Amazing! That's all I can say about this 6-year-old girl from Virginia who won her county's spelling bee and will be going on to the prestigious Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee in May. Check this out: she beat 21 other kids, including many in middle school! And, oh yeah, the word that helped her win was vaquero. Yes! Cowboy in Spanish! So cool that she won spelling a word in Spanish, but that's not really the story.
The story is that I can't get over the fact that Lori Anne Madison is only 6! That means she's only one year older than my daughter Vanessa, but she's so far ahead of her. I'm sure she's incredibly bright, but it looks like her talent might have a lot to do with the fact that her parents homeschool her. Maybe I need to rethink my children's education?
Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy with my daughter's current education at our neighborhood elementary school, but after finding out about this 6-year-old, I can't help but think that I may need to do more. I mean, I though I was doing enough. Vanessa loves to read and as I've mentioned before, she's bilingual, so she's learning to do it in both Spanish and English. That's pretty great, no?
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But Lori Anne started spelling when she was only 3 and she loves dictionaries! I'm not saying I want my children doing the same, but I can't imagine how cool it would be for one of them to make it to the national spelling bee and be the youngest–by two years–at that! I'm sure it's been a lot of work and her parents are obviously super involved in her education because I doubt that she'd be this talented if she attended a regular elementary school.
While I'd love to say I would like to give homeschooling a chance, I have to be honest and say that I don't think I could ever do it. I simply don't have the patience–or the training–to become my children's teacher. I truly think it would end badly for all involved. I've always had a lot of questions about homeschooling and I'm in awe of parents who do it, but I'm pretty sure I'm not cut out for it… even if it means my children will never make it to the national spelling bee!
What do you think about this little girl? How much do you think homeschooling has to do with her success?
Image via Foxnews
