The National Spelling Bee rules are very precise. I have suggested a website that includes practice tips and the rules.

Hi Karenmom,

Very interesting question! I agree with you - I've never heard of a spelling bee skipping over the originally misspelled word, and providing a new word (whether it's the same level of difficulty or not) to the next child in line.

While spelling rules and regulations can differ according to the school hosting the event, the "official" rules are considered to be the guidelines set forth by the Scripp's National Spelling Bee. While you have to be a logged-in school to read the rules on the Scripp's website, I found some information about their rules on ehow.com. The Scripp's rules say this about the process of determining a winner between the final two kids:

The rules change when the competition gets down to the final two. If the first speller misses a word, the second speller must correctly spell that word and then another in order to win. If the second speller spells misspells the new word, then the first speller gets the chance to correct it. If he spells it correctly he then gets a new word and if he spells that word correctly he is declared the winner.

Read more: Spelling Bee Rules & Regulations | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5042663_spelling-bee-rules-regulations.html#ixzz1BVmHGxdp

I hope this helps!

Alex