss some days. This daily recitation is very important for them to maintain accuracy in their memory passages.

We will sometimes talk about things we notice in their passages. I will look up cross-references or other information when we find something that is interesting, and make a note of it on their memory passage cards. This is one of the ways that we work on memory passage context for the test. Today we do not do a lot of memory passage study during recitation, instead I take out the blanket I am knitting to help pass the time.

During the morning, our middle-school-aged kids and teens work on their own. They know what they need to do and are able to stay on task without my involvement. This year our 10-year-old, 12-year-old, and 13-year-old will each prepare their own Bible Bee study materials. I am giving them assignments to help break down such a big task and to give them some structure since it is still new to them to find their own material.

Lunch is at 1:00 every day. The kids heat up leftovers or make sandwiches, smoothies, or quesadillas. It is also a time for them to chat with each other, since they have *mostly* been studying on their own (although, you can imagine there is plenty of chatting all throughout the day).

After eating, the kids complete their lunch time chores and I send most of them outside to play for a while. It is hard to want to be outside in the heat, but they need the physical activity. I know that once the weather cools down a bit they will want to be outside for longer.

I try to use lunch time to work on things. Sometimes I exercise or practice violin, but usually during Bible Bee season I am cramming in some extra time to put together materials for my younger kids, or finishing up recitation that didn't happen in the morning.

Today I have a couple of violin students, so I eat quickly, tidy up the house, and practice violin for about 30 minutes before my students arrive. Lessons end around 3:30 and I head out to take my oldest son to work. On the drive home I make a mental note of the things I still need to do before dinner time.

I am back at home around 4:00 and take a few minutes to transition into our late afternoon activities. Some of the older kids have finished their studying for the day, but many of them are still working on things. The younger kids still need to memorize, so I get them started on that.

Usually at this time of day I gather the Primary and Junior kids to the dining room table for some group study and review. I may start with the Primaries and bring the Juniors in later; I may meet with only one group or the other; or I may have everyone come for the entire time. I aim to spend 30 minutes to an hour, depending on what we need.

Because we are the start of the NBBC season, today we are not doing any group study. Instead, I am using the time to work on study materials for my Primary kids. This afternoon I finished up some more study on Ephesians and planned out what I want to do in our group study over the next few days.

Today is my 12-year-old's day to cook dinner. She is quite proficient in the kitchen, so I am able to do other things while she gets dinner ready. At 5:30 I exercised and then turned on a sermon while I sorted and put away my laundry. While I was doing laundry I supervised the little kids' showers (more multi-tasking!).

Tonight we are eating a little later than usual, so we have time to watch an episode of Drive-Thru History before we eat dinner. After dinner we have our family Bible reading time and then I head upstairs to put the younger kids to bed while everyone else cleans up the kitchen.

The older kids will finish up their computer time for the day, and then spend about an hour before their bed time reading, writing, listening to music, and hanging out with each other. Occasionally, one of them may work on some memorization during this time, but usually at this point they are finished with Bible Bee for the day.

The younger kids' bed time is my designated work time, so I turn on the computer and pull up the sermon transcript I am editing and get to work. I usually play memory passage songs for the kids as they go to sleep. It is a good way for them to unwind and also to get the new memory passages in their heads.

Around 8:45, my husband, Claude, comes to sit with the kids since our son is ready to be picked up from work. Many nights one or two of the older kids will join me for the car ride. When I get back around 9:15 I continue editing. By now two of three younger kids are asleep. Still one more to go!

We always play sermons for our kids at bed time. We have been doing it for many years now. During Bible Bee season we always find a series on the book we are studying. This year the kids are listening to a very long series on the Book of Ephesians. I don't think they will be out of Ephesians 2 by the time Nationals rolls around!

At 10:00 the teens head upstairs for bed, which means it is time for me to stop working. Claude and I will hang out for a while downstairs to catch up on the day. I work on my knitting while we watch a show, and then we head up to bed.

Overall this was a good day. There were still several things I didn't have time to address, but we made the most of each part of the day, so I am happy with that.

I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse into a typical day in the life of this Bible Bee mom. What does your typical day look like?