Can you say extraordinary?
I suspect that 6-year-old Lori Anne Madison can spell it - and it's one of the best words to describe her.
The young girl from Prince William County, Virginia, has just become the youngest speller eligible to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, according to the event's record books, which date to 1993. Mike Hickerson, the bee's communications manager, said there have been four spellers since 1993 who were 8 years old.
Lori Anne, who is home-schooled, beat out 21 other kids in the county to win the bee, which enters her into the national bee.
The word that thrust her into the spotlight? "Vaquero," the Spanish translation of "cowboy," which is often used in Spanish-speaking parts of the South such as Texas, according to InsideNova.
The paper reported that after one of the last spellers missed her word, Lori Anne stepped up to the microphone, was given her word and without hesitation rattled off the spelling correctly.
Her parents said it was a word that had tripped her up before.
“We practiced that word several times because she kept getting it wrong,” mom Sorina Vlaicu Madison told InsideNova. “We really insisted on that word, so I knew for sure she would nail it.”
And nail it she did.
“It was better this time. It felt better,” the 6-year-old told the newspaper as she held her trophy.
“Look, this trophy is different from last year's,” Lori Anne said.
That's right, this isn't the little girl's first time at the spelling bee. Last year, she made it into the local top five. This year, she was determined to best herself.
Now, Lori Anne will have to dust off her flashcards and perhaps pop in a DVD of documentary "Spellbound," which looks at the phenomenon behind the famous spelling bee, in order to check out what the national spotlight would be like. Lori Anne will surely have the world watching her in May if she makes it through the rounds to ESPN's prime-time viewing of the Scripps Bee.
I've got a hunch that this girl is destined to be n-o-n-p-a-r-e-i-l.
"Could I get the definition, please?" you ask.
adjective: having no equal; peerless.
noun: a person or thing having no equal; in printing a "6-point type."
But Lori Anne probably already knows that.
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Homeschooling could be the new "public education system"
The current one certainly is not working!
what do you mean by
tic-tic-tic-tic...BOOM?
Another backward county in America is the real news here!
Agnim- Wow, it's a cute short piece. Have a heart and be human. If you're that pressed for depressing, crime infested, analytically inaccurate rightwing news... go watch Fox. Otherwise stfu and ignore the topic if it's not important to you.
Prince William County is a suburb of D.C. and has one of the highest household incomes in the country. Quantico is also located there. It's actually a county full of educated people. Maybe you should visit.
I'm willing to bet this 6-year-old could beat you in a spelling contest!
Prince William County is not a backward county, I live next to it. It's part of Northern Virginia where four counties are listed as the riches counties in the 2011 top ten riches counties in the U.S. on Forbes dot com.
So we've got some Indian here who's jealous because American 6 year olds have a higher literacy rate than, well, adults in his country.
That's amazing. Why does everyone think that world news always has to be something negative, I know adult men and women who can't spell, nor could define the word that made her chanmpion. It's nice to see parents who are active in their child(ren's) lives.
“We practiced that word several times because she kept getting it wrong,” mom Sorina Vlaicu Madison told InsideNova. “We really insisted on that word"
Appears to me that the parents are pushing her into doing it. Let the kid have a childhood
Good for you, Lori Anne !! Keep up the good work and have fun doing so....
It's nice, that the news is not all doom and gloom....That there is a little order and sanity (and fun) out there.
Her parents should be proud, obviously their doing a better job than most public schools.
And it looks like I can't spell (their/they're) as well as a 6 year old
Cute Ken.
This is incredible. What a bright girl! I just hope she isn't being denied a childhood in the process.
Nah... Kids enjoy the recognition that comes from being the smart kid in the class. Not to brag or anything, but I won several school spelling bees when I was a kid and I can relate.
I'm not sure what Tim means by being "denied a childhood," but i can tell you education in the public school does not provide "childhood." These parents have made a choice to home school because they recognize that their bright little girl has a much better chance at reaching her potential in an environment that is loving and nurturing and challenging as opposed to one where she most likely would be ridiculed for being intellectually gifted. Home schooling may not be for every family, but more and more families realize what a dismal failure public schools can be and they are opting out for something better. This family gets high marks and is to be commended for making a choice to home school which is not always popular. It might not be long until stories are report about new achievements by little Lori. Hopefully, the parents will humbly safeguard her from exploitation.
pffff... at age 6 I learned to tie my shoes and almost memorized my phone number... why is this girl special???
Way to go, kiddo!
good job kid be proud!
Very well done, little miss.
But I wonder, why is the regional use of a foreign word part of the word list? Seems odd, although I admit not bothering to look up the criteria.
Dumb is spelled d-u-m-b.
As they say in Hollywood: B R E A K A L E G
Bill Mahar says home schooled children are kept from knowledge.....
oh, well
She thinks she is so special, at 6 I ate all my veggies! Ok kidding aside, she is pretty amazing, great j-o-b!