5-Year-Old Homeschooler Youngest Person in History to Qualify for Scripps National Spelling Bee
History is being made at this year's National Spelling Bee.
Edith Fuller beat 52 competitors in the 2017 Green Country Regional Spelling Bee in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 5-year-old correctly spelled the word "jnana," which is a term for "knowledge" in Indian philosophy and religion.
Edith correctly spelled the words "Panglossian," "Baedeker," and "sarsaparilla" in order to win. What is her key to success? Edith shared that:
“Mommy asks me a word, and every time I misspell one, I will look at it.”
Mrs. Fuller clarified that her daughter looked up the definition of each word she misspelled in order to learn more. Her mom also noted how educational learning to spell can be.
“She was able to learn about different countries and cultures and different kinds of food.”
Until now, the youngest ever National Spelling Bee competitors were 6-years-old. In this year's competition, Fuller out-spelled other children as old as 15-years-old in order to take home the regional title. There is no minimum age requirement to compete.
Last year the youngest competitor at the National Bee was 6-year-old Akash Vukoti from Texas. Mark your calendars on May 28 to watch Edith in the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee where she will compete against more than 280 national spellers.
Published on March 7, 2017 | Updated April 1, 2017
