6 Year Old Makes It To National Spelling Bee
When I was six, I think my knowledge of words is what could be found on cereal boxes. I don't care what language box was in front of me I knew the words "toy inside." I could spell your basic words like cat and toy and double cheeseburger hold the green stuff you refer to as "vegetables," but other than that, I was pretty limited. Not so for Lori Anne Madison of Virginia who is 6 years old and has become the youngest person ever to make it to the National Spelling Bee finals. She has been competing since she was three. Seriously? I don't think I was even potty trained at three and know I could not spell potty.
24 comments:
That's nothing. My 3-year old speaks Thai and solves Rubik's cubes. Oh - wait, that's Dana's kid from RHOBH. My 3-year old eats play dough like a champion.
@KLM-hahahaha!!!
Obviously, this little girl has some type of photographic memory. Truly amazing! And she sure is gosh darned cute! Can you imagine the older kids getting spanked by this kid???
@KLM - LOL just doesn't cut it!
I'm a real spelling snob - and every year I watch the finals of the National Spelling Bee - just love that show.
My daughter would have been able to go to the National Spelling Bee too, if I'd bothered. She has always been scarily good at spelling and taught herself to read at age two. She's won a few local spelling bees, but the people who compete nationally come from families where the children are drilled in spelling words for hours a day. Who wants to do that?
I feel sorry for these children who spend so many hours of their childhood practising some "hobby" that in 99% of the cases, their parents take way more seriously than they do.
Competing since she was 3? They must have been drilling her in spelling since before she could walk.
It's likely that her parents are forcing her to study 24 hours a day, which sucks.
But, kudos to her for the win. That's freakin' awesome.
I hope I'm wrong and she just loves words.
Hello, homeschooling!
When I was three or four, I could spell/write two words - my first name and fuck. My uncle taught me the second word. My mom was so proud.
OMG, nolachickee. That's hysterical.
I lost the 4th grade spelling bee on the word "excite." (forgot the c.) And 3rd grade on "crumb." (forgot the b.) And then I won in 5th and 6th grades. Not exactly a high-standards-academic school...
I was talking really early and learned to read when I was 3. I was a really smart kid. Unfortunately, this was frowned upon by my classmates in elementary school, so I played dumb until it stuck.
Now look at my picture.
Maja, lol!
I won at my elem. school and advanced to the district level. I had big dreams, I was going all the way! I lost in the first round on the word "yule."
Hahaha, that's awesome. For my 1 1/2 year old it's crayons!
I couldn't spell sandals, was out on the first try...got Honorable Mention tho...that's still something...::sniff::
I lost in fourth or fifth grade on cantaloupe. (I spelled it cantEloupe.) Still can't eat it to this day. Okay, that part's not true. ;)
I won all 6 years in elementary school.. My mom drilled me for about an hour a night but I also had a photographic memory so it wasn't so bad.
I came in second in my elementary school spelling bee in third grade, losing on the word license. I still have to think twice about that word to this day. I won a dictionary and the only trophy I ever brought home (I sucked at sports). I still have that trophy.
I'm not sure why my school stopped having spelling bees after that year. I had big dreams of going to the national spelling bee, and have always been tempted to enter the adult spelling bee in Atlanta.
OMG Nolachickie!!! That is hysterical!!!
Um, I have a few spelling bee trophies. Yes, I do. One is about 6 inches high and my mom uses it to keep old pennies,and the other stayed in the Catholic school library. Thieves.
AND in 6th grade I beat my older cousin in a spelling bee. He then went on to graduate from Penn with a double major, and is a physicist. It's the only thing I got against him!!
I lost on "excited" at the schoolwide bee. I left out the C because I choked on stage fright. Siiiiiiigggh. You never forget.
I was the school spelling bee champion in 7th grade, but I lost the regional one on "advocacy"--I thought the 2nd c was an s. :-(
Fifth grade? I don't remember the word I lost on, but a word before the one I lost on was onions, and I forgot the s. They made an exception for me. I was humiliated and embarassed, making a "public" mistake, and then having the judges take pity on me like that. Then they made an exception for the guy after me, who spelled December without specifying a capital D. It got down to the two of us, both who should have already lost, and I think he won, but that part of the memory, and what word I must have finally missed, is gone.
It was the one thing my dad came to watch during the school day. He said I finished "better than I should have," reinforcing my feeling that unfair is unfair, even when it works in my favor.
I lost in the 3rd grade spelling bee over some ridiculously easy word...I was mortified.
@Maja: You're beautiful!
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