Primary competition...

This is our first year with the Bible Bee. My son Matthew just turned 8 two weeks ago. He is fairly amazing in his memory… while we are reading, he will remember exact turn of phrases when I ask him questions, and he always can remember the factual answers. Bible Memory is not his thing because he is a bit scattered in his attention at times. We homeschool him and his three sibs (6 year old girl, 4 year old boy, 18 month old girl). He is the only one doing this study because of time constraints. We didn't sign up until about the end of June, so we are definitely behind.

The real question is what kind of questions do they ask in the primary levels? Because of the limited time he has had, I don't want to stress him more than he already is learning things that aren't important for the test. We are not a test-taking homeschool family - I judge knowledge through his ease in practice, not by taking a written test, so that will be challenging.

Also, how is the test given at testing sites? Is it computerized? Or handwritten? And is it multiple choice or fill ins? (His handwriting pretty much stinks).

I just want him to be prepared so he has a relatively positive experience, even if he doesn't do very well on the test itself.

Lisa, welcome to the Memverse forums! I have approved your first post, and all future posts will be automatically approved.

I can't say what kind of questions they ask at the primary level, since I've only ever done junior and senior… But I can say that the test is multiple-choice (with a bubble sheet).

Hello, glad you're family is doing the Bible Bee; it really is an amazing experience. It's great that your son has a good memory and it'll be very helpful. I use a mnemonic device called the "Method of Loci" and it's been very useful to memorize Scripture and a lot of information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

Although the competition is less than 20 days away, you still have plenty of time, honestly. In my first year as a primary I basically started the Sword Study in August and tied for first place (Not to boast, or anything :)).

The test has a lot of the same questions for all levels. A primary test will probably have a lot of the same questions as a Junior or Senior test. I never took a formal test until I did the Bible Bee but it's pretty simple. Did you sign up at a proctor location or online? I don't know how the online one is but here is the answer sheet for the written one: http://www.biblebee.org/attachments/host/Written_Test_Scan_Sheet_%28Final_Version%29.pdf

You're fortunate to sign up this year because the primary test now has 100 questions instead of 200 in past years. ;) That's something like 36 seconds/question which is a lot of time. Using a watch helps to keep you moving. Check the Memverse blog regularly because there are some BB-ers here who have put together some practice tests. They have quarter ones up and the full ones will be up soon. Me and my friend are also making one more for the Junior and Senior levels though.

I'm going to tell you now that the test is usually very difficult. No one has gotten it perfect and you can make it to Nationals missing 60/200 or more in past years. It's hard to know what's going to be on the test but the it covers comprehension and context of the memory passages, knowledge of Jonah (but not limited to), Greek and Hebrew word studies and cross-references. The test tests comprehension and memorization/knowledge.The hardest part for me is that the questions are "version neutral", it's really just a paraphrase of all the translations and can be very confusing so I suggest reading Jonah and the memory verses in the other versions (NASB, KJV, NKJV, ESV) One last thing to know about the test is that specific references in the study book are not mentioned. The most they give is a chapter. For example, "According to Jonah 1:17, who was Jonah swallowed up by?" would not be asked. It would be, "According to Jonah 1, who was Jonah swallowed up by?"

The best way in my opinion to prepare is to first know the Sword Study inside and out. It's mostly text questions, cross-references, and word studies.  *Text questions* - The best way is to memorize Jonah. Listen to it and read it every day and it'll be stuck in your head after a little bit. Then you can answer any question about the book of Jonah! *Cross-references* - Primaries have around 175 cross-references. Their purpose is to interpret Scripture with Scripture. Any verse in the Investigative study or Digging Deeper section not in Jonah is considered a cross-reference. Don't memorize everything; just learn the main points of each passage and how it relates to Jonah and the subject. I'm sure your son can learn at least 30/hour with his good memory. *Word studies* - Word studies are a part of the Under the rug section. Try to memorize the definitions, the Greek and Hebrew words, and learn the cross-references.

Make sure that your son understands Jonah and can explain it. It may be helpful to read a commentary or explain to him the harder sections such as Jonah 2.

Approximately 25% of the questions on the test are on the memory passages. Try to read the chapter and learn the context of each passage. For some there may not be a whole lot of context such as the ones in Psalms. The 5 W's are the best. By the way, if you don't know already, the passages to recite before the test are under "Resources" in the Family Control Panel on the Bible Bee website. I think there's something on the test to sign if you completed the recitations.

I hope this helps. Everything here is based on the past and they might drastically change everything on the test… Hopefully they won't. :) Feel free to ask if you have any more questions :) Sorry this looks like a run on post. The spacing's not really working right now. EDIT: It's working now :)

Although I have never taken the Primary test, (I'm a Senior), maybe I can help a bit. :)

As Alex said, the tests are all multiple choice bubble sheets, on paper. The things they normally ask on the tests are about the study book, Hebrew and Greek that was studied, the cross references mentioned in the Sword Study, etc. Like I said, I've never taken the Primary test but those were the types of things asked in the Junior and Senior tests I've taken.

I'd recommend checking out the practice tests that other Bible Bee contestants have put together for each age division, so you can get an idea of how the questions will be. They are right here on Memverse…the tests in the link are quarter sized tests. Shortly there will be full sized practice tests for use! I find practice tests very helpful.
https://www.memverse.com/blog/main/2014-bible-bee-micro-practice-tests

Hopefully I helped answer some of your questions =) I'm so grateful you are taking the summer to learn about God's word. Press On!

EDIT: Oh, wow! Everett really covered a lot more material than I did :D He has place 3rd in both the Primaries and Juniors at the Nationals, so he really knows his stuff :D