Busy bees
<p>Esther Pinkerton, 10, right, quizzes her sister Rebekah, 11, with words from a spelling bee study guide at their home Tuesday.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Skillful spelling is a family affair for this group.
A child from the Pinkerton clan has competed in the North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee nearly every year since 2006.
And the Pinkerton girls are formidable spelling opponents.
"I can give my girls a list of 100 words, and they'll have them down in a month," said dad Dan Pinkerton.
Rachel, now a junior in high school, was the regional winner in 2006, and again in 2008. Each time, Rachel went on to represent North Idaho at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in June.
This year, sisters Rebekah, 11, and Esther, 10, are both competing in the spelling contest that takes place 10 a.m. Saturday at North Idaho College.
Rebekah competed in the regional bee last year, and another Pinkerton sister, Sarah, competed at NIC in 2007.
"I'm one of those that believes that spelling is essential in life - in business, writing and communication," said the girls' father, Dan. "I support it and promote it."
The nine Pinkerton children, five boys and four girls, are home schooled.
"Some of them just latch onto spelling and others, they've got other interests and talents," said Pinkerton, owner of a Coeur d'Alene investment advisory firm, and the region's home school spelling bee coordinator.
Rebekah's secret to spelling success is "studying lots of hours, and by breaking hard words into little sections."
Rebekah and Esther will be among 52 contestants in this year's regional bee.
To make it to Saturday's competition, each of the young spellers in grades four through eight, first won grade level spelling bees in their school districts. The home school and private school students compete against each other as a district.
The spellers will compete against each other Saturday, regardless of grade level, in Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center on NIC's main campus.
The winner will receive an all expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the national spelling bee in June.
Saturday's spelling competition is open to the public.
The event is sponsored by Hagadone Newspapers and hosted by NIC.
Information: 769-3316