On July 22 2017, the well-known Shuffle Champ Spelling Competition was held at Subang Jaya Assembly of God for its fourth consecutive year. The competition took place from 10am to 1 pm. Organised by the Subang Jaya Assembly LifeKidz, the event has been a great success throughout the years and is getting stronger each year.
There were several things that were new this year. The 4-year-old children upgraded their skills by playing with red cards containing 3-letter words instead of the blue cards which were the 26 letters of the alphabet. The spelling words generally got harder this year, an advancement of one further level compared to previous years.
The 5 to 9 year olds were given graded spelling lists to master. It was interesting to see some 6 and 7 year olds walking in to the hall with the spelling list on their hands trying to get it all in. This was an indicator that the children really wanted to compete to be the best, which was a good thing as it also showed the children were eager to learn and upgrade their vocabulary.
The 10 to 11 year olds were treated to a new surprise when they were introduced to Shuffle Champ Wild. Of course, they had to come one week earlier for an orientation to the new word game.
The most challenging category was for the 12 to 13 year olds who played Shuffle Pro. Shuffle Pro was another word game that players had to strategize and make words that will eventually lead them to form a 7-letter word to hit the jackpot of 50 points and win the game. Currently, Shuffle Pro is only available as a competition game and is not for sale.
On the day of the event, parents came with their kids to register at 10am and the event began with some singing and ground rules. The children were then divided according to their different age groups. Half the groups went for their spelling competition and the other half played games, swapping thereafter.
Kids were then treated to a special skit organised by the young people and the event ended with prize giving. Every child was given a goodie pack to take home as well.
Parents who were waiting for their kids were not left out either. They were treated to a movie in another hall while waiting for their children. Everything went smoothly and the event was overall unquestionably a great success.
At the prize giving, Evangeline, a well-known English teacher from Lik Hung Chinese Primary School, emphasized that they held this spelling event every year due to its effectiveness in helping the children in improving their grammar, increasing their word power or vocabulary, as well as their spelling skills. Other aspects that were tested were their speed and thinking skills.
Pr Petra, the founder and creator of the Shuffle Champ programme expressed her appreciation to the church for its effort and desire to help raise the level of literacy among the community, playing a big role in impacting their community.
During last year’s competition, Shuffle Pro was introduced. This year’s competition saw the introduction of a wild cube (aka joker) which brought a new twist to the game; the Shuffle Champ Wild or Shuffle Champ with an extra “wild cube.” The wild cube (aka joker) can be any letter they need to form a word.
This wild cube opened a whole new dimension to the wordgame as it offered the children greater flexibility as well as an opportunity for them to exercise their creative skills. It also opened up a new method of playing, dependent on speed skill. Players simply had to throw the cubes and try to make as many words as possible from the letters on top of the cubes within 2 mins. Some could easily form 15 words within 2 minutes!
This is definitely a game that families can bond and play together. In fact, some young adults were quickly into it and were competing to see who was the master at Shuffle Champ Wild. Some who attended expressed that it would be great to see more spelling competitions events held in different places all over.
A Look at the Shuffle Champ
NOTE: There are two Shuffle Champ products; the Shuffle Champ Wild and the original Shuffle Champ with a reading program. The original Shuffle Champ with reading programme comes complete with the 7 cubes, a board, 2 graded readers, a DVD on teaching phonics and a score sheet and may be found at Canaanland Bookstore as well as Cosway outlets.
A Bible Phonics Program Parents’ Set is also scheduled to come out by the end of this year. This program is a Bible-based phonics program as it covers phonics 44 and comes complete with Shuffle Champ Wild, flashcards, 4 Bible story rhymes, 4 English Readers, 4 Workbooks, 5 Dvds, and a parent’s guide. The DVDs are a great help for the children to master the sounds, words formed, English readers and Bible story rhymes.
Churches or schools who are interested in finding out further details about the Bible Phonics Program, Shuffle Champ, or the spelling competition can do so by contacting Ps Petra at splearningres.com.
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