Good NewsGirl, six, to be youngest ever Scripps National Spelling Bee competitor
After beating out 21 other young spellers at a regional spelling competition in Virginia, six-year-old Lori Anne Madison is set to be become the youngest ever competitor at the highly-competitive Scripps National Spelling Bee this spring.
The previous youngest contestant was eight.
Last week, Madison Woodbridge, Va., secured her spot in the televised national competition by winning the Prince William County spelling bee with the word "vaquero."
The winning word was one she had practiced at home.
"We practiced that word several times because she kept getting it wrong," her mother, Sorina Vlaicu Madison, told InsideNova. "We really insisted on that word so I knew for sure she would nail it."
That practice paid off. Last year, she finished in the top five in the same competition.
"It was better this time. It felt better," Madison said.
Along with a trophy, Madison was awarded a Webster's Third New Dictionary and gift cards to Barnes & Noble. Local newspaper, the News & Messenger, will sponsor her appearance in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The youngster, who has been competing in spelling bees since the age of three and a half, isn't intimidated by the older spellers she'll be up against:
"I have been in competitions with older kids before and I have many friends, some younger and some older and I feel comfortable in any group," Madison told ABC News.
The secret to her success?
"My parents quiz me. I read lists and I have a really good memory," the home-schooled spelling champ told Fox News.
The six-year-old girl loves spelling so much that she even offered to spell-check an ABC article written about her.
